9. Blind Worker in Redding to Receive $570,000 Settlement in Dignity Health Discrimination Suit

In an announcement earlier this month, the U.S. EEOC announced that Dignity Health agreed to pay a $570,000 settlement to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by Alina Sorling, a previous employee of their Mercy Medical Center in Redding.

Sorling worked as a food service technician for 10 years on the Mercy Redding campus. At that point, she suffered a severe illness that resulted in vision loss. When she lost her sight, Sorling completed the necessary training to enable her to complete everyday tasks she would need to complete on the job including cleaning, stocking, cashiering and grilling. By her account, she mastered the skills necessary to continue to live independently.

Once she completed the training necessary, she requested to return to work. She made this request in February 2015. She provided her employer with a list of accommodations that would allow her to accomplish her duties. The facility rejected her suggestions. Sorling was fired from her position with Mercy Medical in June 2015. According to the lawsuit, the company cited a vision requirement for the reason behind the termination even though the company did not test Sorling’s vision once in the ten years she had previously spent on the job.

After the unexpected loss of her sight, Sorling worked hard to complete all the necessary training and rehabilitate herself so she could learn all the necessary skills to continue to work independently without restrictions. She sought to return to the same employer she had been loyal to for over a decade. Rather than let Sorling demonstrate her abilities, the healthcare facility excluded her based on assumptions regarding her disability and how it would limit her abilities.

As a part of the settlement agreement, the healthcare company agreed to actively move forward with steps to prevent any similar forms of discrimination in the future, but Dignity did not admit any wrongdoing as a part of the agreement. They officially claim that they value their loyal employees and support any with disabilities.

Please get in touch if you would like to know more about disability discrimination in the workplace or if you need assistance filing a disability discrimination lawsuit in California. The experienced employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP can assist you in one of their law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside and Chicago.

California Company that Refused to Hire ‘Non-Hispanics’ Must Now Pay $2M

Marquez Brothers, a California manufacturer of Mexican-style cheese and other food items, must pay $2 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed more than two years ago. The settlement was announced in September 2019.

The discrimination lawsuit was filed by two African American individuals who attempted to submit job applications. When they requested applications from the Marquez Brothers’ Hanford facility, they were refused the paperwork required to applied. One of the potential applicants had numerous years of dairy goods production experience but was not hired even though the job applicants eventually hired were far less qualified. In fact, he was not even allowed to apply at all. 

The second potential job applicant attempted to apply for a job at Marquez Brothers various times but was discouraged from applying and advised that the company was not hiring. During the course of the case, allegations were made that the Marquez Brothers routinely discriminated against non-Hispanic job applicants. The refusal to accept job applications from non-Hispanic job applicants was normal procedure. This standard practice occurred at various Marquez Brothers’ locations throughout California including Hanford, Fresno, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego. The discrimination was also evident at out of state plants in Texas, Nevada, and Colorado.

The two men who originally brought the discriminatory employment practices to light were African American, but further investigation into the issue showed similar acts of discrimination against other ethnicities including white, Asian, etc.

According to the settlement agreement, the company must provide monetary compensation, take steps to prevent future discrimination including hiring an external monitor, creating and implementing appropriate goals, improving training and resources for their hiring staff, and creating a system to manage and track discrimination complaints.

If you have experienced discrimination in the workplace or if you need to file an employment law lawsuit, please get in touch with one of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP’s offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside or Chicago.

Catholic Hospital Faces Lawsuit for Transgender Discrimination

The California Appeals court reinstated a lawsuit against Dignity Health, a Catholic hospital chain, filed after they barred a hysterectomy for a transgender patient. The court found that the state’s interest in fighting LGBTQ discrimination outweighs the facility’s alleged right to impose religious standards on healthcare they provide.

The patient denied a hysterectomy who filed suit against Dignity Health was Evan Minton. Minton’s hysterectomy surgery was cancelled abruptly in 2016 when officials at Dignity’s Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California discovered he was transgender. The hospital claims their actions in cancelling Minton’s surgery complied with the church’s ethical and religious directives for Catholic Health Care Services that prohibit sterilization procedures except in very rare circumstances.

The appeals court found in favor of the patient stating that any burden California places on the exercise of religion is justified by the state’s interest in ensuring equal access to medical treatment for all residents regardless of sexual orientation. The case will return to San Francisco County Superior Court for further proceedings and trial. The appellate court’s ruling may limit the ability of Catholic health facilities in California to limit what healthcare services are provided to patients. A number of procedures are forbidden by the previously cited Ethical and Religious Directives. Most denied treatments and procedures are associated with women’s reproductive rights, end-of-life care, and treatments for transgender patients.

In the Ethical and Religious Directives document, certain treatments and procedures are described as “intrinsically evil.” Some of these treatments include abortion, euthanasia, direct sterilization, and assisted suicide. Administrators and employees of the facility are barred from assisting patients with these procedures or referring them to outside providers for the services. Local bishops must approve any exceptions.

If you need help due to discrimination in the workplace or if you need to file an employment law lawsuit, please get in touch with one of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP’s offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside or Chicago.

Netflix Original Documentary Brings Up Bikram Choudhury’s Numerous Sexual Misconduct Lawsuits

The Netflix original documentary called “Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator” from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Eva Orner tells the story of Bikram Choudhury. Choudhury is the controversial yoga instructor who faced numerous lawsuits for sexual misconduct. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and highlights the various stories from women who sued the Indian American yoga teacher. It also artfully explores that contradiction between the healing nature of the discipline and the harmful behavior of the founder.

Orner, the filmmaker, is now asking California lawmakers to reopen the sexual misconduct and sexual assault cases against the yoga instructor. Orner hopes Gavin Newsom, the California governor, watches the film on Netflix and is inspired to call the LA District Attorney to request that she reopen the case.  

The California State Court of Appeal dismissed Choudhury’s 2017 plea and ordered him to pay $7.3 million to Miakshi Jafa-Bodden, his former attorney, who sued him for wrongful termination and sexual harassment. A string of other women made similar claims against Choudhury claiming he raped, sexually abused or harassed them.

Orner also made appeals to the yoga studios bearing his name to drop it and use generic names instead. She is adamant that no woman should go to a Bikram studio – they should go to a hot yoga studio instead.

When Choudhury arrived on the scene from Kolkata in the early 1970’s, he quickly achieved near-celebrity status and created a global fitness empire that left him extremely wealthy. By the 2010’s, he was facing numerous sexual harassment and abuse allegations.

If you have been sexually harassed in the workplace or if you have questions about what an experienced employment law attorney can do for you, please get in touch with one of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP’s offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside or Chicago.

Walgreens Employee Fired for Using Discriminatory Language Files Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

A senior maintenance mechanic, Robert Marvel, was employed at a Walgreens warehouse in Northern California until December 2018. Marvel claims there was a spill and he passed along a request from another employee for a “wet vac,” a vacuum commonly used to deal with liquid messes. The Latina co-worker to whom Marvel made the request reported that he called her a wetback. Marvel insists that she misheard his request for a wet vac, but alleges he was not given a chance to defend himself before he was suspended the next day. A week later, he was fired from his job of 13 years.

Marvel was employed by Walgreens in their Woodland warehouse where he was responsible for maintaining various equipment and repairing conveyor belts. According to the lawsuit, Marvel had excellent work performance reviews. Marvel claims that he loved his job and had plans to stay until he retired.

Co-workers describe Marvel as a man of compassion and integrity, but the company summarily branded him a bigot and discarded him as if he was worthless. The wrongful termination lawsuit against Walgreens also alleges defamation and discrimination. The suit seeks unspecified damages. In a court filing, Walgreens’ legal counsel denied Marvel’s allegations and also stated that even if his allegations were proven, the company will not be shown to have violated the employee’s rights.

In addition to proclaiming Marvel’s version of events, the lawsuit cites numerous public and common usages of the phrase “wet vac” in newspapers, advertisements, catalogs, etc. in an effort to show that Marvel’s use of the phrase was not out of the norm. The Latina who reported that Marvel referred to her as a “wetback” later that same day spoke to Marvel regarding the incident, but Marvel had no idea what she was talking about. The next morning, he was shocked to be summoned to human resources where he was asked if he had said anything “ethnically insensitive” before he was handed his suspension. He didn’t make the connection until he was driving home. He immediately called the human resources officer to let her know that he realized where the misunderstanding occurred, but a week later Marvel received a phone call during which the same human resources staff member told him he was fired.

If you have questions about filing a wrongful termination lawsuit in California or if you have questions about what an experienced employment law attorney can do for you, please get in touch with one of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP’s offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside or Chicago.

Court Awards Plaintiff $1.58M in Racial Harassment Lawsuit Naming UC Regents

Nicole Birden, a 48-year-old African American and former UCLA Health phlebotomist, was awarded $1.58 million in her wrongful termination and racial harassment lawsuit against the UC Regents. Birden filed the discrimination lawsuit in 2017 citing the University of California Board of Regents for wrongful termination and discrimination.

Birden started working at UCLA in 2015 and claims she experienced a hostile work environment filled with co-workers calling her derogatory names, bullying on the job and even tampering with her work. Allegedly, Birden’s co-workers took the harassment so far that they tampered with blood samples in order to sabotage her work. In response to the escalating harassment and discrimination, Birden complained to her supervisor. She was fired in 2016. Birden was allegedly referred to as the “black girl with the attitude” by a number of co-workers while she was employed at UCLA.

UCLA’s legal representation argued that Birden was terminated due to a pattern or poor performance. He also made it clear to the jurors that the plaintiff never claimed she was treated differently because she was African American in her original complaints. UCLA is disappointed with the verdict and claim to be reviewing their options.

UCLA also claims that they consider ensuring a respectful and inclusive work environment to be essential to the university’s overall mission. They feel they encourage their employees to report any concerns in order to allow the issues to be reviewed and then appropriately addressed by management and administration at the university. They also restated their belief that UCLA Health is dedicated to maintaining a positive workplace without discrimination, harassment or retaliation.

If you have experienced discrimination in the workplace or if you need to file a harassment lawsuit, please get in touch with one of the experienced California employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik and DeBlouw LLP today.

Discrimination Lawsuit Filed: Alleged Racial Discrimination on Sewer Project

According to claims made by African-American workers (and the union that supports them), three white supervisors on the largest public works project in Akron history used racist language, discriminated against their black employees by assigning them “stupid” work that paid less than other assignments, and retaliated when employees complained about the harassment by firing them.

The racial discrimination complaint was filed in Summit County Common Pleas Court on behalf of three African American workers from Akron and another African American worker from Copley. All four workers were hired by Kenny Construction and the Obayashi Corporation. They were hired for the $184 million Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel (OCIT) project. The project to install a huge concrete-lined sewer pipe requires workers to bore a mile under downtown Akron.

The plaintiffs in the case allege that managers, supervisors, and representatives of the company and project as a whole referred to African-American workers using the n-word, called them “worthless,” referred to them as “yard dogs,” “them boys,” “the blacks in the back,” and “stupid.”

The company’s parent company, Granite Construction Inc. responded to the allegations stating that the Kenny/Obayashi team is proud of the work they have completed on the project and the support they have received from the community and that they deny all allegations made in the complaint. They also stated that they intend to vigorously defend the company against what they referred to as “false and inflammatory” accusations.

Obayashi is one of the largest builders in Japan. On the Obayashi website they describe their company as fulfilling their corporate responsibilities as the best way to “bring smiles to people” and they make this the goal of their overall business activities as they strive to meet the expectations of the public and respond to their stakeholders’ needs.

According to the discrimination lawsuit, the black employees on the sewer project were subject to “racial belittling” and were typically assigned to “yard crews” excluded from work opportunities available to others on the job site like working on the tunnel boring machine. Workers assigned to work on the tunnel boring machine were allowed overtime hours to work around the clock when the project fell behind schedule due to late arrival of equipment, etc. According to allegations made in the overtime lawsuit, management reserved most of the positions on the boring machine for Caucasian employees.

Black employees who spoke up about the situation and the discrimination occurring on the job site were allegedly fired.

If you are not being paid overtime wages you are due or if you need to file an overtime lawsuit, please get in touch with one of the experienced California employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik and DeBlouw LLP today.