Homosexuality Taunts Lead to $17.4 Million Verdict for LA Sanitation Worker

In recent news, a Los Angeles sanitation worker, James Pearl, who was taunted on the job regarding his perceived homosexuality comes away victorious with a $17.4 million verdict. The LA jury found that he endured routine harassment at the hands of his supervisors, who had falsely assumed he was gay. While the jurors deliberated for two hours, they did come out with a unanimous decision regarding James Pearl’s case.

The jurors decided that Pearl was subjected to verbal abuse, hazing, and bullying. For instance, Pearl’s photo was digitally altered to show him in a same-sex relationship with a subordinate. These altered images were circulated amongst the city employees as a part of the bullying campaign.

One of Pearl’s colleagues alerted a manager in the highest ranks of the Bureau of Sanitation regarding the situation and the mistreatment that was occurring, but according to court documentation, the supervisor did not take action. Pearl started his career with the Bureau of Sanitation in 2002. He was promoted in 2006 to wastewater collection supervisor.

In 2011, Pearl filed a complaint of discrimination with state regulators. In the complaint he alleged that he was transferred to an office in Reseda because he was black and as retaliation because he complained about misconduct in the workplace. Days after the complaint was filed, Pearl was formally notified that the city was recommending his firing. He was accused of falsifying time documents for a subordinate who was also perceived by those in the workplace to be gay. He was then terminated on August 30, 2011. He reported the situation to the state regulators, advising them that the firing was retaliation motivated by his perceived homosexuality. He also attempted to fight back against his firing through internal procedures with the L.A. Board of Civil Service Commission.

After 13 months off the job, the panel determined his firing was unfounded and Pearl was reinstated. While Pearl was off the job, a supervisor continued showing the digitally altered photo of Pearl to employees. When Pearl returned, he received a lower-paying day shift, regularly faced accusations of misconduct, and was given the same supervisor who had been showing the digitally altered photograph to employees. The leadership in the workplace referred to Pearl using derogatory terms and continued the bullying campaign by circulating offensive messages and leaving objects on Pearl’s desk suggestive of or related to homosexual behavior.

In court documentation, the city contended that Pearl did not complain internally regarding the alleged mistreatment that was occurring and also claimed this his work assignments were dictated by budget cuts and a diminished staff.

The California lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2014. Pearl, who is now 55 years old, has been on permanent disability. He suffers from both physical and psychological damage as a result of the discrimination.

If you experience discrimination or harassment in the workplace, please get in touch with one of the experienced California employment law attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.

Tesla, Inc. Faces Racial Discrimination Suit Plus Retaliation Allegations

A 44-year old African American man out of Oakland, California, DeWitt Lambert, claims he experienced harassment and discrimination while he was employed as an assembly line worker in a Tesla factory in Fremont, California. The original suit was based on racial discrimination as well as a long list of claims of California state labor law violations, but more recently, the plaintiff added an additional charge to the allegations: retaliation.

Lambert claims that management at Tesla ignored his complaints while allowing co-workers to taunt him at work with the “N-word” as well as other obvious racial slurs. Lambert also alleges that Tesla put him on administrative leave in March of 2017. This occurred right after the media published news that he filed a lawsuit.

In addition to the original problem, Lambert’s attorney has noted that Tesla is not providing him with sufficient payment for en employee placed on administrative leave. This after they announced publicly that they were placing on such. Lambert’s attorney noted that he is actually only receiving approximately ¼ of the amount he was receiving prior to filing the California lawsuit and being placed on administrative leave by the company. Typically, an employee on administrative leave receives the same pay that they received while on the job. This drastic “pay cut” led to the additional charge of retaliation.

An electrician by trade, Lambert moved to California in 2012 from his previous home in Alabama. When he landed the job at Tesla’s Fremont, California plant in April 2016, it was his dream job. He worked on the Tesla S model. According to court documents, harassing behavior became routine almost immediately. The harassment came from four male colleagues, all in their 20s. The harassing behavior included: filling Lambert’s pockets with nuts and screws, repeatedly using the “N-word,” inappropriate comments about Lambert’s penis, repeated theft of his phone with video messages left behind upon return, threats to his family, and even a physical assault during which one of the men placed a drill gun in Lambert’s buttocks while the other men watched.

A transcript of a recording made in October 2015 of the harassing behavior was included in the state of claim. The recording was made on Lambert’s iPhone and the following was pulled from the recording, “Nigger, we take your ass home, nigger. Shred you up in pieces, nigger. Cut you up, nigger. Send your ass so everyone in your family so everybody can have a piece of you, nigger. Straight up, nigger. We get down like that, nigger.”

Lambert went on record in a press release published in March of 2017 saying that when he started work at Tesla he was the “happiest” he had ever been. This feeling was followed by experiencing discrimination worse than any he had been exposed to while growing up in Alabama. He stated that the behavior he experienced on the job left him scared for his safety when it was time to leave the plant and head home. He requested help from management at the Tesla plant, but none was offered.

If you fear workplace retaliation or if you are experiencing a negative workplace environment, harassment or discrimination in the workplace, please get in touch with an experienced California employment law attorney at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.

According to a 2015 Study, Women in Forest Service Face Assault & Retaliation

In a recently released study or “workplace environment assessment” of the Pacific Southwest Region obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, it is reported that women in the Forest Service industry working in California reported enduring sexual misconduct, harassment and fear of retaliation if they voiced complaints. General satisfaction with the workplace was voiced by many employees, but the 2015 survey indicates that there is a clear difference when responses are considered by gender. Women were significantly more likely to identify serious problems.

The grievances covered in the study ranged widely from misdeeds to mismanagement, but they did seem reminiscent of complaints lodged by women in the military and other general federal agencies. Some notable concerns included: inappropriate behavior from supervisors on the job, derogatory or patronizing attitudes towards women on the job, a lack of accountability when issues arise, a lack of respect towards subordinates, etc.

One conclusion noted in the study was that a male-dominated workforce can lead to a number of negative consequences for women in the field.

The report was commissioned by the Forest Service. It was prepared by a consulting firm, ICF International, and provided to McClatchy on May 18th after a December 1st FOIA request. The report falls in line with other, similar investigations conducted by congressional committee as well as the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General. All the sources identified similar “management missteps” and alleged mistreatment of women on the job in the National Park Services. Some view it as an exposure of a systemic problem in the government’s public lands departments and agencies. It was indicated that remote locations where a separate code of conduct for providing discipline is seen as acceptable might have contributed to the problem.

Members of the Congressional Caucus on Women’s Issues hoped to have a hearing later in 2017 regarding the National park Service and Forest Service workforce controversies.

If you have questions about workplace retaliation or if you experience sexual harassment in the workplace, please get in touch with one of the experienced California employment law attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.

Discrimination Lawsuit Filed by Terminated IT Workers

The University of California is facing a potential lawsuit due to a group of IT workers who were replaced by an offshore outsourcing firm. The former IT workers allege age and national origin discrimination and hope to challenge their dismissal. The tech workers claim that they were victims of age and national origin discrimination due to the university’s San Francisco campus’ decision to dismiss them in favor of outsourcing the work.

The IT workers lost their jobs in February after the university hired an India based IT services firm called HCL. Due to this decision, approximately 50 full time university employees lost their employment. Another 30 long-term contractor positions were also cut. While replacing IT workers with offshore labor is common enough in the private sector, it is almost unheard of at this type of state-supported, public facility.

The university is facing even more criticism due to the fact that the workforce under discussion is overwhelmingly over the age of 40 and they are being replaced by individuals mainly in their early 20’s. Due to this fact, age discrimination will be included in the list of allegations.

Another claim that will be included is the national origin discrimination claim. This is the result of taking a workforce that is an accurate reflection of the diversity in California’s general population and replacing them with a group of people that are all from one particular part of the world – a very limited geographical area.

While there have only been a few civil cases alleging national origin discrimination in offshore outsourcing, interest is increasing as the situation proceeds and the issue itself seems to be gaining a foothold that could bode well for the plaintiffs and others in similar situations. The lawsuit will be filed in Alameda County Superior Court.

If you need to discuss age discrimination in your workplace or if you have been wrongfully terminated, please contact an experienced California employment law attorney at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik today.

UploadVR Sued by Former Employee for Wrongful Termination and Sexual Harassment

The former director of digital and social media for UploadVR is suing the startup for sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and gender discrimination. The lawsuit claims that UploadVR and co-founders, Taylor Freeman and Will Mason, willfully created a “boy’s club” in the workplace that was focused on degrading women and sex with the degradation of women focused on other employees who happened to be female.

The lawsuit was filed on May 15th in the Superior Court of California. The suit described UploadVR as a breeding ground for out of control sexual behavior, inappropriate sexual focus, and an overall unbearable workplace environment for the plaintiff and other female employees.

Some of the claims made by the plaintiff regarding the inappropriate workplace environment include:

·       Mason and Freeman hosting office parties where the co-founders discussed the amount of sex they would have at the party, how many girls they would have sex with, etc.

·       A room set aside at the UploadVR offices with a bed set aside specifically for sex during parties, and/or strippers or prostitutes invited by employees to attend the parties.

·       Male employees receiving higher pay rates than females in equivalent positions.

·       Female employees not being reimbursed for business expenses.

The defendant, UploadVR, is based in San Francisco, California. The company creates and offers training courses for developers of virtual reality software and hardware. Freeman is currently serving as the company’s president. He and Mason both issued a statement that dismissed the claims made in the lawsuit. While declining to comment directly as it is pending litigation, they did express that they felt their employees were their greatest asset and the sole reason they were in the business. They claim to be committed to creating a positive company culture and state that they will continue to further develop that mission in the future. They stated that they felt confident that the truth regarding how they treat their employees and how they operate their business would be made clear during the course of the case. They feel the allegations will be found without merit.

If you need to discuss discrimination in the workplace or if you feel that you were wrongfully terminated, please get in touch with one of the experienced California employment law attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik as soon as possible.

California Litigant in Wrongful Termination Suit Has a Heart Attack

Former tennis commentator, Doug Adler, a litigant bringing a wrongful termination suit in a California case, recently suffered a heart attack. Adler, a former tennis commentator who served as a tennis analyst and commentator for ESPN before he was terminated, blames the heart attack on the stress related to the legal dispute he is having with his previous employer.

Based out of California, Adler was working the Australian Open on January 18th of 2017 when he made a comment related to the combative/aggressive style of play being exhibited by the well-known tennis player, Venus Williams, that started the entire ordeal. Adler described her style of play as “the guerilla effect” and quickly came under fire – first by the public on social media and then by ESPN, his long time employer. Adler maintains in his wrongful termination lawsuit that the term “guerilla” he used to describe Williams’ game is a term that has been used previously to describe aggressive tennis play. Many viewers and listeners interpreted the comment as “gorilla” and assumed it was a derogatory and racist remark in connection to Williams being African-American. Adler was essentially accused of uttering a racial slur on air. Instead of backing their analyst, ESPN required him to produce an on-air apology the next day. When the criticism kept coming ESPN fired Adler.

Adler has since stated that he regrets the way that ESPN handled the non-issue. Their response to the public misinterpretation and subsequent backlash effectively branded Adler, his character and his reputation for life and essentially black listed him in his industry. Future opportunities that were previously open to Adler in the sporting and business worlds are now closed to him because his previous employer, ESPN, has branded him a racist publicly. He states in his suit that he has suffers serious emotional distress and harm due to the false accusations and is adamant that he is not and has never been a racist. He is also adamant that the word “guerilla” is a word that is commonly used in the world of tennis to describe aggressive/combative play and that it is an acceptable description.

Adler’s recent heart attack came after the wrongful termination lawsuit was filed. It is not known how this will affect the lawsuit going forward. According to major news outlets, Adler is claiming intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and economic hardship. The suit names ESPN, ESPN Senior Vice President Mark Gross, and Vice President Jamie Reynolds and seeks unspecified damages. Some are now wondering if these “damages” will now include medical costs.

If you need to discuss wrongful termination with an experienced California employment law attorney, please contact us at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.

Wrongful Termination Suit Against Malibu Rehabilitation Center

More than $375,000 in attorneys’ fees was granted to an ex-human resources director for a Malibu-based rehabilitation center. She had already been awarded $1.8 million by the jury after allegations of being fired for reporting workplace violations.

Judge William Fahey, Los Angeles Superior Court judge, stated that Cynthia Begazo of Playa del Rey was entitled to $375,570 from Passages Malibu. His legal counsel sought close to $680,000, but Passages Malibu insisted this amount was excessive considering the case. Begazo filed the wrongful termination lawsuit in September of 2015. Allegations included workplace retaliation, age discrimination and disability discrimination. Arguments regarding attorneys’ fees were heard on May 8th and Fahey took the motion under submission prior to ruling on May 17th.

Other defendants named in the case in addition to Passages Malibu, included: Grasshopper House LLC, Passages Silverstrand in Port Hueneme, Passages Malibu co-founders (Chris Prentiss and his son, Pax Prentiss), and Begazo’s direct supervisor, Marina Mahoney.

According to the suit, Begazo, aged 55, advised her supervisors on the job that she had been diagnosed with leukemia upon her hiring in March 2015. That same month, she states she informed Pax Prentiss that there were some maintenance workers, servers and housekeepers who were not receiving appropriate overtime pay, meal and rest breaks in accordance with both state and federal law. According to Begazo, Prentiss replied by stating, “Don’t worry about it, you have bigger things to worry about.”

In direct contradiction to Begazo’s claims, Pax Prentiss testified that he fired Begazo because her performance was sub-par. He also stated that she did not follow orders on the job to meet with managers at other locations or put in the extra time necessary to get the department running or assist required recruiting efforts.

According to the suit, a patient at the Passages facility in Ventura was found dead in his room with a bag and trashcan over his head as well as scratches to his face. When this occurred in April 2015, Mahoney spoke to detectives about the patient’s death, but when Begazo insisted that the incident should be reported to appropriate civil authorities as well as the center’s insurance carrier, Mahoney advised her not to report any of it before leaving the room. The suit continues, stating that Begazo took a week off in early May 2015 due to an infection related to her previously discussed leukemia. She returned to work two months later, but was advised that same day that she was terminated.

If you have questions about what constitutes wrongful termination or if you have been wrongfully terminated, please get in touch with an experienced California employment law attorney at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.