DISCRIMINATION based on disability, race, sex, or other protected characteristics are prohibited by law. The law prohibits not only intentional discrimination, but also practices that have the effect of discriminating against individuals because of their protected characteristics.
The law also prohibits retaliating against employees who report about discrimination. Retaliation is illegal and may subject the employer to damages. Retaliation may exists if the employee engaged in protected activity, the employer knew or believed that the employee engaged in such protected activity and fired, demoted, or disciplined the employee for engaging in the protected activity.
Although not every discrimination and retaliation case results in multi-million verdicts, the size of the verdicts shows how seriously these claims are taken by the courts and the juries. More importantly, it shows that when this unlawful conduct occurs, all hope is not lost, and that legal remedies are available to protect the victimized employee.
Consider the case of James Duffy
Mr. Duffy, a 63 year-old Caucasian man, worked as a gardener for 19 years for the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Recreation and Parks. Mr. Duffy was forced to retire after being harassed and discriminated by his supervisors. He filed a lawsuit against the City and his supervisors claiming discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. The jury awarded him $3.25 million in damages.
Mr. Duffy said the racial discrimination against him began when Abel Perez became his foreman. Mr. Perez and most of the other workers were Hispanic. In a meeting, Perez had said, “I hate white people,” twice. Duffy was the only Caucasian gardener. Perez gave him bad assignments, refused to provide him assistants even though Hispanic gardeners have two, and passed him up for promotions. One supervisor, Laura Baurenfeind, was upset that Mr. Duffy refused to loan her $5,000 and she falsified documents so he would not get a pay raise.
When Mr. Duffy suffered short-term memory problems as a result of a job-related accident, his supervisors increased their harassment of Mr. Duffy by telling him he had not been given assignments when he had or that he had failed to complete assignments that were never given.
The discrimination and harassment became worse when Mr. Duffy complained about them. Finally, when the City took no action, Mr. Duffy was forced to retire from his job “under extreme stress.”
In February 2011, Mr. Duffy filed a case against his three supervisors and the City of Los Angeles. Mr. Duffy sued for discrimination, racial, age, and disability harassment, and retaliation for complaining about the discrimination and harassment. The employer and the supervisors denied the employee’s claims.
After a jury trial, the jury awarded the employee $380,000 in economic damages and $2,875,000 in non-economic damages for a total award of $3,255,000.
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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully obtained significant results, including several million dollar recoveries for consumers against insurance companies and employers. He has been selected as a Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum – a prestigious group of trial lawyers whose membership is limited to those who have demonstrated exceptional skill, experience and excellence in advocacy. He has been featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements for his professional accomplishments and recipient of numerous awards from community and media organizations. His litigation practice concentrates in the following areas: wage and hour (overtime) litigation, serious personal injuries, wrongful death, insurance claims, and unfair business practices. His law firm is currently class counsel to thousands of employees seeking payment of wages in California courts. You can visit his website at www.joesayaslaw.com or contact his office by telephone at (818) 291-0088. Inquiries to his law office are welcome and at no cost.