(Nurse fired for reporting safety issues awarded $1 million verdict)
Q: I WORK in a company where a supervisor bullies employees into working long hours without extra pay, threatening to fire them if they refuse. I complained about this to HR. Last week, one manager told me in secret that there will be lay-offs in the company due to financial reasons but that I will be the first to go because I’m a trouble-maker. What are my rights?
A: Employees have the right to be paid proper wages or the right to be free of workplace harassment. If an employee complains to management that their rights are being violated, the employee should not be punished for doing so. Such punishment may be considered unlawful retaliation.
The law prohibits retaliation by an employer against an employee who has asserted, or who assisted another in asserting their legal rights. Retaliation is prohibited even if the employer may have a business reason for terminating employees. The above inquiry states the employer needs to lay-off some employees because of financial difficulties. Even if this is true, the employer cannot have retaliatory motives in deciding whom to let go.
How to tell if retaliation exists? Employees should ask themselves the following questions:
1) Did I do a protected activity, such as complain about unpaid wages, report discrimination, file a grievance, testify as a witness, or some other action to help enforce the law?
2) Did the employer know that it was me who complained?
3) Did I experience an “adverse employment action,” by being fired, demoted, or disciplined?
4) Did my complaint or testimony cause the employer to fire, demote, or discipline me?
If the answer to all of the above questions is yes, then the employee would be wise to consult with an experienced employment attorney for help in obtaining available remedies. Consider the following case:
In 2011, Vilma Dinham, then Chief Nursing Officer at Encino Hospital Medical Center, complained to the hospital’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Muhammad Anwar, about the hospital’s director of respiratory services, Hershee Cajigal. Cajigal boasted to co-workers about having an affair with Dr. Anwar and that Cajigal could get any of the employees at the hospital fired. When Ms. Cajigal’s comments didn’t stop, Ms. Dinham and other nurses complained to CEO Robert Bills, who in turn reported the problem to corporate. However, instead of dealing with the complaint, the company promoted Cajigal. On the other hand, Ms. Dinham was later terminated.
Dinham sued the employer for wrongful termination based on retaliation for her reporting about the affair between the CMO and Cagigal, for opposing Cajigal’s harassment of the employees, and for reporting patient safety issues.
The employer countered that Dinham was terminated for poor performance and due to a reduction in workforce. However, during trial, the CEO (Bills) testified that Dr. Anwar got mad at him for reprimanding Cajigal about her unprofessional work attire. Dr. Anwar also repeatedly told Bills to fire Ms. Dinham. Dr. Anwar, who was allegedly close friends with the hospital owner, told Bills “If you don’t get rid of her [Dinham], they are going to get rid of you.” (Bills was fired before Dinham.) As for Ms. Dinham’s alleged poor performance, the CEO said Ms. Dinham was “without question…the best chief nursing officer I’ve ever worked with in my career.”
The case went on to a jury trial, which lasted 20 days. After about one day of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the employee, finding that although the hospital had to reduce staff for financial reasons, retaliation was a substantial motivating factor in Dinham’s firing. The jury awarded Dinham $1,008,089 in damages ($120,000 for past emotional distress, $333,432 for past lost earnings, and $554,657 for future lost earnings).
Lay-offs cannot be used as an excuse to retaliate against employees who are trying to do the right thing at work. Employees who prove they were retaliated and wrongfully terminated may recover loss of earnings, emotional distress, and in certain cases, attorneys’ fees and costs, and punitive damages.
* * *
The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com.
* * *
C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully obtained significant recoveries for thousands of employees and consumers. He is named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, consistently selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum. (Advertising Supplement)