Discrimination

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Ambat v. City & County of San Francisco, 2014 WL 2959634 (9th Cir. 2014)

The plaintiffs in this case are current and former deputies of the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department (“SFSD”) who challenged the SFSD’s policy prohibiting male deputies from supervising female inmates. The deputies contend that the policy violates Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination. The district court granted summary judgment to the…

Rosenfeld v. Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School, Inc., 226 Cal. App. 4th 886 (2014)

Ruth Rosenfeld sued the day school where she had worked as a teacher for 35 years after her hours were reduced and she was allegedly forced to resign. Rosenfeld asserted that age discrimination was a motivating factor in the reduction of her hours, though the school asserted that Rosenfeld’s hours…

Salas v. Sierra Chem. Co., 2014 WL 2883878 (Cal. S. Ct. 2014)

Vicente Salas worked on Sierra Chemical’s production line, filling containers with various chemicals. At the time of his hire, Salas provided Sierra with a resident alien card and a Social Security card and signed an Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9 Form). After allegedly injuring his back several times and presenting doctors’ notes…

On December 16, we obtained summary judgment on behalf of our client, Paramount Pictures Corporation, in a case brought by a former paralegal in the studio’s Business Affairs Administration department.  The plaintiff claimed discrimination, constructive discharge and wrongful termination on the basis of her race.  (The plaintiff was represented by Tom Girardi, who had previously represented Erin Brockovich.)  Yarbrough v. Paramount Pictures Corp., Los…

As regular readers of this blog know, it has been a busy summer for employment-related legislation in the California Legislature (see here and here). Yet of all the bills currently wending their way through the legislative process, none would affect California employment law more than Senate Bill 655. If enacted, SB 655 would modify the rule set forth in the California Supreme Court’s recent…

Lawler v. Montblanc N. Am., LLC, 704 F.3d 1235 (9th Cir. 2013)

Cynthia Lawler alleged disability discrimination, harassment, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) associated with the termination of her employment. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Montblanc, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that Montblanc had shown that Lawler could not perform the essential functions of…

Harris v. City of Santa Monica, No. S181004, 2013 Cal. LEXIS 941 (Feb. 7, 2013)

Wynona Harris, a bus driver for the City of Santa Monica (the City), alleged that she was fired because of her pregnancy in violation of the prohibition against sex discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).  The City denied Harris’s allegations and asserted as an affirmative defense that the City had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons to fire Harris.  At trial, the City asked the court to instruct the jury that if it found a mix of discriminatory and legitimate motives, the City could escape liability by proving that a legitimate motive alone would have led to the same decision.  The trial court refused the instruction and instead told the jury that Harris had to prove that her pregnancy was a “motivating factor/reason for the discharge.”  The jury found in favor of Harris and awarded her $177,905 in damages.  The Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the requested instruction was legally correct and that refusal to give the instruction was prejudicial error.

McGrory v. Applied Signal Tech., Inc., 2013 Cal. App. LEXIS 48 (Jan. 24, 2013)

John McGrory sued his former employer, alleging he was unlawfully retaliated against for being uncooperative and deceptive during a company investigation into allegations that he had discriminated against a subordinate employee on the basis of her gender and sexual orientation.  The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary…

Lui v. City and County of San Francisco, 211 Cal. App. 4th 962 (2012)

After suffering a major heart attack, Kenneth Lui retired from his position as a police officer with the San Francisco Police Department. After the Department informed him there were no administrative positions available that did not require him to perform the strenuous duties regularly performed by patrol officers in the…

Veronese v. Lucasfilm Ltd., 2012 WL 6628544 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012)

Julie Gilman Veronese sued Lucasfilm on a number of theories, including pregnancy discrimination, failure to prevent pregnancy discrimination and wrongful termination in violation of public policy. Following 11 days of trial and three days of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Veronese in the amount of $93,830 for past economic…