California has a reputation for being a fairly employee-friendly state, perhaps even the most employee-friendly state. Comprehensive anti-discrimination laws provide far more protection to employees in California than federal anti-discrimination laws. For example, California law protects employees from being discriminated against based on sexual orientation or gender identity, two categories that are not explicitly protected by federal law. It is really no wonder California juries continue to return verdicts sympathetic to the plaintiff as opposed to the defendant, or the employer in these contexts. Let’s look at some recent examples of how juries view violations of workers’ rights.
1. Michael Tilkey v. Allstate
Michael Tilkey worked at Allstate for 30 years, working his way up to field sales leader, for which he supervised 30 independent agents and support staff. In spite of his excellent performance at work, he was fired with no warning in May of 2015. He was told that “threatening anyone” violated company policy, which referred to an arrest from a year before based on charges brought by a previous girlfriend that were ultimately dropped. Although Allstate set up an interview with Tilkey about those charges at the end of 2014, Tilkey heard nothing else about it until he was suddenly fired several months later. Apparently, Allstate became aware of the incident between Tilkey and his ex-girlfriend when an email was flagged for review. After an initial investigation, they decided not to take action against him, but then the former girlfriend sent an emotional email to a CEO at the company and it was decided that Tilkey should be fired.
Tilkey filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Allstate, alleging he had never been convicted of a crime and Allstate violated the California Labor Code by using an arrest that did not lead to a conviction as a reason to fire him. He also charged his former employer with defamation, as he had been forced to defame himself when reporting to prospective employers why he was fired by Allstate. The San Diego jury that heard his case over the course of a week found in favor of Tilkey on both counts and awarded him a total of $2,663,137 in compensatory damages. They decided that it was clear Allstate had fired Tilkey based on records of his arrest, which is a violation of Labor Code 432.7, and had been untruthful when stating the reason for his termination, as Tilkey had not made any threats or physically harmed anyone. Beyond that, the jury decided that Allstate had behaved with malice, oppression, and/or fraud, which led to them awarding Tilkey $15,978,822 in punitive damages. Allstate might be planning to appeal the decision.
2. Codie Rael v. Danaher Corp.
Codie Rael worked for her employers for decades, most recently as a materials buyer and planner, until she was forced to quit in October of 2014. She worked in multiple different plant locations, including Glendora, San Dimas, and Orange. Rael stated that one of her alleged harassers, Estavillo, became her supervisor in March of 2014. Fernando Estavillo (under 40 years old) and his boss, Mark Valiquette, among others, were alleged to have made multiple derogatory comments about her, such as “you are outdated” and “you are part of the old culture.” Rael was also subject to remarks like “we need younger workers here” and was called a “dumb female.” In addition to such ageist comments, Rael alleged that after Estavillo was hired, her workload suddenly increased and she was denied training despite younger employees receiving it. Moreover, she claimed her applications for better positions were denied under false pretenses, and the positions were filled by younger employees. Rael also said Estavillo placed an extreme amount of pressure on her to perform her job precisely as he ordered or else he would fire her, which caused her emotional distress. Rael ultimately quit because of the toll the stress of her job was taking on her, although her resignation was regarded as a constructive discharge, which means she was able to sue for wrongful termination. When she was constructively discharged, a man in his 20s replaced her.
The Los Angeles jury that heard her case agreed that 58-year-old Rael had been victimized by age harassment, wrongful termination, and retaliation, in addition to finding that two of the implicated employers acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. Rael was awarded $28 million in punitive damages and $3 million in compensatory damages.
3. Ortiz v. Chipotle Mexican Grill
Jeanette Ortiz worked as a general manager at Chipotle, having been with the company for 14 years and having received stellar performance reviews throughout that time. She was even up for a promotion to a position that would have increased her salary from $70,000 to $100,000 a year. Instead of being promoted, though, she was fired for supposedly stealing hundreds of dollars from the restaurant’s safe. Chipotle claimed it had video evidence of this theft, but when asked to produce it, declined and later said it had been taped over. A witness’s testimony put this supposed evidence into further doubt, as an employee claimed to have seen the money a day after the supposed theft happened.
Needing not even a full day to deliberate, the Fresno jury found that Chipotle had schemed to fire and defame Ortiz due to her filing a workers’ compensation claim for a wrist injury (carpal tunnel syndrome) a month earlier in violation of retaliation law. Ortiz was fired while on medical leave for this injury. The jury awarded her $8 million for loss of wages, damage to her reputation, and emotional and mental distress. Instead of punitive damages, which could be up to nine times the nearly $8 million award, Ortiz and Chipotle settled on a confidential amount to finally end the 3-year lawsuit.
If you believe your rights as an employee have been violated if you have been discriminated or retaliated against, contact an employment attorney to figure out what your options are. You might be entitled to monetary damages.
