Shegerian & Associates, Inc. • Protecting Your Rights •

Rael was a 35-year employee and at the time of her separation 54 years of age.  Her record was stellar.  However, once new direct supervisors came into the picture, Rael began to be victimized by frequent harassing and offensive comments, including “you are outdated,” “we need younger workers in here,” “you are part of the old culture,” “unwilling to follow the new culture,” “you are resistant to change,” and “you need to change,” among numerous other comments. Rael’s work load was suddenly increased, she was refused training (despite younger employees freely receiving training), she was treated differently (and noticeably) by her supervisors compared to younger employees, denied her applications for higher positions under false pretenses in favor of a younger employee and told by Estavillo, who was under 40 years of age, “We just didn’t want you.”

Client Bobby Dean Nickel, a 66 year old man at the time of termination, obtained a verdict against his former employer Staples Contract & Commercial and Staples, Inc. for age discrimination. Nickel, a nine year employee of Defendant, was fired for stealing a $0.68 bell pepper after he expressed to management his plans on continuing to work for Staples, Inc until “he was physically able to.” Plaintiff was awarded $26.1 million dollars in total damages – the largest employment related award of its kind in the Los Angeles legal history.

April Rodriguez was awarded $16.5 million in punitive damages by a Los Angeles jury that found her former employer discriminated against her because of a mental disability and wrongfully fired her, bringing her total award to $21.7 million.

After working for McWane, Inc. for only a few years, Rickey Moland, the company’s first African American manager, was terminated after being called deragatory names and being harassed on the job despite excellent work performance. A jury found in favor of Moland for wrongful termination and racial discrimination resulting in a $16,673,514.00 jury verdict.

Dr. Pinter-Brown was the former director of the Lymphoma Department at UCLA Medical. After she began raising concerns of harassment by a male colleague, she was targeted in various audits, had research privileges suspended, her title stricken, and her reputation harmed. The University made no significant efforts to remedy the situation, forcing Dr. Pinter-Brown to “play dead” at work to avoid confrontation before ultimately resigning her employment with UCLA. The jury found in her favor for her claims of gender discrimination and gender retaliation under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

After 23 1/2 years of service, a machine operator was terminated after she expressed concern to her employer about the safety of the machines. The employer refused to stop or even consider stopping the machines, and the client was treated as an outsider in retaliation for voicing her concerns. She was ultimately terminated.

Client Robert Leggins was fired after 27 years with Rite Aid, following years of bias stemming from a 2007 incident in which he was injured while trying to prevent his store from being robbed. Leggin’s injuries required multiple surgeries and medical leaves, and left him restricted in the ability to move heavy objects. Instead of accommodating him, managers deliberately forced Leggins to perform tasks that caused him pain, heaped more work on him when he complained, and accused him of being a slacker.

Shegerian’s client worked as a model on The Price is Right for almost eight years. Cochran was recognized by her colleagues and producers as an extremely professional and dedicated model. Shortly after attempting to return from her pregnancy leave in January 2009, Cochran was fired from the show. She subsequently filed claims for pregnancy and disability discrimination, in addition to wrongful termination.

Client Michele Daniel obtained the verdict against the Texas-based oil refinery, Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company. The lawsuit involved Michele Daniel’s claims for disability discrimination against Tesoro’s local facility in Wilmington where she had worked for 18 years. In the last years of her employment, Daniel suffered an on-the-job injury to her knee requiring surgery and other medical treatment. Following temporary accommodations from a predecessor corporation, Daniel was not accommodated and terminated by Tesoro’s management.

Client Talbert Mitchell was discriminated against as a result of a disability and ultimately fired for being a whistleblower after working with SEIU for 21 years. A jury returned a verdict of $8.46 million in the case.

Shegerian & Associates was successful in obtaining justice for a former pharmacy technician who was employed through Rite Aid Corporation in the Los Angeles area for 23.5 years. Our client had her career of 23 years wiped away when she was wrongfully terminated, harassed and had her privacy rights invaded.

Client Kandi Dudley began working for defendant in 2007 as a mental health therapist. In August of 2011 plaintiff was diagnosed with breast cancer. Throughout Dudley’s employment, she received excellent written performances. Plaintiff Kandi Dudley alleges that shortly after she informed defendant of her medical condition and requested accommodation, she was discriminated against because of her disability/cancer, and wrongfully terminated. The case was settled, with a non confidential clause, for $8,000,000.00. We are happy to confirm that Kandi is healthy and in remission.

Client, Jose Juarez, worked for RadioShack Corporation for nine years, won “manager of the month” ten times and contributed to the success of the stores he managed. Juarez was terminated when he refused to become more aggressive in pushing products to the public.

Our client, legendary Los Angeles Times columnist TJ Simers, is very gratified that the jury saw the truth and vindicated him on his claims for age and disability discrimination, including for wrongful constructive termination. The award of just over $7.1 million ends a loss of career odyssey suffered by Mr. Simers in 2013. This battle was long and hard for Mr. Simers and his wonderful family. Mr. Simers was falsely labeled by the Times’ defense attorney during trial as an egotistical and self-centered man who put his interests ahead of that of the readers. The truth couldn’t have been farther from who Mr. Simers actually is – a great columnist who received 22 years of amazing accolades from the Times before. After Mr. Simers suffered a life threatening disability illness the Times cut short his 40 year wonderful career and financial stability. (Attached as Trial Exhibit 36 is the last performance appraisal Mr. Simers received before his March 16, 2013 mini-stroke – just 4 months before the Times removed him from his columnist position based on false allegations of ethical issues. Attached is the Timeline of events that show exactly what Mr. Simers went through.)

Shegerian & Associates recently won a $6.0 million verdict against Rite Aid. Maria Martinez, a former long-term employee of Rite Aid, filed the lawsuit after she was terminated after taking a medical leave of absense for a serious health condition and made a complaint about sexual harassment.

Shegerian & Associates recently won a $4.5 million verdict against the Asian American Drug Abuse Program (AADAP). Della Hill, a former long-term employee of AADAP, filed the lawsuit against AADAP after losing her job while she was on a protected medical leave.

Earlier this week, Kourtney Liggins, a former Catholic school teacher, was awarded $3.57 million in a verdict against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for wrongful termination. A Los Angeles Supreme Court Jury also awarded Liggins $87,000 in punitive damages against Archdiocese’s Father Michael Tang.

In Palma v. Rite Aid Corporation, a case involving disability discrimination and retaliation, a jury issued a $3.5 million verdict.

Client, James Duffy, had compromised cognitive abilities due to two traumatic brain injuries, one that had placed him in a coma for half of a year. Duffy worked for 16 years as a park maintenance worker for the City of Los Angeles until an intolerant manager was put in charge of him and harassed him with continuous verbal slurs and threats.

Shegerian & Associates’ client worked for less than one year as a salesperson. When our client complained about not receiving wages due to her, she was fired, causing her serious emotional injury and financial distress.

This Shegerian & Associates client who had worked for many years for a major corporation attempted to return to work after being on maternity leave. Instead, she was terminated shortly after her pregnancy leave ended.

Two employees of a bank in Orange County were labeled “unethical” and terminated after they made internal complaints about wage issues.

In Taylor v. Biomet, a case involving discrimination and defamation claims, a jury issued a verdict in favor of our client for $2.2 million.

After many years of hard work for a large corporation, this Shegerian & Associates client requested needed worksite accommodations for her minor disabilities. The employer refused the accommodations and terminated her because of the disabilities.

Our client was entrusted to oversee students at a school that was not complying with state safety regulations. When our client expressed concern to the employer about the violations of safety regulations, she was fired.

Our client, Cynthia Begazo, was awarded $1,829,160.00 by a Los Angeles jury that found that she had been retaliated against based upon her complaints of others being discriminated against due to disability, and also retaliated against by her supervising managers after she blew the whistle on what she considered to be suspected illegality in relation to a deceased patient found on the premises.

Constance Tovar and Victoria Gacitua had worked at a local branch of Bank of America for 32 and 16 years, respectively. The two alleged that after a new branch manager was hired, the new manager tried to force Tovar and Gacitua to attend meetings where the two employees were strongly encouraged to retire. Additionally, they alleged that the new manager began making comments to them, saying they were “too old” and “too slow” to fulfill the responsibilities of their positions. Then, in May 2001, the two were terminated. They subsequently filed a suit, claiming the bank had discriminated against them on the basis of their age (they were in their late fifties at the time) and had wrongfully terminated them. The court found the defendant guilty of age discrimination, wrongful termination, workplace harassment, and malice, and Tovar and Gacitua were awarded a $1.6 million verdict.

Our client worked for Alcoa Fastening Systems, a division of Alcoa, since 1973, and was struck by a large falling transformer while on the job. After returning from medical leave, our client experienced discriminatory behaviors at the hands of Alcoa, such as disability discrimination, failure to accomidate his disability, harassment, retaliation, and ultimately wrongful termination. With the help of Shegerian & Associates, our client was awarded $208,915 for past lost earnings; $130,572 for future lost earnings; $800,000 for past mental suffering; and $400,000 for future mental suffering, for a total of $1,539,497.

Shegerian & Associates’ client worked as a pilates instructor and alleges she was wrongfully terminated and retaliated against which resulted in emotional distress. A jury agreed with those allegations, resulting in a $1.3 million verdict.

Shegerian & Associates’ client worked as a salesperson for 22 years at a mass distribution company in Los Angeles, worked for the company since 1987. She was fired in March of 2009 in what the employer called a lay-off. Our client won her age harassment and breach of implied employment contract not to terminate without good cause claim.

Our client was terminated shortly after he advised his employer of his sexual orientation. His employer manufactured false reasons, wrote our client up for issues it did not write other employees up for and fired him.

This Shegerian & Associates client worked for a high-end retail store for twelve years. His employer had promised him that as long as he performed his job well, he would always have a job with the company. The employer later fired our client — falsely claiming the termination was due to his legal working papers being invalid.

This hard working client was terminated because he refused to fire another employee and pay that employee’s severance out of wages he had earned himself. Further, this client was not paid wages owed to him for overtime and double overtime.

This Shegerian & Associates client was subjected to sexual harassment on the job by her direct supervisor. Her supervisor denied the harassment when our client complained about it and then fired her, claiming that it was due to “corporate downsizing.”