Plaintiff worked for defendant since 1979 and was consistently praised for her work. In 2006, she began working under a new supervisor. The new supervisor made numerous “condescending” comments about plaintiff’s Hispanic heritage, criticized her work and told employees “that he did not want employees speaking Spanish around him. After a number of incidents, plaintiff was […]
Disney’s Procedures Did Not Amount To A Lack Of Reasonable Accommodation.
Disabled woman brought an action against Disney because Disneyland has a policy barring Segway devices from the park. The trial court granted summary judgment to Disney after finding it established that a Segway is an unstable two-wheeled device that could accelerate quickly, either forward or backward and injure the rider and/or others if the rider is […]
United States Supreme Court Issues Proposition 8 Opinion.
On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling on the Proposition 8 matter in an opinion authored by John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States. After first noting the public is currently engaged in an active political debate over whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, the high […]
DOMA Found Unconstitutional By High Court.
Two New York women were lawfully married in Canada in 2007. One of them died in 2009, leaving her entire estate to the survivor who sought to claim the estate tax exemption for surviving spouses. The Defense of Marriage Act [28 U.S.C. § 1738C ; DOMA] barred her from succeeding on her exemption claim. § 3 […]
Employer Not Responsible For Actions Of A Co-Worker Toward Plaintiff.
Plaintiff, an African American woman, brought an action against her employer alleging she had been subjected to a racially hostile work environment by a co-worker, who is a white woman. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the employer because the co-worker was not plaintiff’s supervisor and could not hire, fire, demote, promote, transfer […]
Disabled Placard, Or License Plate? Try To Figure This One Out!
Vehicle Code section 22511.5, permits unrestricted parking for vehicles with a disabled placard, or license plate, even when there are signs limiting parking time. So far, so good. But what if there are no signs but only a municipal ordinance limiting parking time? This was the issue in Spicer v. City of Camarillo (Cal. App. Second Dist., […]
Summary Judgment Affirmed On Harassment Claim But Reversed On Retaliation Claim.
Plaintiff worked for a construction company. Her supervisors used foul language, referred to a woman with large breasts as “Double D,” told plaintiff she was lucky because women had multiple orgasms, and asked her whether women “got off” when they used a particular type of tampon. At one point, she was told to wear a French […]
Law Firm’s Arbitration Petition Denied In Employment Case.
In an employment discrimination action, defendant law firm petitioned to compel arbitration of the claims based on a letter agreement: “You and the Firm agree that any legal disputes which may occur between you and the Firm and which arise out of, or are related in any way to your employment with the Firm or its […]
“Me-Too” Evidence Properly Excluded In Employment Discrimination Case.
Plaintiff alleged he was discriminated against by his employer because of his Japanese ancestry and Asian race. A jury found in favor of the employer and found no employment discrimination. Plaintiff brought an unsuccessful motion for new trial, arguing the trial court erred in excluding evidence that a supervisor “openly favored employees of Arab ancestry.” The […]
Partner In Medical Group Has Standing To Sue Under FEHA.
A doctor was the regional director for an emergency physicians’ medical group with 700 partners who work in emergency rooms throughout California. She served on the Board of Directors for 11 months when she was terminated from her position as regional director after she reported that “certain officers and agents” of the group had sexually harassed […]