Retaliation

Plaintiff, a professional licensed by the state, was misclassified as an independent contractor and paid hourly but was not provided meal or rest breaks, nor was she paid for overtime. She brought the misclassification to her employer’s attention but did not ask for back pay, and simply asked to be reclassified. She was terminated due to “lack of work” one week later. This case presented potential exposure for Plaintiff’s claims, but also for the other 12 employees over a four-year period, as it could be a PAGA or class action.

Plaintiff was a nurse at an eye surgery clinic. She believed she observed one of the doctors switch the product insert information for one product with the insert belonging to another product after a failed procedure involving the first product. She reported the event to the governing authorities and told the doctors in her practice about her report. She was terminated within 10 days of her report.

Female Plaintiff complained about a coworker’s post on social media. She was accommodated with a full-time work from home format. Employer monitored Plaintiff’s production while on her assignment and terminated her for failure to put in the requisite hours. Plaintiff alleged that she worked full-time and that the company was unable to accurately track her time by simply monitoring her computer, and that the only reason she was monitored at all was because she complained about her coworker.

Plaintiff worked for a healthcare provider with two coworkers in the recruiting department. When one of her coworkers returned from her own maternity leave, Plaintiff reported her own pregnancy. Within two months of her pregnancy disclosure, she and the coworker who returned from maternity leave were laid off due to an alleged slowdown in business. The only employee retained in the recruiting department was the one who was not pregnant and who had not recently taken maternity leave.

Plaintiff worked for a leasing company and complained of racial discrimination by her coworkers. The company undertook an investigation which was inconclusive. At the conclusion of the investigation, Plaintiff took an unprotected leave of absence. During her leave, Plaintiff’s replacement discovered that she failed to pay months of invoices which threatened the utilities on several rental properties. Upon her return to work, Plaintiff was terminated.