Mesriani Law Group Hands $64K Settlement for Age Discrimination Victim

LOS ANGELES - Oct. 30, 2014 - PRLog -- The offending party, a California nonprofit organization, along with its supervisors, subjected client-employee to discriminatory, harassing, and retaliatory conduct because of her age. According to case records, she began her employment there in 1995 as an account manager, and was promoted to chief financial officer (CFO) a year or so later. Her duties included, but were not limited to, overseeing and managing financial matters and investments for the organization.

During her 17-year tenure with her employer, she performed her duties responsibly and diligently, receiving excellent performance reviews and recommendations from her immediate supervisors. However, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the organization, who was hired around May 2010, began to express his displeasure over her, in which he assigned her with more responsibilities. On numerous occasions, he would ask her to resign from her position. She believed that the CEO was purposely assigning her more tasks in order to get her to voluntarily resign.

Retaliation towards client-employee began when she filed a complaint with the HR department about the CEO’s deliberate attempt to harm her privacy. Apparently, while she was on leave, the CEO disclosed her and her husband’s financial information to a debt collection agency without her knowledge and approval. Although he was able to apologize to her when she returned from her leave, she told him that she would forward her complaints to the organization’s board if it were to happen again.

From then on, the CEO would retaliate against client-employee by taking away some of her CFO duties and excluding her in IT or financial meetings. He even reprimanded her after a meeting held around March 2011 for expressing her recommendation, which contradicted his. Furthermore, he told her that the board wanted her to be excluded from all financial and executive meetings. When she tried to ask him to validate his claim, he failed to do so yet told her to refrain from contacting the board members. He likewise threatened her to resign if she insisted to be in those meetings.

Six months into his tenure, the CEO terminated at least three employees, all of which were 40 years or older. Client-employee could only watch her co-workers let go and be replaced with younger employees with little or no experience. If that wasn’t enough, she was tasked to train them, adding additional work to her already hectic schedule.

Consequently, client-employee strongly felt that she was being discriminated, harassed and retaliated on account of her age. It was evident in the case records that the CEO was trying to set her up to fail by withholding information from her so that she could not effectively perform her tasks. Also, she was continuously excluded from important meetings with the board, putting her on a negative light and even accusing her of not being cooperative. Retaliatory conduct notwithstanding, she continued to perform her duties as satisfactorily as possible.

After enduring the CEO’s hostile attitude, client-employee decided to complain about his harassing conduct. On May 23, 2012, she made a verbal complaint to another CEO about it, but he refused to resolve the issue, telling her that he is “not supposed to be involved with employee matters.” The next day, she wrote to the organization’s board members about the continued harassment, discrimination and retaliation. However, the other CEO wrote her back and stated “You have escalated this to a different level with your email to the executive board. You are now leveling accusations against the CEO that are serious.” Although she explained in a reply letter the ordeal she went through, nothing was done to remedy the situation.

A month later, following her doctor’s advice, she went on disability leave on June 4, 2012 due to her worsening physical condition brought by the stress and anxiety she was experiencing in the workplace, not to mention the board’s inaction. But when she filed for workers’ compensation, a memorandum purporting as a warning against her performance was attached in her personnel file. It was the discriminating CEO’s attempt to justify her eventual termination, although the frivolous write-up was never seen nor signed by her.

Subsequently, on January 29, 2013, when she was ready to resume work, she was informed by the other CEO that the organization “has eliminated [her] position as Chief Financial Officer. Your employment with [organization] is immediately terminated.” However, she alleged that she was replaced by a young male, a 25-year-old Lebanese who was hired with a different title but with all the same duties of a CFO. She alleged that the new “CFO” was actually a relative of the CEO.

It was evident in the foregoing that the CEO created a hostile working environment for client-employee, who was approximately 55 years old at the time the CEO was hired. Because of his unlawful discrimination and harassment towards her on account of her age, her overall well-being was jeopardized. Her illegal termination caused her to suffer psychological injury, depression, anxiety, tension, and stress. She also lost potential wages that she would have earned if not for the reprehensible acts of the organization towards her.

Months after her termination, she filed complaints with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), who then provided her with a right-to-sue notice. She then hired the expert Los Angeles employment and labor lawyers of the Mesriani Law Group, wasting no time in evaluating her claim and representing her.

The law firm, with its over 15 years of litigation experience handling wrongful termination and age discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases, successfully secured a favorable settlement of $64,000.00 settlement for client-employee. Said result once again proved the reputable law firm’s expertise in delivering positive results, exacting justice for its oppressed clients.

http://www.mesrianilaw.com/