California Employment Lawyers Blog

In a recent Los Angeles California employment lawyers blog, Vincent Howard discussed two Hollywood wrongful termination lawsuits involving movie star Sharon Stone--who was recently sued by her former housekeeper and her former nanny, for violations of California and federal labor laws.

This week, pop star Usher made employment news headlines after his former nanny filed a wrongful termination and overtime lawsuit against the music icon, claiming that she was not paid for overtime hours while taking care of this two small children. Cecelia Duncan claimed in the wrongful termination lawsuit that she was hired as a part time nanny for the singer's children in 2010, but that she often worked over forty hours a week, with no overtime compensation.

Duncan reportedly told Usher in 2011 that she was being overworked without receiving proper overtime compensation. One year later in 2012, Duncan claims in her wrongful termination lawsuit that she was fired and never paid the extra overtime compensation for the hours that she worked while being employed by Usher.

The former nanny is suing Usher for wrongful termination, failure to pay proper overtime wages, and damages, although the damages were reportedly not specified in the lawsuit. Usher, according to the Hollywood Reporter was paid $7 million from hosting the wildly popular NBC show, "The Voice" in 2012. Usher's representative's made a statement that this lawsuit is completely without merit.

Continue reading "Usher Sued by Former Nanny for Wrongful Termination, Overtime Violations" »

In a recent Riverside, California employment lawyers blog, Vincent Howard reported on a Hollywood pregnancy discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit, after former model Brandi Cochran, from the popular game show, The Price is Right, was awarded $7.7 million in monetary damages by a Los Angeles jury. The award was overturned by a trial judge in March, who stated that he didn't properly instruct the jury. Cochran's attorney expects the damages to be higher in the re-trial.

In related Hollywood employment news, a colleague of Cochran's, Lanisha Cole, another former model on The Price is Right, has settled a Los Angeles sexual harassment lawsuit with the game show's producers and production company, FremantleMedia North America--where she accused a male producer of sexual harassment, and wrongful termination.

According to the lawsuit, Cole began working as a model on the show in 2003. Cole claims in her sexual harassment lawsuit that her mistreatment began in 2009, when one of the show's producers stopped talking to her, and started giving more favorable treatment to another model on the show.

Cole alleges in the lawsuit that after an incident occurred on the show in 2010, where she was unable to respond to an on-stage comment made by Drew Carey because she did not have a microphone--she was reprimanded by the same producer. Cole claims that after the incident, the producer barged into the models' dressing room in the middle of changing during a commercial and harassed and reprimanded her about the incident while she stood in front of the producer and her colleagues naked, only wearing thong underwear. She claims in the suit the producer didn't try to cover his eyes, or apologize about reprimanding her while she was undressed.

Continue reading "Former Price is Right Model Settles Sexual Harassment, Wrongful Termination Lawsuit" »

In a previous California employment attorneys blog, Vincent Howard discussed a recent California wage and hour lawsuit filed by former Hooters waitresses, who claimed to have been subjected to violations of California labor laws including tip sharing, working through meal and rest breaks, and being forced to buy their own uniforms, among other wage and hour violations.

In recent employment news, another former Hooters waitress has sued the restaurant company, this time for violating the Missouri Human Rights Act, for workplace discrimination based on a disability, and for wrongful termination.

According to the lawsuit, Sandra Lupo was forced to quit her job as a Hooters waitress, after preparing for brain surgery in July 2012 by shaving her head. Lupo reportedly underwent surgery to remove a large mass on her brain. After the surgery, when Lupo prepared to return to her waitressing position, a Hooters regional manager reportedly informed Lupo that she would need to wear a wig at the restaurant.

Lupo reportedly complied with the employment request, but found that the wig caused irritation with her surgical wound. Her lawsuit reportedly claims that because Lupo was unable to wear the wig while working, she was forced to leave her job. In response, Hooters allegedly cut her working hours to the point that the was forced to quit. The lawsuit also accuses Hooters of forcing Lupo to quit her job voluntarily so she would not be eligible to receive unemployment compensation.

Continue reading " Former Hooters Waitress Files Wrongful Termination Lawsuit" »

In a previous Santa Ana employment lawsuit blog, Vincent Howard reported on a major age discrimination lawsuit settlement filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against technology company 3M, after the company allegedly discriminated against employees who were over the age of 45.

The EEOC recently won another age discrimination lawsuit in federal court against another major technology company Radio Shack--after a judge decided the company was responsible for paying around $675,000 in damages for age discrimination and retaliation.

The EEOC lawsuit states that in 2007, David Nelson, a then 55-year-old Radio Shack employee with 25 years of experience at the company, was assigned a regional manager for supervision who was 43-years-old. Nelson, who reportedly had an excellent record of job performance, was then placed on two plans in four months to improve his job performance. Nelson felt he was being discriminated against based on his age, and within a week of filing the complaint with the human resources department, he was fired in alleged retaliation for his age discrimination complaint.

According to Vincent Howard, under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), it is against the law to discriminate against employees or job applicants who are forty years and older in the workplace, in regard to hiring, training, promotion, job assignments, job termination, layoffs or any employment compensation and benefits. Harassment or retaliation based on age is also illegal.

Continue reading "Radio Shack to Pay $675K in EEOC Age Discrimination and Retaliation Lawsuit" »

OWN, Oprah Winfrey's television network was sued last week in a lawsuit filed by a former employee--who claims that she experienced sex and pregnancy discrimination while working for the network.

In the Los Angeles, California pregnancy discrimination lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Carolyn Hommel, former employee for the OWN network, claims that she was hired as the senior director of OWN's scheduling and acquisitions in 2010. Hommel states in the suit that in 2011, she received favorable performance reviews with a raise, and was told she was en route to becoming a vice-president. When Hommel was forced to take a medical leave during her pregnancy, she claims that her job duties were replaced by a temporary employee.

After giving birth in March of 2012 and returning from maternity leave, Hommel alleges that she was laid off, but encouraged to re-apply for the vice president position. She claims in the lawsuit that she was passed over for the job, because her boss created a performance review that made her job responsibilities appear to be less senior than the new position required.

In the Los Angeles sex discrimination lawsuit, Hommel claims that her layoff and demotion were directly related to her becoming pregnant and requiring medical leave during pregnancy. The lawsuit alleges sex discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination, disability discrimination, retaliation and failure to compensate wages upon termination.

Continue reading "Oprah Winfrey's OWN Sued for Pregnancy Discrimination" »

HBO's short-lived television series Luck, starring Dustin Hoffman, was cancelled in last year, after the show was continually accused of the mistreatment of animals on set--during ten months of production, three horses were reportedly euthanized.

According to a recently filed Los Angeles, California lawsuit, that Costa Mesa-based attorney Howard has been watching develop, Barbara Casey, the former director of production in the American Humane Association's (AHA) television and film unit, is accusing the AHA of wrongful termination and retaliation, and claims that HBO and producer Stewart Productions aided and abetted in the alleged abuse of the horses and tried to cover up the horse safety violations during the show's filming.

Casey states in her wrongful termination lawsuit that after working for the AHA for thirteen years, she was wrongfully terminated after threatening to report HBO, Stewart Productions and the AHA to authorities for the mistreatment of animals. She also alleges in the lawsuit that Stewart Productions and HBO pressured the AHA into allowing them to violate the safety guidelines of the organization to save time and money.

The wrongful termination lawsuit claims that the animal abuses witnessed by the AHA include horses being sick or underweight and unsuited for the work that they were routinely used for, and horses being given drugs to perform. The production company and studio is also being accused of misidentifying horses so that the animal safety representatives, and/or the humane officers were not able to track the horses' medical histories and experience, and were therefore unable to properly judge whether they were suitable for work.

Continue reading "HBO and AHA Sued for Wrongful Termination Over Alleged Horse Death Cover Up On "Luck"" »

According to a recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) press release that Vincent Howard has been following, Dillard's Inc., a countrywide retail chain, has settled a class action disability discrimination lawsuit, brought by the commission for $2 million--after the company was found to have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

The disability discrimination lawsuit accused Dillard's of having a longstanding national practice and policy in place, that required employees to disclose all personal, as well as confidential medical information in order to receive approval for sick leave.

The EEOC originally filed the discrimination lawsuit in 2008 on behalf of California employee Corina Scott, a former Dillard's employee, as well as other employees who were required by the company to disclose the precise nature of their medical conditions, in order to receive sick leave approval since 2005.

The EEOC claims that while the disability discrimination class members had doctors' approval verifications to assure the company that their absences were indeed due to medical reasons, many of the employees felt uncomfortable revealing the details of their conditions to Dillard's--especially when many of their own doctors told them that it was against the law for an employer to ask for specific information about their medical conditions. Scott and other employees who refused to provide the personal details of their medical conditions, were then, according to the EEOC, fired in retaliation.

Continue reading "Dillard's Settles Class Action Disability Discrimination Lawsuit for $2M" »

A former model on the popular game show, The Price is Right, has recently been awarded $7,763,440 in monetary damages, after a Los Angeles Superior Court jury decided that The Price is Right Productions and FremantleMedia engaged in pregnancy discrimination and wrongful termination by firing the employee due to pregnancy.

Brandi Cochran, former Miss USA, sued the game show in 2010 for gender discrimination and wrongful termination when her employment was terminated after working for eight years as a 'Price is Right' model, after revealing that she was pregnant. Cochran claimed in her lawsuit, that Vincent Howard has been following, that over the course of her employment she had observed her employers harassing other models who revealed pregnancies on the show, and even delayed trying to conceive out of fear that she might lose her job. When she discovered she was pregnant in 2007, she reportedly kept the pregnancy a secret because she feared job termination.

Cochran also claimed that after finally telling one of the producers that she was pregnant, one producer responded that it was no surprise as Cochran's breasts had become so large, and another producer implied that had she not kept the pregnancy secret, she might have been one of the models who was fired. She was then reportedly pressured to give an announcement on the show that she was expecting twins, and when she started showing, Cochran claims that the producers stopped calling her to work. During this time Cochran stated that she was subjected to discriminatory jokes about her weight gain.

The lawsuit states that Cochran lost one of the twins, due to a miscarriage, and the other child was born premature, with health problems. Cochran claimed in the suit that this was an extremely stressful period, and she was trying to care for her baby's health needs, suffering from postpartum depression, and trying lose weight at the same time, to get back to work.

Continue reading "Former 'Price is Right' Model Awarded $7.7M for Pregnancy Discrimination, Wrongful Termination" »

Costa Mesa-based employment attorney Vincent Howard recently discussed a high profile pregnancy discrimination lawsuit in his Costa Mesa discrimination lawyers blog, settled by teenage retail clothing company dELiA*S--after two employees allegedly experienced pregnancy discrimination and retaliation after informing their managers that they were pregnant. The lawsuit was brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the clothing company reportedly paid $74,000 to the two employees to settle the suit.

In a similar EEOC lawsuit that Vincent Howard has been following, Sandbar Mexican Grill will pay $15,000 to settle a sex and pregnancy discrimination lawsuit, after an employee was allegedly removed from her Sunday work schedule during football season, because of her pregnancy.

According to the pregnancy discrimination lawsuit, Sandbar instituted an illegal policy of removing pregnant employees from the Sunday schedule to satisfy their male Sunday football customers. Sandbar was accused by the EEOC of starting this policy because the restaurant believed that male customers had no interest in seeing pregnant women working while they watched the football games on Sunday. The pregnant employee claimed that her Sundays shifts during football season were the most high paying shifts and losing football Sundays caused her a significant income loss.

As Vincent Howard regularly discusses in Howard Law's labor and employment blog, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or any medical conditions related to pregnancy is against the law. Women who are pregnant or who have medical conditions related to pregnancy, must receive the same fair treatment as other employees according to Title VII.

Continue reading "Sunday Football Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit Settled by EEOC" »

In this week's Orange County labor and employment lawyer news, that Howard Law's Vincent Howard has been following, swim coach Mark Schubert, who has served as U.S.A. Swimming National Team Director and head coach at Golden West swim club (GWSC), is being reportedly being sued for wrongful termination by a former employee.

The Orange County, California wrongful termination lawsuit reportedly claims that Dia Rianda, a coach hired by Schubert to help coach and operate Golden West, was fired after frequently alerting Schubert to the inappropriate behavior of William Jewell, GWSC assistant coach, who according to Rianda, touched and massaged young female swimmers inappropriately. Rianda claims that Schubert hired Jewell, even though he know that the Jewell, a former USC assistant coach, was under investigation by USA Swimming, the swimming sports' national governing body, for alleged sexual abuse charges.

According to Rianda's wrongful termination lawsuit, after presenting Schubert with repeated complaints of Jewell's alleged inappropriate behavior towards female swimmers from both the athletes and parents, Schubert turned a blind eye and made excuses for Jewell's behavior. During the days leading up to the U.S. Olympic Trials in June of last year, Rianda claims that Schubert continued to ignore any complaints that were raised against Jewell, and reportedly became so angry after finding out that she had reported the allegations to USA Swimming, that he fired Rianda on July 11, 2012.

Rianda's lawsuit also accuses Schubert of hiring a private investigator to take photos that could incriminate another U.S. National Team coach that Schubert believed was engaging in inappropriate behavior with swimmers--to use as leverage in a USA Swimming dispute. Schubert is also being accused of neglecting to report the sexual abuse of a young swimmer in 1988, by Rick Curl, another prominent swimming coach. Rianda claims that instead of protecting the young swimmer, and taking steps to report Curl, he took her off the team. Schubert also allegedly confessed to Rianda that he informed USA Swimming about Curl's behavior on different occasions but no formal action was ever taken, until the young swimmer, who is now in her 40's, came forward in 2012. Coach Rick Curl was reportedly banned for life by USA Swimming this week.

Continue reading "Former Olympic Swim Coach Sued For Wrongful Termination, Ignoring Sexual Abuse" »

Vincent Howard has been following the latest developments in the high profile 'Desperate Housewives' wrongful termination lawsuit, which has remained in the spotlight over the past two years, after actress Nicollette Sheridan filed a wrongful termination and retaliation lawsuit against executive producer and show creator Marc Cherry--for allegedly killing off her 'Desperate Housewives' character after she filed a complaint that Cherry stuck her on the head while they were rehearsing a scene for the show.

As Mr. Howard previously reported in a Santa Ana employment attorneys blog, the highly publicized trial ended in a mistrial in March of this year, after the jury failed to reach a verdict, with a retrial date set for September 10, 2012. ABC's attorneys then proceeded to file an appeal arguing that Sheridan should not have the right to sue for wrongful termination, as she was not wrongfully terminated--instead her contract was not renewed.

On March 31, an appeals court issued a temporary stay on the retrial, stopping Sheridan from continuing the wrongful termination lawsuit, but allowing her to amend her complaint. The attorneys from both sides were reportedly ordered to return in July to engage in settlement talks with a new judge.

According to the latest California appeals court ruling, Sheridan was not wrongfully fired from the popular television show in violation of public policy, because she was not discharged, terminated or fired. The 2nd District Court of Appeals decided that Sheridan's employment ended after the fifth season because ABC and Touchstone Television decided not to renew her contract after 'Edie Britt,' her character, was killed on the show.

Continue reading "CA Court of Appeals Denies 'Desperate Housewives' Wrongful Termination Lawsuit" »

In recent Orange County, California employment law news, three former managers from the teenage apparel chain Wet Seal, have filed a discrimination lawsuit against the company for allegedly maintaining a high level of racial bias against African American workers.

According to the Santa Ana discrimination lawsuit that Vincent Howard has been watching, the Foothill Ranch-based clothing company, operating both Wet Seal and Arden B. stores, is being accused of adopting a policy of denying equal pay and promotion opportunities to black employees, and firing them in order to hire white employees who fit the company's image better.

The discrimination lawsuit was reportedly filed in Santa Ana federal court on behalf of two former store managers and one former assistant manager of Wet Seal, along with more than 250 managerial Wet Seal employees who seek class action status--accusing the company of racial discrimination that was present at the highest corporate levels. The lawsuit reportedly pointed to email from 2009 as evidence, sent by then CEO and Senior Vice President of Store Operations, Barbara Bachman, after she visited stores in the Philadelphia and Maryland area. The email reportedly stated that the large presence of African American employees in the stores was a big problem, and the stores' black employees needed to be cleaned out.

Nicole Cogdell, a former employee and plaintiff in the suit, claimed that she was fired in March of 2009, the that day Bachman sent the email, and one month after she visited the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania store. Cogdell, an African American, stated that she and two other sales employees overhead Bachman saying that managers should have blue eyes and blonde hair in order to fit the image of the retailer. Bachman then reportedly threatened to fire the district manager in Philadelphia unless Cogdell was fired. After Cogdell was fired, she claims that she was replaced by a white employee who had less experience and was compensated more--even though Cogdell had been promoted to store manager two months prior to the incident.

Continue reading "Former Store Managers Sue Wet Seal for Racial Discrimination" »

In recent Los Angeles, California labor and employment news that Vincent Howard has been following, rock star and performer Courtney Love was sued earlier this month by a former assistant, for wage and hour violations, wrongful termination, and breach of contract, among other labor and employment violation allegations.

The lawsuit was filed by Love's former administrative assistant, Jessica Labrie, who accuses Love of failing to pay proper wages and overtime compensation, wrongful termination, breach of contract, and making unethical employment requests.

Labrie claims that after assisting Love from 2010 until 2011, she was fired for complaining that she was owed thousands of dollars in unpaid wages after working over 60 hours per week without receiving overtime.

Labrie also accuses Love of asking her to hire a hacker to change records to businesses that she reportedly owned, and asking her to falsify fake legal documents--but Labrie claims she refused to act accordingly. She claims in her wrongful termination and wage and hour lawsuit that the job caused her insomnia, anxiety, depression and headaches. She is seeking unspecified damages for failure to pay proper wages and overtime, breach of contract, wrongful termination, negligent misrepresentation, and intentionally causing emotional distress.

Continue reading "Courtney Love Sued for Wage and Hour Violations, Wrongful Termination" »

Vincent Howard has been closely following the latest news update on the highly publicized Hollywood, California wrongful termination lawsuit, filed by television actress Nicolette Sheridan, against the "Desperate Housewives" creator and executive producer Marc Cherry--who is being accused by Sheridan of killing off her television character after the actress complained that Cherry struck her while rehearsing a scene during the show's taping.

In the latest news surrounding the lawsuit, last week, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White vacated the retrial date that was set for September, and allegedly ordered both parties to enter settlement discussions with a different judge.

As Vincent Howard previously reported in Howard Law's Los Angeles employment attorneys blog, Sheridan originally sued ABC, Touchstone and Cherry for $20 million, for wrongful termination and retaliation when her character was written off the show after Sheridan complained about the alleged incident. The case ended in a mistrial in March, after the jury failed to reach a verdict in the deadlocked 8-4 decision, which was in favor of Sheridan's claim. A jury decision of at least 9-3 was necessary in order to achieve a final verdict. The retrial date was set for September 10, 2012.

On March 31, an appeals court reportedly issued a temporary stay, after ABC lawyers filed an appeal arguing that Sheridan did not have the right to file a wrongful termination lawsuit. ABC claims that Sheridan's removal from the television series was not wrongful termination, as her contract renewal option was not exercised.

Continue reading "'Desperate Housewives' Retrial Date Vacated, Settlement Talks Ordered With New Judge" »

In a recent Hollywood employment law development that Vincent Howard has been watching, actress Sharon Stone has been sued by her former live-in nanny, for violating labor laws, wrongful termination and racial harassment and slurs based on her ethnicity.

According to the Los Angeles employment lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior court this week, Stone's former nanny, Erlinda Elemen, worked for the movie star for over four years, before being wrongfully terminated in February of last year. Elemen claims that in the last six months of her employment Stone began harassing her with ethnic slurs, in reference to her Filipino heritage--including derogatory comments about her religion, food and her accent. She allegedly discouraged the nanny from talking to Stone's children so they wouldn't learn to talk with her "accent," made comments about the stupidity of Filipinos and forbid the nanny from reading her Bible in Stone's home.

As a Filipino immigrant and U.S. legal resident, Elemen reportedly began her employment with Stone in 2006 and was named "head nanny" in 2008, which required her to live with Stone full-time and take care of her three children even over holidays and during their travels.

Elemen claims in the lawsuit that although she was initially paid with proper overtime compensation when working during the holidays or on trips--once Stone learned from her accountant that she was paying the nanny overtime in January 2011, she accused the nanny of stealing and demanded that she give the money back. Elemen reportedly explained to Stone that overtime compensation was required by state and federal overtime laws, and that returning the payment was illegal. In the weeks following, Stone allegedly yelled at the nanny in front of visitors and staff, until her employment was terminated in February 2011.

Continue reading " Actress Sharon Stone Sued by Former Nanny for Overtime Violations, Wrongful Termination and Racial Slurs" »