Mesriani Law Group Settles Race, Disability Discrimination Case for $40K

LOS ANGELES - July 31, 2013 - PRLog -- The Mesriani Law Group has once again proven its expertise in successfully winning its clients’ cases after the Los Angeles employment and labor law firm secured a $40,000.00 settlement pay for a male Caucasian employee who was subjected to race and disability discrimination by his employer.

According to case files, the client-employee started working as a maintenance mechanic for an undisclosed California company on March 7, 2011. He was permanently hired July 17 after completing his mandatory number of hours during his probationary period. He worked the third shift, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and worked 50 hours per week on average.

The client-employee’s immediate superiors, the maintenance manager and the facility manager, told him that he would be able to transfer to the first shift as soon as a position opened. However, in November, the maintenance manager was let go, and one of the company’s employees replaced him. During that time, he and his other co-worker were the only two Caucasians in the department.

Within the same month, a position opened in the first shift, but instead of the client-employee filling for the said opening, it went to one of the employees working in the department. He asked his new manager about the agreement regarding the vacant position in the first shift, but he was told that the employee was hired to stay on that shift.

Moreover, he started noticing that he was being singled out when it comes to privileges inside the workplace. For instance, the manager would ignore client-employee’s requests for replacements of broken tools necessary to perform job duties. Conversely, the manager would promptly oblige other maintenance mechanics’ similar requests. Furthermore, the manager told him that he was not doing his job right. His production manager, however, praised him for doing an excellent job, saying that he was more qualified and knowledgeable than any other mechanic in the plant and that he can fix machines and got them running faster than anyone else.

In fact, despite being given duties that would require the strength of two mechanics, the client-employee would finish some of them by himself. For instance, in December 2011, he was tasked to remove a granulator from the Line #3 Grinder Pit used to granulate scrap material. The machine, which weighed around 2,000 to 4,000 pounds, had to be moved from its original position for repairs. Despite the strenuous task, he managed to finish the job alone; however, a couple of days after, he experienced pain in his navel area. He disregarded the pain and continued to perform his job duties for about 2 months.

On February 13, 2012, client-employee decided to leave work for three days because of an acute stomach pain. When he went to the doctor on February 17, he was diagnosed with an umbilical hernia. He was informed that he needed to be evaluated for an operation and was referred to a general surgeon. The doctor then issued a note that he can return to work on February 20 with restrictions to include no heavy lifting over 20 pounds. His manager was informed of the restrictions, but stated that there was nothing for him to do on light duty.

Client-employee filed a disability claim on February 21, which was approved and took effect March 13. His doctor expected his work to be limited through March 19. Before his claim was approved, his surgical procedure was approved on March 8. He underwent surgery on March 28, and soon after, his doctor placed him on medical leave for five months to rest and recover.

While on disability leave, client-employee never failed to keep his manager updated of his medical condition and told him that he will return to work as soon as he is medically cleared. He even submitted all the necessary disability documentation and doctor’s notes to the company in charge of all employee absences.

However, on April 10, client-employee received a certified letter stating that his employment with the company has been terminated effective the next day due to his 21-day absence from the date his disability leave took effect. He argued against his untimely dismissal, asserting that he had about 14 to 15 days of approved paid times off to cover the leave due to stomach pain when he was not aware that the cause was hernia, for high blood pressure, and for the birth of his child.

With these aforementioned facts, it was clear that the company discriminated against and harassed the client-employee on the basis of his race and his disability. His requests for disability accommodation to include: a shift change and light duty work, were repeatedly denied for no valid reasons. Client-employee was eventually terminated from employment for no apparent justification. He suffered emotional distress as a direct result of the employer’s discriminatory actions, and his wrongful termination impaired his future earning capacity.

Client-employee immediately sought the assistance of the seasoned Los Angeles employment law attorneys of the Mesriani Law Group, who quickly evaluated the case and took action on the matter.

As a result, the effective representation of the law firm paved the way for the client-employee securing a $40,000.00 settlement that covered for special, general and punitive damages he incurred.  Thanks to the unmatched dedication and expertise of the MLG lawyers who successfully settled the case, clients can be assured of nothing but positive results.



ABOUT MESRIANI LAW GROUP
Mesriani Law Group is a full service law firm operating out of Los Angeles, California, with several distinct and independent divisions, each of which specializes in a different branch of the law. Mesriani Law Group currently maintains divisions specializing in Business and Corporate Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation, Social Security Disability (SSD/RSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, and Employment/Labor Law.

For more information about Mesriani Law Group, please go to http://www.mesrianilaw.com/.
Mesriani Law Group
510 Arizona Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90401
T: (310) 826-6300
F: (310) 820-1258