Mesriani Law Group Obtains $37K Settlement for Wrongfully Terminated Records Clerk

LOS ANGELES - Oct. 24, 2014 - PRLog -- Mesriani Law Group (MLG), an employment and labor law firm based in Los Angeles, California, has once again displayed its unmatched brand of excellent representation for one of its clients after it successfully recovered a settlement amount of $37,000.00 for a wrongfully terminated records clerk.

According to case files, client-employee was employed on August 21, 2012 by a document solutions company as a records clerk. However, on September 4, he was told that he was not hired as such on a full-time basis, but was rather a floater. This was despite his employment documents stating that he was hired as a full-time employee handling the records clerk position. He was paid $14.00 per hour on a bi-weekly basis. Throughout his employment with the company, he conducted his duties diligently and responsibly. In fact, his performance evaluation which he received on April 11, 2013 indicated that he was an exemplary employee and performed his duties with the highest standards.

On October 9, client-employee was pulling a dolly full of boxes when they fell on his left foot, severely injuring him. He reported the injuries and was placed on workers’ compensation. The day after, however, the company falsely wrote him up. This was his first write-up, but the company noted it as his “final written warning.” The company alleged that he “was aggressive in dealing with others. This behavior included speaking over others and disagreeing in an unprofessional and condescending manner.” He believed that this was due to the company retaliating against him for filing workers’ compensation claims, which occurred before the written warning.

The next day, client-employee wrote to the company’s HR director, stating his concerns for the false allegations made against him. But on October 18, a meeting was held between him and the company in which the latter forced him to sign his disciplinary written warning even though he didn’t agree with the assertions. It wasn’t clear to him why he received such a warning, causing him to become uncomfortable as he was being singled out because of his work-related injury.

A month after his work-related injury, client-employee was advised that he would be transferring to one of the company’s branches. He began work there on December 5, but he was forced to park three blocks away. Given his injury, he can’t manage to walk a great distance to and from work every day. So he immediately requested an accommodation for a parking spot closer to his new location of work. But then, the company, at first, denied his request. Then, they stated that he would be allowed to park in the building at his own expense. Finally, the company agreed to reimburse him for his parking costs, which took over a month to happen.

On December 17, client-employee notified the manager at the new location about his workers’ compensation. But she stated that “if you continue to stay on workers’ compensation, you cannot stay at this firm.” He immediately notified his immediate manager, but the issue was never addressed. From that point on, he suffered retaliation because of filing workers’ compensation and his complaints of retaliation for engaging in a protected activity.

On a regular basis, the manager would tell client-employee that “no one here likes you, especially [company operations director].” In fact, on January 4, 2013, she told him that the director didn’t like him because he was gay. He tried to explain to her that he had not done anything for anyone to dislike him. However, she ignored him and continued to make such comments on a weekly basis.

On several occasions, the manager would go to client-employee’s work desk to check through his personal belongings without permission. In April 2013, she started leaving copies of his personal information lying around in the office or in the copy room on purpose. When he told her to stop doing so, she just simply ignored his requests.

The manager would also provide him with false information regarding meeting times and names of CEOs, attempting to set him up for termination and write-ups. She would even ignore him whenever he needed help with his assignments; on April 15, he worked overtime just to finish his tasks after he was ignored of his request for help. Finally, on April 22, the female manager and the operations director asked him to quit due to his incompetency and lack of litigation experience.

Unable to handle his workplace ordeal any longer, client-employee filed a formal complaint with the company’s HR department. He listed out the continuous discrimination and harassment he continued to suffer at the hands of his manager and the company’s failure to prevent or remedy it. However, he was denied of his requests anew. The next day, he again sent an email to one of the managers about the discrimination and harassment. But six days after, he was written up on May 1 for allegedly failing to follow up with secretaries regarding his assignments and for allegedly using his cell phone during work hours, even though other company employees are allowed to do so without being written up. Ultimately, on May 10, fifteen days after his last complaint, he was wrongfully terminated from his employment with the company, merely a month after receiving an excellent performance evaluation.

His ordeal during the course of his employment evidently caused him to experience emotional distress as a direct result of the discrimination and harassment on account of his disability and for retaliation for his numerous complaints. He likewise incurred lost wages and benefits during his tenure with the company, along with impairment of his future earning capacity after his wrongful termination.

Fortunately for him, he sought legal assistance from the topnotch lawyers for employment and labor law of the Mesriani Law Group, who quickly evaluated his case and took action on the matter. The adept and effective handling of the case by the trusted and professional attorneys and paralegal staff of the law firm helped client-employee obtain a favorable settlement award of $37K, which covered for his incurred special, general and punitive damages. Not only that, but the law firm guided him throughout his most difficult times and eventually provided him the justice he deserves.

http://www.mesrianilaw.com/