CALIFORNIA WORKPLACE LITIGATION REPORT
2024 ended with a bang, with yet another California jury issuing a staggering award in an employment discrimination lawsuit. This time, a San Diego jury granted more than $11 million to a medical screener at a plasma donation facility in Roque v. Octapharma Plasma, Inc. The 74-year-old plaintiff claimed her employer failed to accommodate her back pain by denying her the use of a chair during medical screenings. She also alleged that her termination was the result of age discrimination. While not the largest verdict in a California workplace lawsuit – previous cases we’ve tracked have resulted in even higher payouts – the $11.2 million award stands out for surpassing eight figures despite the plaintiff receiving no financial compensation for lost wages or benefits. FEATURED VERDICT San Diego Jury Hands Down $11 Million Verdict in Workplace Bias Case
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KRISTEN J. NESBIT Co-Regional Managing Partner Los Angeles
Co-chair, California Litigation Practice Group
The breakdown of damages included:
KARL R. LINDEGREN
$1.05 million for physical pain; $1.155 million for emotional distress (despite the plaintiff never seeking treatment for it); and $9 million in punitive damages.
Partner Irvine/Los Angeles/Portland, OR
Co-chair, California Litigation Practice Group
And that’s not even mentioning the substantial attorneys’ fee award the plaintiff will most likely soon recover.
BENJAMIN M. EBBINK Partner Sacramento/Washington, D.C.
Private School Hit With $1M for Expelling Students Without Thorough Investigation (May 2024, No. 20CV369829). A Santa Clara County jury awarded two students $1 million in damages, as well as tuition reimbursement ($70K each), after they had been quickly expelled from a private high school for donning “blackface” and sharing related images on social media. The jury’s verdict affirms that California’s private K-12 schools (including religious schools) must comply with a “fair procedure” standard before imposing discipline on students. Read more here. OTHER VERDICTS Jury Awards $7.2M Against UC Regents for Black Police Officer’s Termination (Feb. 2024, No. RG19015571). A Black former lieutenant claimed that after the UCSC police chief hired him out of retirement to help improve professionalism in the university’s police department, his White colleagues subjected him to hostility, discriminatory treatment, and retaliation – culminating in the university firing him despite his 27-year career without discipline. After just three hours of deliberation, an Alameda County jury found that his termination was racially motivated and awarded him $7.2 million.
CORPORATE COUNSEL SPOTLIGHT
Sean Kundu has had an in-house role with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers since 2013.
I guess there are three things I learned and now employ on a regular basis to help me get my work done. First, I try to use as many repeatable processes as possible. Once I have a fundamental understanding of a form agreement, let’s say, I streamline it so it can be replicated easily and we won’t need to start from scratch each time. Second, I leverage technology to my advantage. I didn’t necessarily have a tech background coming to the Niners, and if you told me 12 years ago that I’d be using some of the software I now use on a daily basis to get work done and track progress, I’d have said no way. Third, I try to remember that not everything is an immediate problem that needs to be solved right away, and there might be easier ways to solve things. I don’t need to immediately respond to every email. Sometimes a five- minute phone call is going to be more efficient than 100 emails back and forth. What’s your best piece of advice for those inside counsel looking to manage a busy workload? opened their new stadium. His role has evolved and he’s since been promoted to Vice President of Corporate Development for the Niners, helping to grow the team’s brand. With his L&E background, he was originally hired to provide legal and strategic advice on setting up people operations and ramping up the team’s staff by over tenfold as the 49ers
Oncologist Won $14M Verdict in Gender Discrimination Retrial (May 2024, No. BC624838).
The first female director of UCLA’s lymphoma program claimed she was forced to resign in 2015 due to intolerable working conditions involving gender discrimination, harassment, and equal pay law violations. The oncologist sued the university and won a $13M verdict in 2018. After an appeals court reversed that decision, the case was retried in 2024. The result? An even bigger verdict for the doctor. Employer Liable for $11.2M in for Discrimination Based on Age and Disability (September 2024, No. 37-2021-00020936-CU-WT-CTL). A San Diego County jury sided with a plaintiff in her mid-70s who claimed she was terminated by a plasma donation company, where she had worked for nearly 20 years, based on her age and a disability she developed after her job duties were suddenly changed to become more physically demanding. She alleged that the employer denied her request for a reasonable accommodation and fabricated her resignation. The verdict included $9M in punitive damages.
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