Employment

Prison psychiatrist claims Department of Corrections violated the California Family Rights Act. $1.8M. San Joaquin County.

State of California employee of 20 years says he was subject to abusive, retaliatory treatment after he requested medical leave, leading to his premature retirement. State says he had been accruing paid leave over many years that he was not entitled to.

  • Case Name: Dr. Anthony Coppola v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Friday, July 19, 2024
  • Type of Case: Employment, Highlighted Verdicts

LAUSD teacher requests accommodations for anxiety disorder brought on by district's failure to protect the teacher and maintain a safe school environment. $915K. Los Angeles County.

Middle school teacher says students' caricatures of him were violent and hate-filled. These images featured bloody bullet holes, a hatchet in his head, Nazi symbols, references to the MS-13 gang, racist and anti-Semitic slurs. 

  • Case Name: Theodore Faye v. Los Angeles Unified School District, et al.
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Tuesday, February 20, 2024
  • Type of Case: Discrimination, ADA, Employment

Kaiser charge nurse claims retaliation after being fired. $41M. Los Angeles County.

Long-time nurse in the NICU is fired after photo surfaces of her sitting down with her bare feet propped up on an isolette used to house a sick infant.  She says that the firing over the photo was just a pretext, that she was really fired in retaliation for repeatedly reporting unsafe conditions for patients at Kaiser. 

  • Case Name: Maria Gatchalian v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals & Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
  • Date of Verdict or Judgment: Monday, December 11, 2023
  • Type of Case: Employment, Whistleblower