Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this employment discrimination/personal injury case and its proceedings.)
WRONGFUL TERMINATION IN VIOLATION OF PUBLIC POLICY AND VIOLATION OF LABOR CODE SECTION 6310 (AND HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTION 1278.5)
Kaiser has filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on all claims, including the major claim for Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy. For settlement purposes, it is important to recognize that Kaiser cannot win summary judgment or summary adjudication on this claim because of the existence of disputed issues of material fact, as well as Kaiser’s incorrect interpretation of the law.
The pretextual reason given for Ms. Church’s termination was her printing of a memorandum, addressed to her and publicly viewable on her supervisor’s computer screen, regarding discipline which her supervisor, Richard White, apparently intended to impose in retaliation for her frequent complaints about the incompetence of Kaiser management and Kaiser’s many continuing safety and OSHA violations. At Ms. Church’s termination “hearing,” Mr. White also falsely claimed that Ms. Church had accessed his Lotus Notes account and printed other documents from his work computer.
Ms. Church’s termination letter referred to the following reasons for her termination: Violation of the Principle of Responsibilities, breach of confidentiality, invasion of privacy and violation of KP computer assets. These should have been the reasons for Mr. White’s termination. Ms. Church printed the draft disciplinary memorandum and brought it to COO Stan Brown because of her concern that Richard White had left it visible on his screen in an open cubicle for everyone to see, thereby violating her privacy rights as an employee.
The act of leaving the draft disciplinary memorandum visible for everyone to see violated Kaiser’s Principles of Responsibility, breached Ms. Church’s right to confidentiality of her personnel records, violated her right to privacy, and was a violation of Kaiser’s Electronic Assets Usage policy. Instead of properly discharging Richard White for his multiple violations of policy, Kaiser, in violation of its own anti-retaliation policy, retaliated against Ms. Church for complaining about Mr. White’s egregious violation of her confidentiality and privacy and terminated her instead. (See Part 3 of 11.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.