Attorney Cortney Shegerian Comments On $7.65 Million Chipotle Sexual Harassment Settlement Awarded to Teen

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 24, 2016  — Cortney Shegerian of the Los Angeles-based employment discrimination firm Shegerian & Associates recently issued a statement regarding the news Chipotle has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with a former employee for $7.65 million.

A young girl employed by Chipotle was pressured into committing sexual acts by her manager and his supervisor, according to the complaint.  Instead of immediately taking disciplinary action, Chipotle chose to award one of the harassers with several promotions.

“What’s even more repugnant about this case is the fact the victim was a minor,” Shegerian says. “She was forced to deal with an issue no 16-year-old should ever have to handle, but luckily, she had the courage to speak out against her adult supervisors and demand the justice she deserves.”

“Despite the verdict in this case, Chipotle has yet to apologize to the victim or accept responsibility,” Cortney Shegerian continues. “In fact, Chipotle’s attorneys had the audacity to claim the 16-year-old welcomed the sexual conduct, even though minors under the age of 17 cannot consent to sexual activity in Texas.”

“The first step to preventing sexual harassment in the workplace is admitting it’s a problem, and it seems as if Chipotle is unwilling to do so,” Shegerian says. “Chipotle’s denial sends a message to other employees within the organization that sexual harassment is not taken seriously. Unfortunately, this is probably not the last time a sexual harassment case will be brought against the corporation.”

Source: http://www.shegerianlaw.com/news/attorney-cortney-shegerian-comments-on-7-65-million-chipotle-sexual-harassment-settlement-awarded-to-teen

Testimonial From A Client

I highly recommend Shegerian and Associates! From start to finish, the process felt smooth, strong, supported and professional. I knew I was in the right hands and it turned out that I could trust everything they had said. From the empathetic and informative intake by Rosanna Vargas to all the preparations by Cortney Shegerian and Monica Boutros all the way to the successful mediation session, I definitely had chosen the right firm. Multiple law firms turned my case down and some even tried to discourage me, although I had been the victim and needed help. Shegerian carefully reviewed my case and took care of me, fully and successfully. Thank you to the entire staff and to justice!

-Client

Source: http://www.shegerianlaw.com/results/testimonials-reviews

Attorney Carney Shegerian Issues Statement on Whistleblower Retaliation Allegations Against Snapchat

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24, 2017 — Carney Shegerian, founder of Los Angeles-based employment discrimination firm Shegerian & Associates, recently discussed the new whistleblower retaliation allegations made against Snapchat by a former employee, Anthony Pompliano. In the lawsuit, Pompliano claims Snapchat is misleading investors about the company’s growth in order to drive up its initial public offering.

“Pompliano was only employed by Snapchat for three weeks, but in this short period of time, he learned the company was misrepresenting its user growth in an attempt to appear more attractive to potential investors,” Shegerian says. “He was also allegedly asked to hand over confidential trade secrets from his former employer, Facebook.”

“After voicing his concerns about this unethical behavior to his superiors, Pompliano was terminated from the company in a classic case of whistleblower retaliation,” Cortney Shegerian continues. “Retaliation is the most commonly reported type of discrimination, but thanks to courageous individuals like Pompliano, the courts can continue to show employers it will not be tolerated.”

“Snapchat’s parent company is preparing for its initial public offering, which is expected in just a few more months,” Shegerian says. “If these allegations are true, Pompliano’s actions may save countless investors from partnering with Snapchat based on misleading information, which is a perfect example of why protecting whistleblowers in the workplace is of vital importance.”

Source: http://www.shegerianlaw.com/news/attorney-carney-shegerian-issues-statement-on-whistleblower-retaliation-allegations-against-snapchat/

Attorney Cortney Shegerian Comments on Ex-Sequoia Capital Partner Ouster

LOS ANGELES, March 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Cortney Shegerian, of the Los Angeles-based employment discrimination firm Shegerian & Associates, has released comments on the recent termination of ex-partner Mike Goguen at Sequoia Capital, a well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm. The termination came just after reports surfaced of a $40 million settlement and subsequent breach of contract suit launched against Goguen from an alleged female sex slave.

"The alleged details of Mr. Goguen's breach of contract case based on the $40 million settlement are shocking," said Shegerian. "Reading through the initial claim for contract breach as well as Goguen's counterclaim is like reading a steamy, horrific fiction novel, but another issue here arises concerning employment rights. The situation brings up questions about just how much an employee's private life can legally affect work life."

"Here, Sequoia may have decided to part ways with Goguen due to a breach of trust, which is a reasonable conclusion in light of the fact that Sequoia claims to have not been aware of the settlement until recently," Shegerian went on to say. "In partnerships of this kind, a breach of trust could be grounds for termination if those terms are clear in the partnership agreement or employment contract."

"To be sure, Goguen's termination has not been challenged yet, nor may it ever be," Cortney Shegerian commented. "Apparently, Goguen has several other items on his plate presently needing his utmost attention."

Located in Santa Monica, Shegerian & Associates is a law firm specializing in protecting the rights of employees who have been wronged by their employers. Richly experienced in labor and employment law and possessing an unparalleled success record as litigators (Carney Shegerian, Trial Lawyer of the Year Award winner for 2013, has won 73 jury trials in his career, including 31 seven figure verdicts), Shegerian & Associates is passionately dedicated to serving the needs of its clients.

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/attorney-cortney-shegerian-comments-on-ex-sequoia-capital-partner-ouster-300241069.html

Carney Shegerian of Shegerian & Associates Proves Liability of School Bus Company in Fatal Collision that Killed 13-Year-Old Jonathan Hernandez

Carney Shegerian of Shegerian & Associates, Inc., a Santa Monica-based litigation law firm, teamed with Nancy Doumanian of La Crescenta-based law firm Doumanian & Associates and Nicholas Rowley and Courtney Rowley of Beverly Hills-based personal injury law firm Carpenter, Zuckerman & Rowley to successfully convince a California state jury to hold First Student, Inc. liable for negligence and the wrongful death of a 13-year-old boy.

A trial for damages will follow, with the same team of attorneys representing the boy’s family.

The jury voted last week, determining defendant liability in the civil lawsuit for the wrongful death of Jonathan Hernandez, who was fatally struck by a school bus owned by First Student, Inc. The bus was operated by a First Student employee who was driving while impaired by prescription drugs.

“It has been an honor to have had the opportunity to represent Jonathan’s family in their painful legal journey thus far,” said Cortney Shegerian. “This was a senseless tragedy that could have been avoided had the impaired driver been properly screened and supervised. She was not fit to drive and a precious 13-year-old boy’s family has suffered a devastating loss as a result.

“Due to the negligence of First Student, Inc., Jonathan’s family can never get their beloved child back,” Shegerian added, “but hopefully the jury’s decision in this case will serve as an important message to transportation companies on a national level that all drivers must be regularly screened and trained appropriately.”

Source: http://www.shegerianlaw.com/news/carney-shegerian-of-shegerian-associates-proves-liability-of-school-bus-company-in-fatal-collision-that-killed-13-year-old-jonathan-hernandez

Returning to Work After Maternity Leave – Know Your Rights

Returning to work post maternity leave involves a full array of challenges for mothers, but it also involves a number of legal protections. These are important. Employees, and their careers, without knowledge of these rights must often deal with employers who refuse to follow the law.

The Rights of Maternity Leave

The 1964 Civil Rights Act a measure of protection against discrimination in the workplace surrounding maternity leave. This law protects employees from discrimination based on a sex, race, disability, age, nationality, religion and more. Protection extends to nearly all forms of employment procedures, including benefits and leave.

Also at the federal level, it’s the Family and Medical Leave Act that most turn to for information on the rights of working mothers who decide to take maternity leave. According to the act women are allowed up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for birth, delivery and postpartum recovery as well as birth-related medical conditions before they must return to work. Once they come back, employers must follow a number of rules and guidelines to ensure they are treated fairly.

It’s important to keep in mind the leave granted under the FMLA is not paid leave. Unpaid leave is generally the norm even among states, although some are beginning to change that in key areas. Also some companies are now voluntarily offering paid leave. There are these basic rights of pregnancy leave under the FMLA:

1. The right to return to the same or equivalent job
2. The right not to be discriminated against based on the fact that leave was taken or that you were pregnant.
3. The right to return to an altered schedule of intermittent or part-time work.

According to the EEOC, any women returning from maternity leave must be treated the same as other workers allowed leave for a temporary disability.

In addition, workers must be allowed to work as long as she can perform her job before she takes maternity leave. In other words, an employer may not force a worker to leave work because she is pregnant nor can it force her to take less pay or discriminate in other ways regarding her pregnancy or opportunity to take maternity leave.

Facing Pregnancy Leave Challenges and Pitfalls

Some mothers have no choice but to take just a short amount of pregnancy leave – sometimes much less than the amount they are allowed according to law. The lack of paid leave in the U.S. makes choices challenging for working mothers who cannot make ends meet and care for newborns full-time.

From a legal perspective, the biggest challenges arise when employers force working mothers to make decisions they are under no obligation to make or withhold options and opportunities from them simply because they are pregnant or choosing to exercise their rights to maternity leave. Watch for discriminatory tactics in key areas such as:

• Requesting short term disability benefits
• Requesting extensions of FMLA leave
• Requesting additional time off
• Withholding health insurance coverage

Within the context of insurance coverage, the FMLA requires employers to keep health insurance coverage going even during the up to 12 weeks an employee is on leave. Even if the employer opts to offer COBRA benefits instead, it’s still up to your company to ensure that health insurance remains free of discrimination at your job before, during and after leave time.

Each of these areas require fair and equal treatment from employers according to federal law. This means that employers must treat mothers returning to work from maternity leave the same way they treat other workers with similar requests. Any attempt to discriminate against returning mothers could make an employer potentially liable for employment discrimination.

Qualifying for FMLA Protections for Maternity Leave
The FMLA currently does not apply to every company. Only employers with 50 or more employees must abide by its rules. Also, workers need at least 1250 hours of work in the first 12 months of employment before FMLA protection can begin.

It is common for companies to require that employees use vacation time and sick days available to them before use of FMLA leave time will be granted. Check with your HR department for details on the exact policy at your company. Also, the FMLA can only apply to one person per couple at any one workplace, so if you and your spouse or partner are working together, be sure to keep this in mind.

However, even if your company falls outside the requirements of federal law, there may be state law that can help. Check with your state’s Department of Labor laws just to be sure.

States and Maternity Leave

Only three states, California, New Jersey and Rhode Island, currently offer paid leave under the FMLA, and many more states are set to add the provision to current leave laws. At the state level, employees can expect to find laws that are either similar to the federal laws or that are more expansive. Some offer coverage for companies with less than 50 workers or may offer more than the 12 weeks of leave offered at the federal level.

Getting the Help You Need with Maternity Leave

Getting the help you need to tackle the legal aspects of maternity leave issues can be as easy as contacting an experienced employment discrimination attorney in your area. The most important thing to remember is that your rights are under strong protection at both the federal and state level. No matter how complex your issue, these rights should never be ignored. If you’re faced with a workplace dilemma involving maternity leave, contact Cortney Shegerian right away.

Source: http://www.shegerianlaw.com/returning-to-work-after-maternity-leave-know-your-rights

Help SpaceX Whistleblower Seek Justice

Carney Shegerian of Shegerian & Associates, Inc., a Santa Monica-based litigation law firm specializing in employee rights, is representing a man who claims he was wrongfully terminated by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) after blowing the whistle on his managers for pressuring test technicians to deviate from written procedures and to sign off on tests that had not been performed per protocol.

The man who filed the complaint, Jason Blasdell, had served at the rocket and spacecraft manufacturer’s Hawthorne headquarters since 2010 as an Avionics Test Technician. He received consistently positive reviews from management for his work but he began noticing safety issues related to the testing procedures of rocket parts, which led him to question the quality of the testing and the risks it posed for not just the rockets potentially exploding, but for the potential loss of human life as well.

According to Blasdell’s complaint, he was terminated from his employment after he blew the whistle to HR, the company’s president and, ultimately, SpaceX founder Elon Musk, regarding a series of potentially dangerous deviations from protocol that his managers were pressuring test technicians to make.

Specifically, Blasdell complained that SpaceX’s failure to properly mark and serialize parts made it impossible for him to research each part’s possible history of failure, which could potentially lead to the wrong part or a faulty part being put on a rocket. He also complained that his managers were implementing practices that led to a culture in the test lab of ignoring procedures and deviating from protocols in order to pass tests through and not hold up production. He reported that he and other employees were pressured to falsify testing procedures to make it look like they were following specific testing requirements when in fact they had not.

According to the complaint, shortly after Blasdell attempted to blow the whistle to the highest levels of the SpaceX organization regarding these issues, he was told by the company’s Human Resources department that he was being terminated “for being disruptive.”

“During the duration of Mr. Blasdell’s employment at SpaceX, he was consistently rated by his management as ‘excellent,’ and received merit-based raises based on his performance,” said Shegerian. “He was even the recipient of the company’s ‘SpaceX Kick Ass Award’ for performing above and beyond the requirements of his position. This all changed, once he did the right thing and reported a potentially dangerous and even life-threatening deviation from protocols.”

“Unfortunately, what we’ve got here is a classic whistleblower case where an honest, hard-working test technician has been spurned for doing his job diligently and making ethical recommendations that were not popular with management and followed by the unceremonious, retaliatory, wrongful termination of our client from his duties,” added Cortney Shegerian. “Retaliation – and the wrongful termination – of employees who are considered whistleblowers remains a huge ethical problem that simply must stop. It’s our job to help Mr. Blasdell seek justice and hopefully make a public statement that this kind of wrongful termination – in any workplace – cannot be tolerated.”

Source: http://www.shegerianlaw.com/news/shegerian-associates-to-help-spacex-whistleblower-seek-justice