Pending Trial a Test for California Wrongful Termination Law

July 24, 2013, 8:00AM. By Gordon Gibb

Fresno, CAA California wrongful termination case is poised to further test laws against discrimination, after the plaintiff in the case alleges she was fired from her job of 22 years over an alleged discrimination issue.

As recounted by the Fresno Bee (6/29/13), plaintiff Karen Morris toiled as a lab technician for nearly 22 years with Mission Bell Winery in Madera. The 55-year-old woman, in court papers, indicated she had no complaints for more than 20 years and enjoyed her time working for the winery until matters began to suddenly go sour, according to the report.

Things began to unravel when Morris presented to a supervisor evidence of rat droppings and mold in her work area. Not long after, Morris’ co-workers appeared to begin a habit of speaking Spanish when they were around Morris. The plaintiff, according to court records, is white and can neither speak nor comprehend Spanish. Morris claims the practice made her feel uncomfortable, in that she assumed her co-workers may have been speaking about her in a language the plaintiff could not comprehend. Morris complained.

Later, when Morris’ supervisor at the facility allegedly demonstrated favoritism by granting overtime to Morris’ co-workers but not to the plaintiff, Morris complained again. She was fired two months later, in November 2011.

Morris alleges California wrongful employment termination. Her lawsuit, filed in Madera County Superior Court, seeks damages from the winery’s parent Constellation Brands Inc. Morris is seeking California wrongful termination damages for lost wages, emotional distress, humiliation and embarrassment. She is also seeking re-instatement.

In her California wrongful employee termination lawsuit, Morris alleges she was fired because she protested about unsafe working conditions, the overtime issue and the habit of her co-workers speaking in Spanish around her. The defendant, while not commenting on the case, alleged in its defense that Morris called another employee a name, which Morris denies.

Beyond the fact that she became California terminated and alleges wrongful dismissal, a legal expert not connected to the case is of the view that it may be difficult to placate the plaintiff over the use of another language in the workplace, as to mandate a single language in a private workplace would probably be illegal.

There are occasions, said attorney Barry Bennett, who teaches employment discrimination at the Craig School of Business at California State University in Fresno, when an employer can mandate employees not to speak in their mother tongue if they are in a public area and to do so may make members of the public uncomfortable. However, in a closed shop where the workplace is a private space, the issue is still in the process of being defined by the courts. “There is no fixed answer,” he said, in comments published in the Fresno Bee.

The California wrongful termination trial is to commence August 5.