Court of Appeal affirms summary judgment in discrimination case

The Second District Court of Appeal has affirmed the Los Angeles Superior Court's grant of summary judgment in a case alleging discrimination, retaliation, defamation and harassment, and its award of $73,734 in attorney fees for having filed a frivolous action. The Court agreed with our argument that there was no evidence to support any of the plaintiff's claims. This was the plaintiff's third unsuccessful attempt attempt to sue his employer. Nohemi Ferguson and Robert Petersen wrote the motions in the Superior Court. Calvin House handled the appeal. Addison v. County of Los Angeles, Case No. B 201007 (Cal. Ct. App. Nov. 3, 2008) Read the Court of Appeal Opinion.

Jury Trial Win in School District Case

Calvin House and Sandra Pena defended the Los Angeles Unified School District and one of its principals against a claim by a student who was detained for psychiatric evaluation after he kicked two staff members, and told a County Department of Mental Health social worker that he wanted to kill himself. The jury agreed that the principal had done nothing wrong when she was unable to control the student, and called for assistance from a SMART team comprised of the social worker and an LAPD officer. Danielyan v. City of Los Angeles, Case No. BC372486 (L.A. Superior Ct. Oct. 16, 2008) View the jury's Special_Verdict.

Preciado and House join ABOTA ranks

Firm partners Art Preciado and Calvin House have been elected to membership in the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates. The organization's mission is "to foster improvement in the ethical and technical standards of practice in the field of advocacy to the end that individual litigants may receive more effective representation and the general public be benefited by more efficient administration of justice consistent with time-tested and traditional principles of litigation." More information about ABOTA is available at its website -- http://www.abota.org.

Defense Verdict in Religious Discrimination Case

A Los Angeles federal court jury found the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services not liable for religious discrimination and failure to accommodate religious beliefs in a case brought by an MSW student serving as a social work intern at the department. The intern had told a Department supervisor that she could not be neutral on issues of abortion and sexual orientation. After the Department terminated her internship, the intern sued, claiming that the Department had violated her First Amendment rights and Title VII. Calvin House and Eugene Kim handled the case for the Department. Escobar v. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, Case No. CV 06-00918 RGK (United States District Court for the Central District of California, April 2007).

Firm prevails in FEHA retaliation lawsuit in Superior Court

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury unanimously rejected claims by a former Department of Public Social Services employee who argued that he had not been reinstated because of his involvement in a sexual harassment investigation of a Department manager. The Department had discharged the employee for misconduct, but the Civil Service Commission ordered him reinstated. When the employee did not respond to three written requests that he return to work, the Department deemed him to have abandoned his job, and refused to reinstate him when he showed up eight months later. He claimed that the Department sent the return to work requests to the wrong address, and that the Department's action was retaliation for his participation in the sexual harassment investigation several years earlier. Calvin House and Ann Wu handled the case for the Department. Sandoval v. Los Angeles County DPSS, Case No. BC345719 (Los Angeles Superior Court, March 2007). The Court of Appeal affirmed the verdict in a decision available here.

Court of Appeal orders judgment for County of Los Angeles in county police class action

A three-justice panel of the Second District Court of Appeal has overturned a judgment that would have forced the County of Los Angeles to pay its county police on the same terms as deputy sheriffs. The June 2003 judgment was based on a jury finding that the disparity in pay was the product of racial discrimination. The Court's published opinion concluded: "In summary, plaintiffs established that some 70 percent of officers in the County police classification are minority members and 30 percent are Caucasian, while in the sheriff’s department, where officers are better paid, the percentages are reversed. That differentiation, by itself, does not establish racial discrimination, and plaintiffs failed to present evidence that the pay disparity is the product of racial discrimination." Calvin House handled the trial for the County and assisted lawyers at Jones Day with the appeal. Frank v. County of Los Angeles, Case Nos. B169427 and B172347 (California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Four, April 2007).