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Healthcare–Employment & Wrongful Termination

By June 22, 2010Healthcare

DEFENSE OF CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE & SEXUAL HARRASSMENT CLAIMS

In this employment case filed in Orange County Superior Court, the Plaintiff claimed that she was sexually harassed and constructively discharged from her position with Hospital Foundation (Client) because of a hostile work environment. Attorney, Karen Taillon successfully stayed the Superior Court action and enforced the Employee Handbook requirement for binding arbitration. Cummins & White prevailed in arbitration on all of the claims and obtained an award for costs in excess of $20,000 which the Plaintiff paid in full after Cummins & White instituted collection proceedings. This case was filed on the heels of another similar case in which the hospital and Hospital Foundation settled. The benefit to the hospital and the Hospital Foundation of our handling this matter was that it effectively put a stop to these types of frivolous sexual harassment claims being filed against the hospital and Hospital Foundation.

DEFENSE OF CONSTRUCTIVE DISCHARGE/AGE DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS

In this employment case filed in Orange County Superior Court, the Plaintiff claimed that she was demoted and constructively discharged from a position in the hospital’s employee health department and discriminated against because of her age. Attorney Karen Taillon stayed the Superior Court action, enforced the Employee Handbook requirement for arbitration, and prevailed on all claims. In post-arbitration proceedings, Cummins & White obtained an award of costs of approximately $7500 and entered judgment in the Superior Court. The benefit to the client was that it was able to preserve the “at will” nature of its employment relationships, confirm the enforceability of the binding arbitration provisions of the Employee Handbook, and confirm through the Arbitrator’s findings that the hospital was an equal opportunity employer.