California Legal Team, Los Angeles, Orange County, Sexual Harassment Attorneys Phone: (800) 285-1763

California Legal Team’s lawyers represent women that are victims of Sexual Harassment throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

If you are a victim of Sexual Harassment in Los Angeles or Orange County, feel free to give us a call to discuss your case.

Phone: (800) 285-1763

California Jury Issues $992,650 Verdict In Case Where Employee Alleged He Was Verbally Abused

2008 Mealey’s CA Jury Verdicts & Settlements 123

HEADLINE: California Jury Issues $992,650 Verdict In Case Where Employee Alleged He Was Verbally Abused

Case Name: Gurpreet Singh v. Southland Stone U.S.A. Inc., et al.

Case Number: BC350196

Court: Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co.

Judge: Mary Thornton

Verdict/Settlement (breakdown): $992,650 plaintiff verdict ($253,750 for the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, $337,100 for the intentional misrepresentation claim, $45,000 for breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, $6,800 for nonpayment of wages and $350,000 in punitive damages)

Plaintiff(s): Gurpreet Singh

Defendant(s): Southland Stone U.S.A. Inc.

Date: April 16, 2008

Claim: Breach of written contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, promissory fraud, wrongful termination, intentional infliction of emotional distress and promissory estoppel

Defense: Singh voluntarily resigned from the position; Singh was employed under an “at-will’ agreement; there was ample cause shown by Singh’s lack of performance and violations of company policies.

Background: Gurpreet Singh worked for Southland Stone U.S.A. Inc. as a general manager.Singh said that before he was hired, he was a resident of New Delhi, India, and worked for a different company. Singh said he was approached by a Southland representative, who solicited him to join Southland. Singh said the representative promised that Southland would sponsor his and his family’s immigration to the United States, would pay an annual salary of $120,000 and would provide health benefits and paid vacation time.However, Singh said, once he began to work for Southland, he was verbally abused. He said that four months after he began to work for the company, he received a 50 percent pay cut. Singh said he was not provided with any explanation for the pay cut. As a result of the sudden and unexpected pay cut, Singh said he had to move his wife and children back to India.Singh said that based on increasingly hostile circumstances that included verbal abuse, he was forced to resign.Singh filed an amended complaint against Southland on April 25, 2007, in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Other: The case went to a jury trial on Jan. 30, 2008, before Judge Mary Thornton.The jury found that Southland was exercising its legal rights but that its conduct was not lawful and consistent with community standards. The jury also found that Southland’s conduct was outrageous and that it knowingly acted with disregard of the probability that Singh would suffer from emotional distress. The jury further found that Singh suffered from severe emotional distress and that Southland’s conduct was a substantial factor in causing the emotional distress.Additionally, the jury found that Southland knowingly made false representations of an important fact to Singh and that it intended Singh to rely on the misrepresentation. The jury also found that Singh’s reliance was a substantial factor on causing him harm.The jury also found in favor of Singh on the concealment claim. However, the jury found that Singh was not entitled to damages for this claim. The jury found in favor of Singh on the breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing claim.

Plaintiff Attorneys: Okorie Okorocha and Krishna R. Malhotra, Malhotra & Malhotra, Los Angeles

Defense Attorneys: Hitendra Bhakta, Law Offices of Norman A. Filer, Orange, Calif.

Sexual Harassment Law Firm -- Sexual Harassment Training

Preventing Sexual Harassment

Employers are required by law to be committed to eliminating Sexual Harassment from the workplace.

The best way an employer can prevent Sexual Harassment is to have a Sexual Harassment reporting system that the employees can use with ease and to act immediately upon the information, once it is received.

Employers should also do their best to train and educate all of their employees about Sexual Harassment.

Sexual Harassment Lawyer -- Employer Obligation Guidelines

Employer Obligations

All employers have a legal obligation to prevent sexual harassment.

* Employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring.

* Employers must help ensure a workplace free from sexual harassment by posting in the workplace a poster made available by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

* Employers must help ensure a workplace free from sexual harassment by distributing to employees information on sexual harassment. An employer may either distribute a brochure that may be obtained from the Department of Fair Employment and Housing or develop an equivalent document, which must meet the following requirements:

o The illegality of sexual harassment

o The definition of sexual harassment under state and federal laws

o A description of sexual harassment, utilizing examples

o The internal complaint process of the employer available to the employee

o The legal remedies and complaint process available through the Department and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission

o Directions on how to contact the Department and the Fair Employment and Housing Commission

o The protection against retaliation for opposing the practices prohibited by law or for filing a complaint with, or otherwise participating in investigative activities conducted by, the Department or the Commission

* # Employers with 50 or more employees must provide at least two hours of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees who are employed as of July 1, 2005, and to all new supervisory employees within six months of assuming a supervisory position. There after, covered employers must provide sexual harassment training and education to each supervisory employee once every two years.

Typical Sexual Harassment Cases

Typical Sexual Harassment Cases

There are three kinds of Sexual Harassment Cases that typically get litigated as follows:

* When an employer fires, refuses to employ an individual or in some way refuses to give them a benefit or something of value at work because the person refuses to engage in some or of sexual conduct. These cases can also have a "Retaliation" element, which occurs when an employer in some manner punishes an employee for refusing to engage in some sort of sexual conduct, which is also illegal .

* When an employee suffers so much Sexual Harassment or "retaliation" and is forced to resign instead of continuing to suffer. When an employer's conduct is so bad that the employee is forced to quit. When this occurs, the employee can often obtain the same legal results the employee would have obtained had she been fired.

* When an employee suffers Sexual Harassment that is either "severe" or " pervasive," meaning the Sexual Harassment carried on for a long time or was incredibly offensive (or both).

Los Angeles Sexual Harassment Attorneys

Employer Liability

All employers are prohibited from harassing employees in the workplace. If harassment occurs, an employer may be liable even if management was not aware of the harassment.

An employer might avoid liability if the harasser is a non-management employee, the employer had no knowledge of the harassment, and there was a program to prevent harassment. If the harasser is a non-management employee, the employer may avoid liability if the employer takes immediate and appropriate corrective action to stop the harassment once the employer learns about it. Employers are strictly liable for harassment by their supervisors or agents. The harasser can be held personally liable for damages.

Additionally, Government Code section 12940, subdivision (k), requires an entity to take "all reasonable steps to prevent harassment from occurring." If an employer has failed to take such preventative measures, that employer can be held liable for the harassment.

A victim may be entitled to monetary damages even though no employment opportunity has been denied and there is no actual loss of pay or benefits.

General Facts about Sexual Harassment

Facts About Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.

Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

• The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
• The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
• Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
• The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.

It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.

When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, EEOC looks at the whole record: the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances, and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. A determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.

Prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. They should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. They can do so by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.