A tandem pair of employment law-related cases regarding a former California worker and a job applicant in the state, respectively, underscore some important labor law points, which we pass along in today’s blog post.
One of those cases involves a restaurant chain that some of our readers across Southern California might be familiar with, namely, Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles.
That business entity became the named defendant in a lawsuit filed by one of the restaurant’s workers, who was fired by company managers. As noted in an article discussing employment discrimination and wrongful termination, that employee — a black worker — claimed in his lawsuit that he suffered his job loss after complaining to supervisors “that black workers were given worse schedules and shifts than Latino employees.”
A jury sided with that position last year, when it ruled for the plaintiff in the amount of $3.2 million.
Notwithstanding the outcome, the matter continues to move forward. Roscoe’s has filed for bankruptcy and is reportedly appealing the verdict.
In the other case examined in the above-cited article, things have not yet reached a conclusion. That litigation involves an allegation grounded in an age discrimination claim.
The plaintiff in that matter is stated to be “older than 50.” His complaint states that he and similarly situated individuals (the claim is seeking class-action status) suffered discriminatory treatment when applying for job positions with the global professional services firm of Pricewaterhousecoopers LLP. The plaintiff contends that unlawful age discrimination played a central role when he sought an accounting position, given a company preference to hire workers under 40.
The age discrimination case is still progressing.