Attorney Amanda Peterson Wins MSJ in Employment Matter
Amanda Peterson, an associate in the firm’s Irvine Office, recently won a Motion for Summary Judgment in the Central District of California on behalf of a public entity client for employment related claims. The case involved an employee of the public entity whose allegations included racial and disability discrimination, FEHA and FMLA retaliation, racial harassment, and failure to accommodate/engage in an interactive process. After strategically removing the action to federal court based off a single federal claim, the defense successfully argued that it had indisputable evidence the plaintiff was terminated for nondiscriminatory and non-retaliatory reasons, that the plaintiff was unable to meet the legal definition of hostile work environment harassment, and that the employer had met its burden to engage in an interactive process and accommodate the plaintiff’s disability. The defense also successfully argued for the Court to maintain supplemental jurisdiction of the state law claims after a last-ditch effort by the plaintiff to withdraw the sole federal cause of action in order to eliminate the Central District’s jurisdiction to consider and rule against the state law claims.
Congratulations Amanda!