SALES MANAGER TERMINATED BECAUSE OF HER PREGNANCY

TRIALS DIGEST - NOVEMBER 15, 1999

EMPLOYMENT

Termination: Discriminatory/Violation of Public Policy/Breach of Contract

INTENTIONAL TORTS

Infliction of Emotional Distress

CORPORATIONS

Alter Ego

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT

Jalomo v. HRO Systems Inc., No. YC032704, Downtown.

Aurelio N. Munoz, Jury trial: 2 weeks. Verdict/judgment:

7/15/99

VERDICT/JUDGMENT: $100,000

Plus $160,050 attorney fees and $10,887 costs awarded against defendants Sea Recovery Corporation, HRO Systems Inc. and Cycron Corporation. Vote: 9-3. Deliberations: 2 days.

TRIAL COUNSEL

Plaintiff: Gayle L. Eskridge, Eskridge Law, Torrance.

Rhonda J. Wolf, Eskridge Law, Torrance.

Defendant: Kenneth J. Poole, Law Offices of Kenneth J. Poole, Torrance.

FACTS/CONTENTIONS

According to plaintiff: Plaintiff claimed that she was terminated from her position with defendant Sea Recovery Group of Companies about three weeks after notifying her employer she was pregnant. The plaintiff was Donnetta Jalomo, a 46-year-old sales manager. The defendants were HRO Systems Inc., Sea Recovery Corporation and Cycron Corporation.

As sales manager, plaintiff had traveled nationally and internationally. When she became pregnant, plaintiff's ob/gyn advised her not to fly during her first trimester because of the very high risk of miscarriage during the first trimester. The ob/gyn wrote a letter stating that plaintiff should not travel by air during her first trimester and plaintiff gave this letter to her supervisor at the Sea Recovery Group of Companies. The first trimester of plaintiff's pregnancy would have ended by March 17.

Defendants terminated plaintiff on February 28. The president of the Sea Recovery Group of Companies told plaintiff that she was being terminated due to her pregnancy or, if she chose, she could be demoted to a clerk-type position which paid only 50 percent as much as her sales manager position and the demotion would be permanent. Plaintiff refused the demotion and was terminated. The exit form, which was prepared by the president of the companies, said that plaintiff was being terminated due to her medical condition. The only medical condition plaintiff had was her pregnancy. Defendants had already hired a male to replace plaintiff and he started work on the following Monday. At trial, the president of the Sea Recovery Group of Companies admitted that pregnancy was one of the reasons he terminated plaintiff.

Plaintiff alleged that she had been paid less than men for the same job, that she had been terminated due to her pregnancy and that she had been unable to obtain new employment because it was a very narrow field (sales of desalination systems to luxury yacht owners and manufacturers). Plaintiff sued the three companies which made up the Sea Recovery Group of Companies as well as two individuals. She alleged causes of action for wrongful termination due to pregnancy discrimination in violation of FEHA (Government Code sections 12900 et seq.); wrongful termination due to gender discrimination in violation of FEHA and California Constitution, Article 1, section 8; failure to prevent gender and pregnancy discrimination in violation of FEHA; failure to accommodate (due to pregnancy) in violation of FEHA; tortious termination in violation of public policy; breach of written employment contract; breach of implied-in-fact employment contract; breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and violation of California Equal Pay Act (Labor Code sections 1197.5 and 1199.5).

Defendants contended that plaintiff was employed by HRO Systems Inc., a corporation with no assets, rather than by all three corporate defendants. For most relevant purposes, the three companies were treated as one company. The three companies had the same owner, same officers, same executives, same building and the same employees. The employee manual said "You are employed by the Sea Recovery Group of Companies." Plaintiff's paychecks, W-2 forms and 1099 all came from Sea Recovery Corporation but her business cards said HRO Systems Inc. Both sides presented expert testimony on the issue of alter ego.

CLAIMED INJURIES

According to plaintiff: Emotional distress.

CLAIMED DAMAGES

According to plaintiff: $277,817 past and future special damages; $300,000 emotional distress damages.

Copyright 1999 Trials Digest Publishing Inc. November 15, 1999 TRIALS DIGEST

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