Caucasian Employee Alleges Racial Discrimination

Our national perception of racism generally involves a Caucasian supervisor wrongfully firing an employee of another ethnicity. An increasing number of racial discrimination suits are making their way into California courts that show a different face of wrongful termination. The newest case involves a white woman who alleges that her Filipina hospital supervisor in Daly City conspired to get her wrongfully fired.

The woman filed the suit on Jan. 30, alleging wrongful termination and retaliation in connection with her job loss.

Court documents show that the woman had been employed at the medical center for some 20 years before she was laid off in 2011. She was the facility’s lead financial adviser at the time she was dismissed. The woman said she began experiencing harassment from members of a financial contract firm during her employment in 2010. When she reported the harassment to her new supervisor, she was rebuffed.

Consequently, the woman filed a harassment complaint with her human resources department. Even though her supervisors and human resources contacts had told the woman her job would be safe after registering the complaint, she was laid off in 2011. The woman even offered to take a pay cut to remain at the hospital until her retirement date, but she was again refused by the supervisor.

The employee hypothesizes that she was laid off in favor of less-experienced workers who would provide the same services for less pay. That action is a blatant violation against the company’s reduction-in-force procedures. Also, the people who took over the woman’s duties were all minority workers.

The woman is seeking $100,000 in damages in connection with the case. She alleges that the company fired her because she reported the harassment by the outside firm. The woman may be seeking financial compensation under California’s whistleblowers statute or other legal protections. She is likely seeking redress for wrongful termination, emotional distress and a variety of other claims.

The hospital has refused to comment on the ongoing litigation.

Source: GMA News, “White employee sues Pinay supervisor of California hospital for ‘racial discrimination’,” Neil Gonzales, Feb. 26, 2013