WYNONA Harris was hired to drive Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus. About 40 days into her training period, she had an accident, which the City said was “preventable.” About three months later, Harris had a second preventable accident. Per the City’s guidelines, those who drive unsafely will not pass probation.
Weeks later, Harris reported late to work without giving her supervisor the required one-hour notice that she would be late (a “miss-out”). This resulted in some demerit points. The City’s guidelines stated that if a driver gets more than two miss-outs a year, this showed that the driver has a “reliability problem.” Unfortunately, about four weeks later, Harris again was late for work and failed to inform her supervisor that she would be late.
Several days after, Harris had a chance encounter with her supervisor at work. During their conversation, Harris told her supervisor that she was pregnant. Harris said her supervisor was displeased at the news and asked her for a doctor’s note clearing her to continue work, which Harris provided four days later.
On the day the supervisor received Harris’ doctor’s note, the supervisor was in a meeting and received a list of probationary drivers who were not meeting standards for continued employment. Harris was on the list. She was fired two days later.
Harris sued the City, accusing the City of firing her because she was pregnant. The City denied her allegations and said that it had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons to fire her, i.e., she did not meet the city’s standards for continued employment because she had two preventable accidents and two miss-outs.
Was Harris fired because of her pregnancy? Or did her employer have valid reasons for firing her? What if Harris was fired because of her work performance and because she was pregnant – would she still be entitled to damages?
During the jury trial, the question before the jury was: If Harris proves that her pregnancy was a “motivating factor” in the City’s decision to fire her, then the City was liable to Harris for damages, back-pay and reinstatement. The jury found that Harris’ pregnancy was a motivating factor in the City’s decision and awarded Harris $150,000 for emotional distress, $25,000 for lost wages, and $400,000 in attorneys’ fees. The City appealed and the case went all the way to the California Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled that Harris must prove her pregnancy was a “substantial factor” that motivated the employer to terminate her. It is not enough that her pregnancy was a “motivating factor” in her termination. If Harris proves her pregnancy was a substantial factor in her termination, then her employer has the right to show that Harris would have been terminated anyway, even if she was not pregnant.
If the employer’s decision was actually motivated by both Harris’ pregnancy and her unsatisfactory job performance, and the employer can show that Harris would have been terminated anyway because of her job performance, then Harris cannot recover damages, back pay, or seek reinstatement. However, because Harris was still fired because of her pregnancy (even if she was also fired because of her job performance), Harris could still obtain an injunction to stop the employer’s discriminatory practices. Furthermore, she is still also entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
Hence, the high court did not fully absolve the employer of liability where unlawful discrimination was a “substantial factor” in the pregnant employee’s firing. By allowing recovery of attorney’s fees and costs, and allowing the remedy of injunction, the discriminatory policies or practices, can still be stopped.
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C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully obtained significant results, including several million dollar recoveries for consumers against insurance companies and big business. He is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum—a prestigious group of trial lawyers whose membership is limited to those who have demonstrated exceptional skill, experience and excellence in advocacy. He has been featured in the cover of Los Angeles Daily Journal’s Verdicts and Settlements for his professional accomplishments and recipient of numerous awards from community and media organizations. His litigation practice concentrates in the following areas: serious personal injuries, wrongful death, insurance claims, unfair business practices, wage and hour (overtime) litigation. You can visit his website at www.joesayas law.com or contact his office by telephone at (818) 291-0088.
