Fired Under False Pretenses, Former Kaiser Employee Says
5-2-2013 22:29:00
OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - A 58-year-old Director of Account Management for Kaiser Permanente was fired for unspecified “compliance violations,” and replaced with a much younger woman, she says in a complaint filed in Alameda County Superior Court.
Marjorie Favro is suing for age discrimination, wrongful termination and slander.
At the time of her termination Ms. Favro was “earning a base annual salary of $190,000, with the reasonable expectation that she would earn at least an additional $80,000 in annual bonuses. As part of the compensation package, she was to be eligible for pension and retirement benefits, including, but not limited to, lifetime medical coverage,” according to the complaint.
“At all times throughout her employment at Kaiser, plaintiff received exemplary performance evaluations,” the complaint states, noting that during her last evaluation “plaintiff was rated as having ‘Excellent Performance’ in 12 out of 16 rated areas of performance, and ‘Satisfactory Performance’ in the remaining 4 areas of performance. In said performance evaluation, plaintiff was given an overall Employee Rating of ‘Excellent Performance’ for the 2011 year by her manager,’ the complaint states.
Nevertheless, two weeks later, “plaintiff was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of what was described to her merely as ‘compliance violations.’ Plaintiff was never provided with any detail as to the basis of any such contentions as to what the alleged ‘compliance violations’ were. Rather, approximately two weeks later, on or about April 11, 2012, plaintiff’s employment was terminated without further explanation to her as to the reason for the discharge,” according to the complaint.
“Plaintiff is informed and believes, and thereon alleges that shortly after her termination, Kaiser hired a woman significantly younger than plaintiff to take over plaintiff’s position. Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereon alleges that the accusation of ‘compliance violations’ made by defendants against her was a sham and a ruse and made for the sole purpose of justifying plaintiff’s termination so that defendants could hire someone significantly younger than plaintiff to take over plaintiff’s position,” the complaint continues.
Ms. Favro also says Kaiser damaged her reputation by repeating the false accusation to other employees, “which made it appear that she was terminated for cause and that she had committed some serious wrongful act which justified such termination,” she says in the complaint.
The plaintiff seeks general and special damages, including loss of earnings, bonuses and benefits, exceeding $1 million, loss of money in her profession, and money spent to rehabilitate her professional reputation, according to the complaint. She also seeks damages for “humiliation, emotional distress, and mental and physical pain and anguish,” punitive damages and attorneys fees.
Ms. Favro is represented by Mark Mazer of Benjamin, Weill & Mazer in San Francisco.
