Hilmar Cheese Company Sued for Systemic Illegal Employment Practices – Fresno Bee, Merced Sun Star & Daily Journal Report on Unlawful Termination & Disability Discrimination Lawsuit
As reported by Fresno Bee, Merced Sun Star and Daily Journal, the disability discrimination and unlawful termination lawsuit filed against Hilmar Cheese Company has been amended after discovery identified that since at least 2007, Hilmar has subjected many of its employees to illegal employment practices. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of former employee Victor Cruz by law firms McNicholas & McNicholas LLP, Kent | Pincin and Alexandroff Law Group, alleges that Hilmar has instituted an unlawful policy that discriminates against employees with disabilities.
Read more about the case:
MERCED (December 11, 2023) – The disability discrimination and unlawful termination lawsuit filed against Hilmar Cheese Company has been amended after discovery identified that since at least 2007, Hilmar has subjected many of its employees to illegal employment practices. The lawsuit alleges that Hilmar has instituted an unlawful policy that discriminates against employees with disabilities. The lawsuit was filed by personal injury and employment law firms Kent | Pincin, Alexandroff Law Group and McNicholas & McNicholas LLP in November 2022 on behalf of former Hilmar employee Victor Cruz.
“Protections for disabled employees exist for a reason, and Hilmar intentionally and recklessly ignores them,” said Michael Kent and Emily Pincin of Kent | Pincin.
“By the admission of Hilmar’s own human resources representative, approximately 1 in every 2 employees who were placed on a medical leave of absence by the company returned to find themselves reassigned or terminated. Victor Cruz is just one of hundreds of people whose lives have been turned upside down by Hilmar’s discriminatory actions,” added Nicholas Alexandroff with Alexandroff Law Group.
The lawsuit alleges that Hilmar routinely discriminated against employees with disabilities, including Cruz, by failing to engage in the interactive process prior to placing employees on medical leaves of absence (MLOA) and providing no job protection for employees who needed to take such leave. The lawsuit also alleges that employees whose jobs were filled while they were on an MLOA were simply told to apply for another open position and received no preferential treatment, in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, California Government Code and the Unruh Act.
Cruz alleges that as soon as his leave for a chronic back injury was transitioned to a MLOA, Hilmar began the process of filling his position without first engaging in the interactive process. When Cruz was cleared to work about two weeks after his MLOA began, he was informed that he could not return to his original position because it had already been filled, nor would he be reassigned to another position. Cruz applied for several equivalent positions within the company, but despite his qualifications, he was not hired.
Case Background
Victor Cruz was employed as an alpha lac operator at Hilmar Cheese Company beginning in 2007. Despite suffering from a physical disability that affected his musculoskeletal system and caused chronic back pain, he capably performed his job duties.
In Nov. 2021, Cruz’s doctor ordered him to be placed off of work for approximately three months as a result of his back injury. In Jan. 2022, Cruz provided Hilmar with a doctor’s note requesting an extension of his leave until Feb. 17, 2022. Although Cruz’s protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was scheduled to expire on Feb. 5, he requested accommodation so his job would remain open for an additional nine working days, until he could return to work around Feb. 17.
On the very same day that Cruz requested this accommodation, Hilmar informed him that he would be transitioned to a medical leave of absence (MLOA) with no job protection as of Feb. 6. This transition occurred without Hilmar engaging in any interactive process or first determining whether holding Cruz’s job open would constitute an undue hardship on the company. Hilmar began the process to fill Cruz’s position on Feb. 6.
On Feb. 16, Cruz informed Hilmar that he was cleared to work with no accommodation beginning on Feb. 18. Nevertheless, Hilmar claimed that it could not provide reasonable accommodation for him in his old position—despite Cruz needing no accommodation. The company also stated that his position had been filled, even though the position was not administratively filled until Feb. 21 and the new employee did not start in the role until Feb. 23. Hilmar did not reassign Cruz to another position; instead, he was simply informed that he could apply to other open jobs within the company.
Cruz applied for an open alpha lac operator position as well as several other positions he was qualified for, yet he was not selected for any of them. His employment was effectively terminated as of Feb. 5, causing him to lose his only source of income. Cruz applied for unemployment benefits through California’s Employment Development Department (EDD), but Hilmar further discriminated and retaliated against him by misrepresenting to the EDD that he had quit his job. Cruz was denied benefits until he filed an appeal with the EDD, which later determined that Cruz had not, in fact, quit.
Cruz’s lawsuit was first filed in Nov. 2022. The lawsuit alleges Discrimination; Failure to Accommodate; Failure to Engage in the Interactive Process; Retaliation; Failure to Take Reasonable Steps to Prevent Discrimination and Retaliation; Unfair Competition; and Unruh Civil Rights Act violations.
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Kent | Pincin
Kent | Pincin, a leading employment and personal injury law firm, specializing in mass action and personal injury cases throughout California. www.KentPincinLaw.com
Alexandroff Law Group
Alexandroff Law Group, a premier California law firm, specializing in personal injury law and employment law, wrongful death and more. www.ALGLegal.com
McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP
McNicholas & McNicholas, a Los Angeles-based plaintiff-trial law firm, representing clients in the areas of catastrophic personal injury, employment law, class actions, sexual abuse, and other consumer-oriented matters such as civil rights, aviation disasters, and product liability. www.McNicholasLaw.com
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