Case details

Plaintiff claimed her termination was based on gender

SUMMARY

$498906

Amount

Verdict-Plaintiff

Result type

Not present

Ruling
KEYWORDS
emotional distress, mental, psychological
FACTS
In December 2011, plaintiff Elaine Wang, a woman of Chinese ancestry, allegedly began to be subjected to inappropriate comments from male employees of Rees Scientific Corp., where she was employed as the Northern California Area Representative. Wang was hired on Oct. 27, 2011, but she claimed that shortly thereafter, the Mid Atlantic Regional Director in San Francisco started making inappropriate comments about her and about other women in front of her. She also claimed that other employees also made inappropriate comments in her presence. In addition, Wang claimed that despite being recognized as one of the company’s top performers and being awarded a certificate of appreciation, she was wrongfully terminated on Dec. 31, 2012, in order to create a position to allow for a white, male colleague to transfer from New York to the San Francisco Bay Area. Wang sued Rees Scientific Corp., alleging gender discrimination in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, race and/or national origin discrimination, wrongful termination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Wang claimed that shortly after she was hired, in December 2011, while she was in New Jersey for training, the Mid Atlantic Regional Director made inappropriate comments to her about her marriage and asked her if her husband “lets [her] run around.” She claimed he also asked her about her plans to have children and whether her husband would let her continue working once they had children. She further claimed that the Eastern Regional Director also made inappropriate comments, such as saying a woman’s place was in the kitchen, not the working world. In addition, Wang claimed that during the company’s annual meeting in early May 2012, the Mid Atlantic Regional Director made inappropriate comments about another female top salesperson, commenting about her body, including the size of her breasts and the supposed cosmetic enhancements that had been made to her breasts, rear and lips. Wang contended that during the course of the annual meeting, the Mid Atlantic Regional Director and several other male employees took her to a strip club and made her feel extremely uncomfortable. However, she claimed that once she realized where they had taken her, she immediately called a cab and left as soon as the cab came to pick her up. Wang alleged that when she later met with her supervisor on Nov. 30, 2012, her supervisor informed her that the company had decided to terminate her, not for any cause, but to create a position for a male colleague that reported to the Mid Atlantic Regional Director in San Francisco even though she was a superior salesperson and had outsold the male colleague in every quarter in 2012. Defense counsel contended that Wang worked for Rees Scientific for just one year and that the same managers who hired Wang instead of the other finalist for the job, a well-qualified white male, also made the termination decision. Counsel also contended that when an excellent sales person from one of Rees Scientific’s East Coast regions resigned to move to Northern California, Rees Scientific endeavored to keep him by having the West Coast manager interview him and, later, offer him Wang’s job. Defense counsel argued that Rees Scientific had reviewed and compared the metrics for both salespeople and that it concluded that the East Coast representative would be more successful than Wang because he used his time more effectively and closed more deals than Wang did. Moreover, counsel argued that Wang lacked product knowledge and that Wang failed to follow simple company directives, like keeping her client-relationship-management database up to date with detailed notes., Wang claimed she suffered emotional distress as a result of her termination. Thus, Wang sought recovery of past and future loss of earnings, and recovery of emotional distress damages. She also sought recovery of punitive damages.
COURT
Superior Court of San Francisco County, San Francisco, CA

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