Case details
Plaintiff did not cooperate with accommodation program: city
SUMMARY
$0
Amount
Verdict-Defendant
Result type
Not present
Ruling
KEYWORDS
emotional distress, harassed, transient memory loss
FACTS
On March 5, 2012, plaintiff Dana Webster, a parking and traffic control officer with the city of San Jose, was transferred to the Department of Transportation because the function of parking and traffic control officers at the San Jose International Airport was being outsourced. Once transferred, Webster received classroom and field training from senior parking and traffic control officers, as well as other parking and traffic control officers, because an officers’ duties with the Department of Transportation were more varied than those at the airport. However, Webster claimed that she was harassed and subjected to a hostile work environment because of her relationship with an allegedly disfavored employee, and because of her perceived disability stemming from a 2006 work injury. She claimed that as a result, she voluntarily went out on stress leave on May 31, 2012, and remained out of the workplace until she retired on Aug. 21, 2012. Thus, Webster claimed that she was constructively discharged from her position. Webster sued her employer, the city of San Jose, and her supervisors, Gina Novello and Heather Hoshii. Webster alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted workplace harassment, disability or perceived disability discrimination, retaliation, failure to accommodate, and constructive discharge. Novello and Hoshii were ultimately dismissed from the case. Thus, the matter continued against the city only. Webster claimed that she was harassed and subjected to a hostile work environment because of her relationship with an allegedly disfavored employee and because of her disability stemming from a 2006 work injury, in which she sustained a concussion and suffered transient memory loss. She alleged that her other cohorts passed the training programs at the Department of Transportation and were assimilated into the parking-and-traffic-control-officer program, but that her supervisors ridiculed her in front of co-employees and that it was planned that she would fail. In addition, Webster claimed that she was unable to fulfill the skills required of the position due to her disabilities and that the city failed to accommodate her. She alleged that as a result, she voluntarily went out on stress leave on May 31, 2012, but that her supervisors joined together to retaliate against her for supporting a co-employee and force her to retire on Aug. 21, 2012. Defense counsel argued that Webster was not discriminated against or retaliated against. Counsel contended that Webster voluntarily left her position with the city and that Webster did not cooperate with a proposed accommodation program., Webster claimed that she worked as a parking and traffic control officer for the city since 1998, but that after her position was outsourced and she was transferred to the Department of Transportation, she had to go out on stress leave and was ultimately forced to retire on Aug. 21, 2012. Thus, she alleged that her treatment at the Department of Transportation and her constructive discharge caused her to suffer emotional distress. Webster initially sought recovery of $906,000 for her loss of future wages and benefits, but it was mitigated to $650,000. She also sought recovery of between $100,000 and $1 million in non-economic damages.
COURT
Superior Court of Santa Clara County, Santa Clara, CA
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