Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani attorneys Haleh Jenkins and Stephanie Gorman secured a complete defense verdict for the County of Riverside in a four-week employment discrimination and retaliation jury trial in Riverside County Superior Court.
The plaintiffs, Roger Tansey and Kimberly Allee, veteran Deputy Public Defenders employed by the County of Riverside, alleged age discrimination, retaliation, and failure to prevent discrimination under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The plaintiffs claimed they were improperly denied discretionary Deputy Public Defender IV-S special assignments because of their age and Plaintiff Allee further alleged that she experienced retaliation after filing suit.
The defense established that the Public Defender independently made the IV-S assignment decisions after gathering input from supervisors and attorneys regarding leadership needs within the office. The defense further demonstrated that the IV-S designation was a discretionary special assignment, not a promotion, and that the plaintiffs experienced no reduction in pay, benefits, classification, or employment status.
GRSM successfully argued that the selected attorneys were consistently identified as the strongest leadership candidates and that age played no role in the decision-making process. The defense also established that the alleged retaliatory conduct involved ordinary workplace management decisions and did not constitute an adverse employment action.
After less than an hour of deliberations, the jury returned an 11-1 defense verdict, finding that the plaintiffs failed to establish they suffered an adverse employment action. Because the plaintiffs failed to prove this threshold element, the jury did not reach the remaining questions regarding discrimination, retaliation, causation, damages, or the County’s affirmative defenses.
The verdict was entered in favor of the County of Riverside on all claims.