Social Employee Settles Swimsuit Alleging Firing Tied To Discrimination Grievance
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A Jehovah’s Witness denomination has settled a lawsuit against a Lynwood hospital and recruiting company alleging the social worker was wrongly fired to help coronavirus patients complain of religious discrimination.
Cossetta Stroud’s attorneys filed court files with Justice Terry A. Green of the Los Angeles Supreme Court finding that their lawsuit against St. Francis Medical Center Inc. and Burbank-based Xpert Recruiters LLC had been resolved. No conditions were disclosed.
The lawsuit, filed on Sept. 23, related to religious discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, violations of state family and sick leave law, and willful infliction of emotional stress. Stroud looked for unspecified damage.
In their court records, lawyers from St. Francis and Xpert Recruiters denied any wrongdoing.
Hospital attorneys also said St. Francis was not Stroud’s employer or joint employer, a problem the plaintiff disputed. She said she started her job as a social worker in September 2019 and was hired to help patients who had COVID-19.
The defendants sponsored stays at a nearby hotel for employees who had contracted COVID-19 and Stroud, who took care of her aging and cancerous mother and didn’t want her to get sick, made reservations July 1-14 a room in the hotel to her court records.
In response, one of her two superiors asked Stroud: “Because of your religion, don’t you mind making this reservation?” after their lawsuit.
Stround found the comment undesirable and discriminatory because of her religion and asked the manager not to make any further comments, according to the lawsuit.
Stroud told her superiors that she wanted to take time off under the Family Medical Leave Act to look after her mother. After filing their motion and complaining about religious discrimination, the defendants began taking revenge on her and finally released her in July last year.
According to the plaintiff, none of the defendants had a policy or procedure in place to prevent discrimination and retaliation, so Stroud endured a work environment that included both.
Social worker resolves alleged dismissal complaint related to discrimination complaint was last changed: April 7, 2021 by
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