Rachel Lerner
Wed, 01/17/2024
On January 2, 2024, the Court of Appeals in California upheld the finding and a $23.9 million dollar damages award that Andrew Rudnicki, an in-house attorney for Farmers Insurance Exchange and Farmers Group, Inc. (Farmers), was illegally terminated in retaliation for opposing gender discrimination. Farmers was named in a gender discrimination lawsuit, and Rudnicki, who was preparing to testify in the case, informed his supervisor that if asked, he would explain that the issue of gender disparity had been raised to him, and that HR denied his requests for gender demographics and pay disparity documents. Thereafter, Rudnicki’s supervisor treated him poorly, and a few months later, after the gender disparity case settled, terminated Rudnicki’s employment. After a trial, the jury found that Rudnicki was illegally terminated and retaliated against for his role as a potential witness in the gender disparity lawsuit, and awarded him $5.4 million in compensatory damages, along with $150 million in punitive damages, which the trial court reduced to $18.9 million.
Under California law, it is unlawful for an employer to discharge any person because they opposed an unlawful employment practice. On appeal, the Court of Appeals upheld the jury verdict, finding that potential participation in a civil lawsuit is protected activity, and that Rudnicki’s potential deposition testimony was a cause of his termination, rendering it unlawful.
If you believe you have been wrongfully terminated or retaliated against, please contact us at info@mselaborlaw.com.
