A former California State Parks worker is in search of roughly $4 million in a lawsuit alleging the company discriminated towards him for his Mexican heritage, prevented him from shifting up within the ranks and didn’t accommodate a incapacity, describing the case as a wake-up name for entrenched racism amongst some prime brass.
Angel Alba, a former upkeep supervisor and employee at a number of state parks in Malibu, filed the go well with in 2018 in Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom towards the company and his former boss, Lynette Brody, after greater than a decade of contentious office points, based on court docket paperwork.
Closing arguments for the roughly four-week trial concluded Monday, and the jury is anticipated to start deliberations immediately.
“It was demoralizing,” Alba, 48, stated this month. “There’s a bunch of people within the division who perpetuate this tradition of discrimination, and that is within the L.A. space, [which] is probably the most numerous space of the state … but that is occurring.”
Brody, he alleged, referred to as him an “boastful Mexican,” amongst different disparaging remarks.
Requested by a Occasions reporter about Alba’s claims, Brody stated, “I consider they’re very exaggerated.” She was superintendent of California State Parks’ Malibu sector when she retired in 2016.
“It’s so after-the-fact; I’ve been retired for nearly 8 years,” she stated throughout a break within the trial final week. “For him to hunt me out particularly is fairly tough.”
Angel Alba at a California State Parks coaching middle.
(Courtesy of Angel Alba)
The dispute dates to round 2007, when Alba filed a criticism alleging racial discrimination and retaliation, in addition to sexual harassment of his spouse, based on Alba and the civil go well with. An investigation substantiated most of his allegations, paperwork present, discovering that his then-supervisor (who was not Brody) made a disparaging remark about Latinos. However the hostile remedy continued, Alba and his household allege.
In response to the criticism, Alba was denied promotions a number of instances regardless of being certified.
In response to court docket proceedings, Alba suffered a number of again accidents courting to 2006 and in 2021 developed anxiousness so extreme {that a} psychological well being skilled suggested him not return to work for a number of weeks. He alleges that his incapacity was not accommodated, and his legal professional stated Alba was requested to carry out work he mustn’t have been doing along with his situation.
Throughout closing arguments, Michelle Logan-Stern of the California Division of Justice, who’s defending State Parks and Brody, laid out a counter-narrative wherein Alba got here up brief at work and tried to undermine his bosses. She informed the jury they needed to determine if managers took the actions they did “due to his incapacity? Or was it due to his race? Or was it due to his conduct?”
In response to Logan-Stern’s argument, Alba attributed discriminatory language to Brody solely after he acquired into “critical hassle” at a July 2015 assembly. In response to Logan-Stern, who cited witness testimony, Alba reacted to Brody saying office adjustments on the assembly with expletives and informed her, “I’ll make you pay.”
Alba’s model of the incident, based on court docket paperwork, is that Brody determined to maliciously transfer him to a brand new work location with out warning, stripping him of the tasks he was dealing with.
“They’d chortle at him, belittle him in conferences,” Michael Anderson, Alba’s legal professional, stated throughout closing arguments, including that they referred to as the July 2015 assembly “for the aim of mainly denigrating him in entrance of his superiors.”
Angel Alba in a California State Parks uniform. He alleges he was the topic of discrimination, harassment and retaliation partly tied to his Mexican heritage.
(Ruth Alba)
Following the incident, Anderson stated, Alba went to the emergency room, believing he was having a coronary heart assault. He was recognized with a extreme anxiousness assault, based on the legal professional.
About three years in the past, Alba resigned from State Parks, leaving housing that had been supplied by the state alongside the coast.
The transfer disrupted his daughter’s training and led to Alba and his spouse residing in separate houses.
Alba now works on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the place, he stated, the tradition is healthier.
A spokesperson for California State Parks stated the company doesn’t touch upon pending litigation.
Anderson requested the jury to award Alba at least $300,000 for every of the 12 years he was subjected to the alleged discrimination, harassment and retaliation, amounting to $3.6 million. Moreover, he requested for misplaced revenue of practically $319,000, primarily based partially on what he would have made if he’d been elevated to higher-paying positions, and roughly $19,000 to cowl intervals of medical go away.
