Defense puts on its case in one day against paralegal’s suit

LOS ANGELES -- Lawyers for Fidelity National Management Services LLC put on a one-day defense Thursday of a paralegal's claim she was harassed by an in-house counsel, presenting witnesses who said she was a subpar employee with a history of emotional problems that predated the alleged incident.

Soledad Albarracin is suing now-retired attorney Robert Gardner Wilson, and their former employer. She says he propositioned and tried to kiss her during a work retreat in Colorado Springs. Her lawsuit accuses the company of failing to investigate the matter and firing her as retaliation for her complaints.Albarracin v. Wilson et al., BC642922 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 6, 2017).

Testifying as an expert for the defense Thursday, psychiatrist Dr. James High said Albarracin was having anxiety and memory issues long before the Colorado trip, and that her previous care providers noted it was impacting her work performance. A negative performance evaluation and worries over her job security caused the symptoms to flare up at the time of the retreat, he said.

"When she went to Colorado she was under stress from the evaluation, and she had been dealing with [panic attacks and generalized anxiety] for months," he told Jessica C. Gregg of Jackson Lewis PC, who represents Wilson and Fidelity.

Under cross-examination by Mike Arias of Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos LLP, who represents Albarracin, High acknowledged that her tests showed she may have suppressed symptoms during her examination to appear healthy.

High also acknowledged he did not prepare a written report on the examination, which he conducted Friday, long after the events in question.

During the cross-examination, High agreed that Albarracin's symptoms flared after the retreat and subsided after she was removed from the workplace by her own psychiatrist prior to her termination.

Prior to High's testimony, three Fidelity employees testified about Albarracin's competence and workplace demeanor, and Wilson's. Direct examination of all three was conducted by Negin Iraninejadian of Jackson Lewis PC.

Helen Strakele, another former Fidelity paralegal, said that her superior had to work directly with Albarracin multiple times to improve her work.

"There were issues with her work I believe on one occasion there was a motion that was filed in the wrong court," Strakele said.

Strakele said she volunteered to testify because she "wanted the truth to come out" that Fidelity did all it could for Albarracin.

Under cross-examination by Arias, however, she acknowledged she was not part of the investigation.

Tamela Pittman, the paralegal Albarracin first told about the incident, testified that Albarracin refused her help rudely on several occasions and failed to perform work that Pittman described as easy.

Both witnesses, along with former legal assistant Arbi Abrami, said they had never seen Wilson behave inappropriately toward Albarracin or any other female employee. Abrami specifically disagreed with a report by Linda Hudson, a temporary employee for Fidelity who testified Wilson repeatedly harassed her during her time there.

Henry L. Sanchez, who leads the Jackson Lewis PC team, briefly questioned Joseph Tucker, head of the company division in which Wilson and Albarracin worked. The questioning was aimed at bolstering the defense's unsuccessful attempts to win an earlier nonsuit motion relative to a specific Fidelity entity currently named as a defendant.

After High's testimony, the defense rested. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantha P. Jessner, who presided over the two-week trial, then instructed the jury.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Friday morning.