Lawrance A. Bohm

Bohm is eager to get back to court. "You're talking to a trial lawyer who can't do trials right now," said the founder of Bohm Law Group Inc. "We're sharpening our swords and polishing our shields here. I'm a samurai with no battles."

He foresees an oncoming wave of litigation emerging from the coronavirus crisis. "There'll be a huge jump in cases in 2020," Bohm said. "We're getting new client calls all the time from people whose employers are trying the Covid cover ploy in terminations. The disease is real, but the pretext is fake."

There will also be new legal questions. "In the time of Covid, what is a disability? I just signed up someone who is at high risk of heart disease and who wants to continue working from home, but his employer is demanding he get back to the workplace. Some employers think they have better control of productivity and accountability when their employees come to them every day, but they are required by law to accommodate disabilities. Some refuse to recognize Covid as a serious medical condition."

Just as the pandemic arrived in March, Bohm settled for $1 million a case he called a recent favorite due to its degree of difficulty--that of a volunteer firefighter who quit prior to his six-month probationary period due to antisemitic harassment by fire department members. Hartstein v. City of La Habra Heights, BC643384 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 13, 2016).

"This is the most difficult kind of case you can do," Bohm said. "You are going against a government entity not known for dealing in good faith. You have as defendants first responders, who have a generally good reputation. And the client quit. Even so, we had experts who showed he was bullied out of the department and it crushed his dreams. They turned off his air hose during training and he thought he was going to die. They drew a swastika on his notebook. Their deposition testimony was not good for them. And he is a fabulous person. And they have paid up."

Bohm has had a series of wrongful termination and harassment cases against the University of California. Last year, he settled for $2.486 million claims of behalf of a tenured anesthesiology professor who alleged retaliation for complaining about compromised patient safety at UC Irvine Medical Center. Breen v. Regents of the University of California, 30-2014-00729731-CU-OE-CJC (Orange Super. Ct., filed Oct. 10, 2014).

"The hospital kept him working even though they claimed he compromised patient safety," Bohm said. "Make up your mind. This case was emblematic of my bread and butter cases against the UC hospital system. And there are a lot more to come."

-- John Roemer