Facts

Claimant Hector Gutierrez was the Executive Chef for California Yacht Club from 1986 until his discharge on June 21, 2013. Claimant brought an action against his former employer in connection with his termination.

CLAIMANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Claimant claimed that he was setup to be terminated because of his age and because he refused to terminate a disabled employee. Claimant argued that the alleged issues with his performance were pretextual, and that he was harassed because of his age.

RESPONDENTS' CONTENTIONS:
Respondents claimed that, during a tough economy and in the face of member complaints, they had tried to have claimant submit to a performance improvement plan, but he refused stating that the Club would need to decide what to do with him. In response, he was terminated for the ongoing performance issues and his insubordination when he refused to make any improvements to his performance. Respondent argued that Gutierrez was terminated for legitimate, non-retaliatory, and non-retaliatory and non-discriminatory reasons based on ongoing performance issues and insubordination. Defendant contended that the termination decision had nothing to do with Gutierrez's age. Gutierrez had no evidence to support his age harassment claim, and his retaliation claim was not based on any actual protected activity.

Damages

Claimant sought damages in excess of $825,000.

Result

Defense verdict. Claimant failed to establish that he was harassed or terminated on the basis of his age or in retaliation for protected activity.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Nov. 21, 2014.