A 66-year-old man has settled his age discrimination lawsuit against a Gardena manufacturer of backyard homes, in which he said company executives falsely concluded his methods were “old school” and implied that he did not know what he was doing.
John Gwinner’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations against Cover Technologies Inc. included discrimination, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment or retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
His attorneys filed court papers with Judge Richard Fruin notifying him of a “conditional” resolution in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by June 29.
No terms were divulged.
In October 2024, the judge granted a defense motion to compel arbitration of Gwinner’s claims.
Cover Technologies designs, obtains permits, manufactures and installs backyard homes, according to its website. In previous court papers, company attorneys denied Gwinner’s allegations and said the company took all reasonable steps to prevent harassment and discrimination.
Gwinner was hired in March 2021 as a software engineer. He first suffered age discrimination in November of that year when an executive told him he was the oldest employee in the company, according to the suit, which further alleged the same management member said during meetings that the plaintiff was irrelevant and that his information was outdated.
On one occasion, the executive ordered Gwinner out of his own office, saying he did not have the energy required to work late hours, the suit stated.
Another Cover Technologies higher-up targeted and micromanaged Gwinner while showing a preference for younger employees, the suit alleged.
While watching on Zoom conferences, the executive made crude noises, said that Gwinner was not going fast enough and that he was “old school” and implied that Gwinner did not know what he was doing, according to the suit.
In May 2022, management allegedly ignored safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic and continued to require in-person meetings, including one in which participants did not wear masks and caused seven employees, including Gwinner, to test positive for COVID-19, the suit stated.
In alleged retaliation for complaining about Cover Technologies not abiding by coronavirus safety measures, Gwinner, who had a fever, was ordered to work 11 hours, the suit stated.
In 2023, one of the executives directed Gwinner to turn over a project the plaintiff had been working on for two months and had nearly completed to a member of a large group of interns in their 20s hired in 2023, according to the suit, which further stated that the plaintiff was later directed to turn over all of his work to one of the newcomers.
“Gwinner went home that day devastated that a young intern with no experience was receiving his assignments,” the suit stated.
Gwinner, then 62, was fired the next day in alleged retaliation for his age discrimination complaints, according to the suit, which additionally alleged that he has sustained lost earnings and suffered emotional distress as a result of losing his job.