A 66-year-old former architect at Frank O. Gehry & Associates is suing the company, alleging the firm founded by the famed designer of the Walt Disney Concert Hall wrongfully laid him off in 2024 due to his age.
Juan Minaya’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations include discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Minaya seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A Gehry representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Wednesday.
Minaya was hired in September 2013. He was promoted the next year to senior associate architect, the highest Gehry position other than partner, the suit states.
However, in November 2023, a Gehry partner told Minaya that architects with senior positions were overpaid and that younger workers were not paid enough, according to the suit, which further states that Minaya was “taken aback” by the remark.
That same month, a partner removed Minaya from a project at the downtown Colburn School and replaced him with two architects in their 20s, the suit states. Minaya was reassigned to reviewing blueprints, a task well below his qualifications, the suit further states.
Despite being removed from the Colburn project, the younger architects routinely asked Minaya for his guidance and expertise, according to the complaint.
Gehry continued hiring younger architects, most in their 20s, while still having Minaya review blueprints through June 2024, when he was laid off and told it was due to a lack of business, the suit states.
When Minaya complained that he believed he was being let go because of his age, a Gehry partner told him, “We are really sorry. It’s business. You can stay for another four weeks,” the suit alleges.
Despite the partner’s explanation, Minaya knew of at least 10 active projects within the company and believed he could have been assigned to any of them, according to the suit, which further states he was the oldest architect at Gehry and believes he was the only employee laid off.
Minaya has suffered lost earnings and emotional distress since the layoff, the suit states.
Frank O. Gehry, 96, founded Gehry & Associates in 1962 and the company later evolved into Gehry Partners LLP. Along with the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Gehry designed Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.