A man has settled his lawsuit against a Torrance-based property management company in which he alleged he was terminated in 2023 for repeatedly reporting hazards at the property where he worked as a live-in manager and for complaining about not being fully accommodated for on-the-job injuries.
Angelo Tafoya’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, brought against TR Wealth Management Inc., included allegations of disability discrimination, failure to accommodate and engage in the interactive process, retaliation and violations of various state Labor Code violations. He sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
On Thursday, Tafoya’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Steve Cochran notifying him that the case was resolved. No terms were revealed.
In their previous court papers, TR Wealth attorneys denied Tafoya’s allegations and cited multiple defenses, including violation of the statute of limitations and that none of the company’s actions were done with ill will or illegal intent.
According to Tafoya’s suit, he was hired in September 2011 as a resident manager for one property and an off-site manager for another, both in Los Angeles. Tafoya’s duties included answering tenants’ calls day and night, removing trash, handling and reporting repairs and notifying management of leaks and safety hazards on the property.
TR Wealth President and founder William Mulkey told Tafoya that instead of being paid wages, he would be given rent credits, which the plaintiff maintained was a violation of state law. Tafoya also maintained he was denied timely, uninterrupted meal and rest breaks.
In 2017, Tafoya told Mulkey that wooden baseboards installed in one of the properties had rotted and were a potential safety hazard, but neither Mulkey nor the company management took action, the suit stated.
That same year, one of the rotted baseboards fell on Tafoya’s head while he was working, breaking his dental bridge as well as four teeth, according to the suit, which further alleged that Mulkey told Tafoya to say nothing and threatened to evict the plaintiff if he told anyone what happened to him.
The next year, Tafoya told Mulkey that he had a hernia that stemmed from being a violent crime victim in 1999, according to the complaint. Mulkey bought trash cans with wheels, but the plaintiff still had to empty heavy trash cans into a dumpster, the suit stated.
Also in 2019, Tafoya severely injured his back after he slipped in water that Mulkey knew about and took no action after the plaintiff told him about tenants complaints about sewers not draining properly, the suit filed in July 2024 stated.
Tafoya also suffered other injuries on the job during subsequent years, including engine oil that fell from Mulkey’s parked car, the suit stated.
“Even after years of damage to his body and neglect from defendants when requesting accommodation and warning of safety hazards, plaintiff continued to perform his job faithfully and to the best of his abilities,” the suit stated.
Tafoya received a notice on his door in August 2023 that he had been fired, but he continued living on the premises until June 30, 2024, according to the suit, which further stated that the plaintiff believes he was fired so that company management would no longer have to hear his complaints of alleged potential safety hazards on the property.