A Torrance general contracting company and one of its former account managers have tentatively settled his lawsuit in which he alleged he was terminated from his job as an account manager in 2023 because he asked for time off to take care of ill relatives.
Trey Hernandez further contended in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed against Menemsha Development Group Inc. that despite having high sales numbers, the CEO told the plaintiff to “get over” his stepfather’s death because his sales numbers were being negatively affected.
Hernandez’s attorneys filed court papers on Tuesday with Judge Gail Killefer notifying her of a “conditional” resolution of the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by March 16. No terms were divulged.
In their earlier court papers, Menemsha attorneys denied Hernandez’s allegations and said they were barred wholly or in part by both the statute of limitations and by managerial immunity.
Hernandez filed suit in December 2024 and the Filipino plaintiff’s allegations included discrimination, harassment and retaliation. He was hired in 2016 and six years later he began caring for his cancer-stricken grandmother.
A year later, Hernandez’s stepfather died and he took time off to grieve. Hernandez contended that other employees who were not Filipino and had no family care responsibilities were given a promotion or hired to fill a specific position that the plaintiff could have been given.
During a March 2023 meeting to find ways to boost sales, the company CEO told Hernandez to “get over” his stepfather’s death because it was distracting the plaintiff from meeting his sales quota, the suit alleged.
“Plaintiff Hernandez was shocked by these comments because he had the second-highest sales of the team, outperforming approximately five other colleagues,” according to the complaint.
Hernandez was terminated the next month and given the excuse that he had poor sales, but non-Filipino employees who were selling less, but had no family care issues, were kept on staff, the suit stated.