A Southern California Permanente Medical Group employee has tentatively settled his suit against the health insurer in which he alleged management denied him positions for which he applied more than 270 times due to his age.
SCPMG attorneys filed court papers on Wednesday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel S. Murphy informing him of a “conditional” accord in plaintiff Gabriel Cardenas’ case with the expectation that a request for dismissal will be brought by Aug. 21. No terms were revealed.
Cardenas’ suit also alleged failure to prevent discrimination. The plaintiff was 52 years old when he sued in October 2021.
In their court papers, SCPMG lawyers denied Cardenas’ allegations, argued that his claims were barred by the statute of limitations and urged dismissal of his suit.
According to his suit, Cardenas has a clerical job in which he creates schedules, makes daily assignments and coordinates various employee teams while also focusing on payroll, purchasing, department service orders, patient care review and special projects.
“Despite the low-level job title, plaintiff did his job and he did it well,” the suit stated.
After getting his master’s degree in management in 2018, Cardenas completed nursing prerequisites at Los Angeles Harbor College and SCPMG’s program for new managers, the suit stated.
Cardenas also is the author of, “Eliminating Waste in the Medical Field With the Aid of Six-Sigma Methodology,” according to the suit, which further states that in March 2019 he applied for an assistant manager position that was later given to a 24-year-old intern.
Nine months later, he applied for a job as manager of administrative services, but the position was awarded to a 30-year-old applicant who ended up supervising and managing the plaintiff’s department, the suit stated.
Cardenas complained in writing that he believed he was passed over for jobs more than 270 times because of his age, but his protest was ignored and not investigated, according to the suit, which further stated that a project manager told the plaintiff that he was passed over for the jobs because the health insurer wanted “someone younger” for the positions.
“In my experience working for (SCPMG), I personally witnessed on numerous occasions, job postings get canceled or pulled or revised as a way (the health insurer) manipulated the hiring process in order to place their desired candidates into specific positions,” Cardenas stated in a sworn declaration.
Cardenas still works for SCPMG and performs duties beyond what his job requires, but he believes he has “no legitimate chance of being promoted or hired for another position within (the health insurer) because of his discrimination complaints,” according to the suit, which also states the plaintiff has suffered lost wages and benefits as well as emotional distress.