A former Air Canada employee is suing the airline, alleging that he was unfairly criticized by a female manager for taking time off to be with his wife after she lost her baby during pregnancy, telling the plaintiff, “you are not the one who had the miscarriage.”
Luis Erick Escamilla Menjivar’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleges he was wrongfully fired in 2022 on a false accusation of poor attendance. His other causes of action are for race and disability discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination and retaliation, failure to provide reasonable accommodations and engage in the interactive process and a violation of the state’s Equal Pay Act.
Menjivar seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. An Air Canada representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought July 17.
Menjivar was hired in June 2018 as a customer service agent whose duties included helping passengers in the boarding process and checking in their bags.
In July 2021, the Latino Menjivar found out that non-Latino employees with less seniority received pay raises that were not granted to him, so he twice asked for equal treatment from one of his managers, the suit states. The supervisor said she would investigate, but the requests were eventually ignored, the suit alleges.
The next month, when Menjivar asked the same manager why new employees were being given lead positions and he was not, she replied that it was because he had an accent and spoke English poorly, leaving the plaintiff “shocked” because the two of them were easily conversing in English, the suit states.
Menjivar’s wife had a miscarriage in September 2021, so he notified a second female manager and took a few days off to be with his spouse to help her cope with depression, the suit states.
In retaliation for asking for the time off, the same manager told Menjivar that he should not have taken time off because “you are not the one who had the miscarriage,” the suit alleges.
Menjivar also was unduly criticized for taking time off later that year when he contracted bronchitis and additionally suffered an on-the-job injury to his left arm and shoulder, then acquired the coronavirus in January 2022, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff was suspended for 10 days in April of that year for seeking paternity leave to be with his wife, who was again pregnant and expecting to deliver in August 2022.
Menjivar also says he suffered a second on-duty shoulder injury, this time on his right side.
A week before his wife was expected to deliver, Menjivar was fired for alleged poor attendance, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff has experienced lost income and benefits, incurred medical expenses and suffered from emotional distress since his termination.