USC is asking a judge to dismiss a longtime former executive secretary’s disability discrimination/retaliation lawsuit, stating in new court papers that the plaintiff was justly fired for threatening a school vice president in 2022 while falsely claiming he was being treated like a slave.
Zachary B. Ellison also contends in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that he was not accommodated for his condition and that he was denied meal and rest breaks. On Thursday, USC attorneys filed court papers with Judge Barbara A. Meiers in advance of an Aug. 5 hearing stating that there is “no genuine dispute” as to why Ellison lost his job.
During a meeting with senior management in August 2022, Ellison made a “thinly veiled threat of physical violence” to Michael Blanton, vice president for professionalism and ethics, by requesting that Blanton meet him at the Tommy Trojan statue on campus so they could “talk man to man,” according to the USC lawyers’ pleadings.
Ellison also said he was “being treated like a slave” and that it was “time for the slave to revolt” while also using the “BS” expletive repeatedly, the USC attorneys further state in their court papers.
Ellison also told his direct supervisor three times that he “needed anger management” and he dismissed supervisorial directives with the statement, “whatever,” according to the USC lawyers’ court papers.
Weeks earlier, after unilaterally terminating the interactive process by ordering USC’s disability accommodations manager out of his office, he followed her into a hallway and confronted her in an “agitated and aggressive manner” while speaking so loud that she immediately reported Ellison’s alleged behavior to her supervisor, the USC lawyers further state in their court papers.
“No employer is required to tolerate this conduct and USC legitimately discharged plaintiff,” the USC attorneys state in their pleadings.
According to the 39-year-old Ellison’s lawsuit, he was hired in October 2015 and held several positions within the Office of the Provost Academic Operations. He was an executive secretary at the time of his August 2022 firing.
In February and March 2020, Ellison made complaints about USC’s compliance with Department of Education agreements, but rather than address his concerns, the administration “began a pattern of retaliation” against him, according to the suit.
In July 2022, Ellison was denied a schedule that would have allowed him to work some days from home in order to deal with back and foot injuries even though other employees were granted similar requests, the suit states. A month later, the disability accommodation manager told Ellison that he “wasn’t disabled” and asked, ”Is that all you got?,” the suit further contends.
The next month, Ellison suffered a panic attack at work that was related to the alleged hostile work environment and ongoing harassment, the suit states. Ellison also contends that he was required to work through meal breaks without compensation, allegations denied by USC attorneys in their dismissal motion.