A former employee of a Santa Fe Springs battery company that was the subject of a coronavirus outbreak investigation by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health this summer is suing his ex-employer, alleging he was fired for complaining about unsafe conditions.
John Martinez’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Trojan Battery Co. LLC also alleges that his managers told him he should not worry about the virus, that the extent of the plant outbreak was being inaccurately reported in the media, and that he and other employees should remain quiet about what they knew.
Martinez’s suit alleges violation of whistleblower protection under the state Labor Code, retaliation, wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He’s seeking unspecified damages in the suit filed Tuesday.
A Trojan Battery representative could not be immediately reached for comment.
Martinez says he was hired at Trojan Battery in 2018 as a maintenance supervisor. On March 17, management told him that someone who was ill and tested positive for COVID-19 had been in contact with the plaintiff, who was told he should stay home until told to come back, according to his court papers.
After Martinez returned to work, he says management gave him a thermometer and a mask assigned him to check the health status of other employees and contractors coming to the Trojan Battery plant on Clark Street. From mid-March 2020 onward, he expressed concern about contact with infected employees and possible exposure to the virus through sharing common washing areas, but management said “everything was fine,” according to the lawsuit.
Management eventually assigned Martinez additional tasks dealing with coronavirus protocols, but did not give a framework about its expectations, leaving the plaintiff without a full understanding of his obligations, the suit alleges.
On Aug. 13, Martinez says he asked his manager, Ramiro Salazar, about a radio report he heard on the way to work that the DPH had announced Trojan Battery was experiencing a coronavirus outbreak affecting 61 people. The DPH news release said other COVID-19 investigations were occurring at UPS and Sofi Stadium, according to the plaintiff’s court papers.
“This news was shocking and concerning to (Martinez),” the suit states. “Salazar informed plaintiff that he was not to talk to any news media outlet and also instructed (him) to remind other workers to remain silent.”
Salazar also said the number of cases at Trojan Battery was being “inaccurately reported” and that the plaintiff should not worry because the company was “clearing up the situation with the Health Department,” the suit alleges.
A television reporter subsequently arrived at Trojan Battery to report on the outbreak and an outside contractor was recorded on camera not wearing a mask, the suit states. Martinez, who was standing near the contractor, was later fired and told he lost his job because the contractor was seen on television without a mask, the suit alleges.
Martinez was surprised by the firing and responded that the company’s coronavirus protocols were so unclear he had no idea he was supposed to impose mask-wearing guidelines on outside contractors, according to his court papers.
“Regardless, (Trojan) terminated plaintiff simply to make him the company fall guy,” according to the suit, which further alleges Martinez was “set up to fail” and that he lost his job for complaining about “potential unlawful and dangerous things happening at (Trojan Battery’s) facility.”