A jury has awarded $1.34 million to a former Midnight Mission program manager who alleged he was wrongfully fired in 2017 due to his age.
The Los Angeles Superior Court panel deliberated for less than a day before reaching its verdict on Thursday, finding the Midnight Mission liable to plaintiff Ronald Holmes for age discrimination and failure to prevent age discrimination. Holmes, now 67, was 61 at the time of his firing.
Holmes was hired by the mission in 1999 while he was a resident there and was himself a recovering addict who had first-hand knowledge of the challenges the mission’s clients faced, making him an ideal example for the individuals in the recovery program, Holmes’ court papers stated.
“He viewed his job at Midnight Mission as his calling,” Holmes’ court papers stated.
Holmes was promoted to program manager in 2004 and served in this position until he was wrongfully demoted in 2017, his court papers alleged.
A new executive team took over the management of Midnight Mission in 2016 that changed the Midnight Mission’s focus from a treatment and recovery center to a homeless shelter and they made a concerted effort to get rid of the older workers like Holmes who were more than 60 years old, calling them the “old guard,” Holmes’ court papers stated.
The new management team subjected older employees to pretextual writeups, false unsatisfactory evaluations and micromanagement and the managers did not investigate any claims made by the older members’ claims against new hires, Holmes’ court papers stated.
In November 2017, Holmes was given his second write-up in 18 years that had vague statements alleging poor performance during probation, but were unspecific about the alleged deficiencies and he was given a termination letter the next day, according to Holmes’ court papers.
In his court papers, an attorney for the Midnight Mission said Holmes neglected his duties and was both counseled and given various warnings by different supervisors about his poor performance, but was fired due to his “repeated offenses” and for sleeping on the job.
Nearly 42% of Midnight Mission employees were more than 45 years old in July 2019 when Holmes’ suit was filed, according to the defense attorneys’ court papers.