Attorney Jonathan Allan Klein's Legal Cases

Employment and labor

Cooper v. Penske Truck Leasing

Nov 09, 2015

OUTCOME: Summary Judgment Granted

U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf, for the District of Nebraska, granted Summary Judgment in favor of KHK’s client, Penske Truck Leasing, in a discrimination and racially hostile work environment suit b ... rought by Gregory Cooper. Cooper claimed that he was discriminated against and harassed based on his race during his employment with Penske, in violation of Title VII and the Nebraska Fair Employment Practices Act. The Court found that there was no evidence that Cooper suffered from an adverse employment action or that circumstances permitted an inference of discrimination. The Court further held that Cooper established neither a causal nexus between the alleged harassment and his race, nor that such harassment affected a term, condition, or privilege of his employment. Although Plaintiff presented contested evidence of one racially based comment made outside of his presence to another co-worker, the Court found that Penske indisputably took prompt and effective remedial action which was reasonably calculated to stop the harassment and Penske’s response effectively ended the harassment within a reasonable time.

Employment and labor

Dabson v. Penske

Aug 17, 2015

OUTCOME: Summary Judgment Granted

On August 17, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted Summary Judgment for KHK’s client, Penske Truck Leasing, in a discrimination and retaliation suit brought by Plaintif ... f Steve Dabson. In that Order, District Judge Janet C. Hall affirmed all of the arguments made in support of its MSJ, holding that Plaintiff had not demonstrated any evidence of pretext on any of his causes of action against Penske. A copy of the Order is attached Order Granting MSJ.

Litigation

Hardin v. Safeway

Jun 20, 2014

OUTCOME: Court of Appeals reversed denial of Summary Judgment

On June 20, 2014, the California Court of Appeals, First District, Division Three, issued an unpublished opinion that tossed plaintiffs’ claims against Safeway, the patient’s prescribing doctor and the ... doctor’s medical practice — Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group Inc. The panel reversed the trial court and ruled the claims were barred by the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act’s one-year statute of limitations for professional negligence. Thus, the Court of Appeals ordered the trial court to grant each defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. Our office prepared the MSJ on behalf of Safeway, and argued that Plaintiffs’ claims were barred, pursuant to California’s one-year statute of limitations, because Plaintiffs’ knew, more than one year before they filed suit, that their injury was allegedly caused by the medication received from our client’s pharmacy.

Employment and labor

Dam v. Rite Aid

Feb 28, 2012

OUTCOME: Summary Judgment

On Tuesday, the US District Court (C.D. Cal.) granted KHK’s motion for summary judgment in a disability discrimination case (Dam v. Rite Aid) involving Rite Aid’s termination of a pharmacist who “hired ... ” his cousin, a pharmacist technician, as a volunteer to help out at his store on a weekly basis. The Court agreed with Jonathan, who argued that no evidence of pretext could exist, since the suspension and termination decision (although not communication of the decision) were made before plaintiff’s “disability” arose. Interestingly, the “disability” was alleged, in part, to have been brought on by the very investigation and suspension that eventually led to plaintiff’s termination. The Court rejected Plaintiff’s claims of “pretext”, and granted the motion a few days before the scheduled oral argument and about 6 weeks before the scheduled trial date.

Employment and labor

McSwain v. Rite Aid

Feb 17, 2012

OUTCOME: Class Certification Denied

Plaintiffs were a 40,000 putative member class alleging violations of meal and rest break laws and policies at Rite Aid from 2004 to the present. Judge Nancy Wieben Stock, Orange County Superior Cou ... rt, denied class certification on February 17, 2012.

Employment and labor

UFCW 770 v. Rite Aid (Sandoval)

Dec 07, 2011

OUTCOME: Termination Grievance Denied

UFCW 770, on behalf of terminated employee, challenged employer's termination decision based on presence of employee on Federal Office of Inspector General Exclusion List. The OIG exclusion list prohi ... bits precludes excluded persons from participating in Medicare and Medi-Cal programs, and employee was convicted of Social Security-related fraud, thus placing her on exclusion list. Arbitrator overruled Union grievance, holding the employer properly terminated employee once it discovered she was on the exclusion list.

Employment and labor

UFCW 1167 v. Rite Aid (Abdelghani)

Nov 07, 2011

OUTCOME: Termination Grievance Denied

Jonathan successfully defeated a challenge to Rite Aidâ€™s termination of a pharmacy technician for her failure to follow pharmacy procedures in obtaining patient signatures for prescription purchased ... in a Temecula pharmacy. Rite Aid presented evidence that the pharmacy technician, who had been with Rite Aid for 19 years, was aware of the applicable pharmacy guidelines and knowingly and repeatedly violated those policies. The arbitrator, Walter F. Daugherty, confirmed that the evidence presented on the part of the employer was sufficient to manifest the pharmacy technicianâ€™s intent to falsify Company records and found that given the technicianâ€™s cavalier and wholesale disregard for the relevant Company policy, the Company was not required to provide her with written warnings or to wait until it had experienced harm before it could discipline the technician for her serious and repeated policy violations.

Employment and labor

UFCW 770 v. Rite Aid (Johnson)

Oct 31, 2011

OUTCOME: Termination Grievance Denied

Jonathan successfully defeated a challenge to Rite Aid's termination of a 29-year retail clerk who was cited following her sale of beer to an Alcohol Beverage Control decoy. In arbitration before Fre ... deric R. Horowitz, UFCW 770 argued that the clerk's 29-year history, without discipline, should have precluded termination. However, the arbitrator disagreed, based on (i) the undisputed sale of alcohol to a minor; (ii) the employee's admission that she did not request identification because she thought the purchaser "looked" over 30; and (iii) the retailer had taken extensive measures to communicate the seriousness of the policy to its employees. Indeed, the retailer here changed their cash registers to require entry of a birthdate into the system, and had twice yearly electronic training sessions where employees were warned that even one instance of sale of alcohol to a minor would lead to immediate termination.

Employment and labor

Fenn v. Penske

Sep 21, 2011

OUTCOME: Summary Judgment Granted

Won Summary Judgment in the Eastern District of California before Judge Lawrence J. Oâ€™Neill in a disability, interactive process case. Judge Oâ€™Neill agreed with all of the contentions in our brief ... , holding that Plaintiff was not disabled under California law; that Plaintiff failed to satisfy his burden to trigger the interactive process and reasonable accommodation duties; that the evidence could not support a finding that the stated reason for terminating the Plaintiff was really a pretext for discrimination; and that there was no basis for an award of punitive damages.

Personal injury

Enex Clark v. Safeway

May 12, 2011

OUTCOME: Defense Verdict

Plaintiff alleged she was injured as a result of an incident where a dolly "ran over her" at a Safeway store. During trial, evidence demonstrated that Plaintiff suffered no injury as a result of the ... incident.

Jonathan Allan Klein's Legal Cases (18)

Cooper v. Penske Truck Leasing

Dabson v. Penske

Hardin v. Safeway

Dam v. Rite Aid

McSwain v. Rite Aid

UFCW 770 v. Rite Aid (Sandoval)

UFCW 1167 v. Rite Aid (Abdelghani)

UFCW 770 v. Rite Aid (Johnson)

Fenn v. Penske

Enex Clark v. Safeway