According to Los Angeles Daily News, $5.68 million was awarded to four former female Woodland Hills restaurant employees in a lawsuit alleging they were replaced by much younger women and were victims of age discrimination.
The trail testimony stated that the plaintiffs were all let ago by a new owner at Cable’s Restaurant in 2010. According to Los Angeles Daily News, the four workers, Martha Aboulafia, 61, Cheryl B. Colgin, 61, Regina Greene, 49, and Patricia Monica, 70, had a combined 47 years of service at the restaurant.
The four woman sued Cable’s in Los Angeles Superior Court in September 2011 for wrongful termination and age discrimination. The jury spent less than two hours to unanimously decide that the workers faced emotional distress and lost wages and awarded each former worker with $1.68 million in compensatory damages.
The jury added a combined $4 million in punitive damages in the second phase of the trial after discovering the restaurant owners committed fraud and oppression and acted with malice after firing all four and then replacing them within a short period with younger women in their 20s.
“Needless to say we’re very pleased,” said Attorney James Rosen, who represented the plaintiffs, reported CBS affiliate KCAL. “I think the jury got it right. We want to stamp out this kind of discrimination wherever it happens.”
The defense attorneys denied any unlawful activity by the restaurant and claimed the new owners hired 11 servers and two supervisors ranging in age from 45 to 75 when they took over in 2010, according to KCAL. The attorneys also claimed that management retained plaintiff Greene until September 2010, and fired her when owners suspected her of showing up to work drunk, according to Los Angeles Daily News.
Small businesses and restaurants can rely on business insurance to protect them during a lawsuit. General liability insurance covers the cost of lost profits if a restaurant is forced to shut down and it can provide legal assistance with attorney fees in a case.
