Case Results

Case Result: Court of Appeal Affirms $200,000 Sexual Harassment Judgment and $257,000 Fee Award

June 2026

Can a company escape a harassment judgment by arguing that's just how the boss is, or that a small startup should be held to a looser standard? A California Court of Appeal said no. After a bench trial, the court found our client was subjected to a hostile work environment by her CEO and awarded $200,000 in damages under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, plus $257,161.80 in attorney fees and costs. On appeal, the defendants argued the conduct was trivial, that the informality of a garage startup made it natural, and asked the court to require a documented complaint before a worker could prove pervasive harassment. The Court of Appeal rejected each argument and affirmed the judgment in full. Attorney Andrew S. Pletcher of Pletcher Law, APC handled the appeal for the employee, with Brock & Gonzales. He wrote the respondent's brief and argued the case before the Court of Appeal. Read On

Case Result: Published Victory — Kern County Whistleblower Not Required to Exhaust Civil Service Appeal (Romero v. County of Kern (2025) 116 Cal.App.5th 1189)

December 2025

Can a public employer block a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit by forcing an internal appeal that cannot actually decide retaliation claims? A published California Court of Appeal decision says no. In Romero v. County of Kern, the California Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District issued a published opinion holding that public employees are not required to exhaust internal civil service remedies when those procedures do not provide a meaningful mechanism to adjudicate whistleblower retaliation claims. The Court reversed a dismissal at the pleading stage and allowed the employee’s claims under Labor Code sections 1102.5, 6310, and 98.6 to proceed. Attorney Andrew S. Pletcher, serving Of Counsel with Brock & Gonzales, represented the employee on appeal. This decision now provides statewide published authority limiting a common defense tactic used to prematurely dismiss whistleblower retaliation cases. Read On

Case Result: Published Victory — Arbitration Agreement Unenforceable Where HR Misrepresented What the Employee Was Signing (Velarde v. Monroe Operations, LLC (2025) 111 Cal.App.5th 1009)

June 2025

Can an employer enforce an arbitration agreement when HR told the employee it meant she wouldn't need lawyers — and the agreement said the opposite? In a published opinion, the Court of Appeal said no, affirming the denial of a nationwide healthcare company's motion to compel arbitration. Our client was handed 31 documents on her first day and told she had to sign before she could start work; when she said she didn't understand the arbitration agreement, HR told her it would resolve disputes "without having to pay lawyers." The Court held the employer's misstatement made the agreement unconscionable — focusing on the effect, not the intent. Read On

Case Result: Ninth Circuit Reverses — Social Media Harassment Counts as Workplace Harassment (Okonowsky v. Garland, 109 F.4th 1166 (9th Cir. 2024))

July 2024

Can an employer ignore harassment because it happened on a coworker's Instagram instead of at the office? The Ninth Circuit said no. Our client, a psychologist at a federal prison, was targeted on a coworker's Instagram account followed by more than a hundred of their colleagues. The district court threw the case out because the posts occurred "entirely outside of the workplace." The Ninth Circuit reversed in a published opinion that is now binding authority across nine states, holding that social media conduct can contribute to a hostile work environment and that an employer's response to it is part of the claim. Andrew S. Pletcher argued the appeal. Read On

Case Result: Ninth Circuit Victories in the Cases the Supreme Court Later Reversed

July 2020

Can a religious school fire a lay teacher over a cancer diagnosis or her age and be immune from discrimination law? Two Catholic elementary schools said yes, and two federal district courts agreed. Andrew S. Pletcher handled both appeals in the Ninth Circuit — for a fifth-grade teacher whose contract was not renewed weeks after she disclosed a breast cancer diagnosis, and for a longtime teacher who alleged she was replaced because of her age — and the Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment in both cases. The schools then petitioned the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Pletcher did not represent the teachers there. In 2020, the Court granted review, consolidated the two cases, and reversed 7–2 in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, holding that a formal ministerial title is not required and that courts should look to what an employee actually does. That decision is now the controlling national standard — and it may apply to you whether or not anyone ever told you so. Read On