December 1, 2019 – Helmer Friedman LLP is very pleased to announce that the law firm has been selected by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® as a Best Law Firm in the category of Employment Law – Individuals.
November 21, 2019 – Today, Helmer Friedman LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of a former Pharmacist for Torrance, California-based Pharmaco, Inc. and Premier Infusion Care alleging that the Company engaged in disability harassment and discrimination. A copy of the lawsuit — Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. 19STCV41854 – can be view here.
Among other things, plaintiff Dr. John L. Bowie alleges that, following a humiliating and degrading campaign of retaliation and harassment, he was fired for being a disabled stage IV cancer survivor. Dr. Bowie, a Pharmacist with over twenty years of practice treating and saving patients’ lives, alleges that the company and some of its employees relentlessly bullied and harassed him after learning that he was a survivor of colon cancer with digestive disabilities. In order to embarrass Dr. Bowie for his medical condition, some of his coworkers allegedly told him he had a “foul odor” and that he “stank,” placed advertisements for adult diapers on his desk, filled his office with the overpowering scent of air freshener, and giggled and smirked at his distress. The lawsuit further alleges that after Dr. Bowie was repeatedly and rudely confronted by Human Resources representatives with the false accusation that his digestive disability and colon cancer made him smell, the Company escalated their harassment to a truly shocking level, demanding that he begin to wear an adult diaper to work. According to the lawsuit, when Dr. Bowie, feeling bullied and in fear for his job, complied with this ridiculous and degrading request, a representative for Human Resources then forced him to show her his diaper by pulling down his pants for her and lifting it out of his waistband. Dr. Bowie alleges that he was emotionally devastated by his treatment at the hands of his coworkers.
Dr. Bowie’s Complaint For Damages alleges that he repeatedly asked the company to provide him a reasonable accommodation for his disability and to address the severe harassment he was experiencing. Instead, the lawsuit alleges, rather than taking remedial action or accommodating him, the company abruptly fired him just days after his most recent request for accommodation and help.
The lawsuit also alleges that Pharmaco, Inc. and Premier Infusion Care fired Dr. Bowie because he made complaints to the company that it was not complying with various guidelines to ensure the safety and efficacy of the prescription drugs that it was compounding and that the company was sending out prescriptions for large
amounts of IV diphenhydramine.
Commenting about the lawsuit, Andrew H. Friedman, founding partner of Helmer Friedman LLP, stated: “California employers need to be aware that the law of this state requires them to take reasonable steps to accommodate employees with disabilities and medical conditions so that they have the same access to employment as anyone else.”
Helmer Friedman LLP is seeking witnesses who may be aware of the manner in which Pharmaco, Inc. and Premier Infusion Care treated Dr. Bowie and/or other employees with disabilities.
Press Release – Cancer Survivor Suing Pharmaco, Inc. and Premier Infusion Care for Disability Harassment, Discrimination, and Wrongful Termination.
On December 13, 2019, Andrew H. Friedman of Helmer Friedman LLP and Connie L. Michaels of Littler Mendelson P.C. will speak at the Provisors Lawyers and Legal Professionals Affinity Group on the topic of “Unbecoming Conduct: How Attorneys Can Ensure Compliance With California’s Ethical Rules Against Bias, Discrimination, & Harassment.”
Provisors announced the speaking engagement as follows: “Our panel of AV-rated experts., Connie Michaels ( from one of the Nation’s foremost employment defense law firms,( Littler Mendelson P.C.) and Andrew H. Friedman ( from one of California’s leading plaintiff employment law firms, Helmer Friedman LLP) will be discussing the NEW California ethical rules Ms. Michaels and Mr. Friedman will also address the latest court cases and local court rules dealing with those issues. Among other topics to be covered and questions to be answered include: When can I have sex with my clients? Am I legally required to refrain from exhibiting bias against my co-workers, clients, and/or the judiciary based on gender (and other legally protected classes)? Do these rules mean I must strike “honey”, “dear” and “sweetheart” ad other forms of endearment from my vocabulary? And are the courts encouraging, in the sake of diversity, the participation of inexperienced attorneys in court proceedings?”
If you are a member of Provisors and interested in this topic, you should sign up via the Provisors website as soon as possible as this program will sell out.
October 21, 2019 – On Saturday, October 19, 2019, Helmer Friedman LLP Partner and founder, Andrew H. Friedman, along with Ramit Mizrahi Mizrahi Law reprised their annual and highly acclaimed – The Year In Review: Annual Employment Law Update – to an overflow crowd of nearly 1,000 plaintiff employment attorneys from all over the state.
DJT discusses THE SQUAD
On November 6, 2019, the Employment Round Table of Southern California (“ERTSC”) in collaboration with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing will host their 2019 Annual Conference & Awards Luncheon – Waves of Change In California – at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles (506 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 900710). Helmer Friedman LLP attorneys Courtney Abrams and Andrew H. Friedman will speak at this Annual Conference.
Courtney Abrams (Of Counsel with Helmer Friedman LLP) will speak on a panel entitled “Harassment Claims in California – Has SB 1300 Changed Anything?” Ms. Abrams will speak on a panel along with Katherine V.A. Smith (a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP) and Robin McCune (Labor & Employment Counsel, Northrop Grumman and ERTSC Board of Directors Member).
Andrew H. Friedman (Partner with Helmer Friedman LLP and Chair of the ERTSC Executive Board of Directors) will welcome the attendees to the Annual Conference with some brief but pithy introductory remarks and introduce Kevin Kish (Director, California Department of Fair Employment and Housing) who will provide an update about the DFEH.
Other speakers include: (1) Jeffrey S. Horton Thomas (Partner, Akerman LLP) and Dana Peterson (Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP) who will provide a legal update); (2) Nancy L. Abell (Partner, Paul Hasting LLP) who will speak on Pay Equity Cases – Why California is Ground Zero; (3) and Melvin Felton (Sanders Roberts LLP), Paige Ratleff (Lionsgate Entertainment), and Rahwa Ghebre-Ab (Lionsgate Entertainment and ERTSC Board of Directors Member) who will speak on The Dynamex Decision & The Future of Independent Contractors – One Year Later.For more information, please visit – http://ertsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019-ERTSC-Annual-Conference-Registration-Program.pdf
October 19, 2019 – On October 18 & 19, 2019, the California Employment Lawyers Association (“CELA”) will hold its 32nd Annual Employment Law Conference at the Doubletree by Hilton in San Jose, California. At this Conference, Helmer Friedman LLP partner Andrew H. Friedman and Ramit Mizrahi of Mizrahi Law will reprise their annual and highly acclaimed – The Year In Review: Annual Employment Law Update (Part 2). During their presentation, Andrew and Ramit will provide color commentary regarding the most important employment law cases to have come down from the courts during the last year. To learn more about and/or register for the Conference, please visit – https://cela.org/index.cfm?pg=CELA2019AnnualEmploymentLawConference
May 2019 – The May 2019 Advocate Magazine, a journal of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, contains two articles written by Andrew H. Friedman – The best and worst employment developments of 2018 – Part I & The best and worst employment developments of 2018 – Part II.
Part I provides an overview of the legislative developments that shaped the prior year in employment law while Part II summarizes the most important cases of the last year.
May 7, 2019 – The California Labor & Employment Law Review – an official publication of the California Lawyers Association Labor and Employment Law Section – published an article authored by Andrew H. Friedman and Taylor Markey. Entitled “A Refresher on and Thoughts About Unconditional Offers of Reinstatement,” the Friedman/Markey article examines a legal stratagem (the so-called “unconditional offer of reinstatement” doctrine) used by employers who have violated the law to minimize the damages that they have to pay illegally treated employees and explains why the California Supreme Court should reject the doctrine and find that it is at odds with California’s strong public policy of eradicating employment discrimination. Click here to read the article.
