Cases

GMSR secured a complete reversal here. The jury awarded the plaintiff $1,678,000 in damages, $57,961 in costs and $275,865 in attorney fees in this age discrimination lawsuit against the MTA. The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment for wrongful termination and failure to rehire under FEHA with directions to the trial court to enter judgment for the MTA, holding that: (1) summary adjudication should have been granted to the MTA on plaintiff’s wrongful termination claim because the release signed by plaintiff operated to waive his state law claims under FEHA; (2) there was no requirement that the release comply with federal statutes protecting older workers because plaintiff did not plead an action under federal law; (3) the jury’s verdict for discrimination for failure to rehire had to be reversed because one of the positions plaintiff relied upon to support his claim was withdrawn before any interviews were conducted; and (4) there was no substantial evidence to support the jury’s verdict that plaintiff was the subject of age discrimination in the hiring process as to three other positions that were not withdrawn.