LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A warehouse worker who says he was wrongfully fired from the Compton-based business in 2020 after complaining about twice being sexually assaulted as a minor by a male supervisor can move forward with his lawsuit, a judge has ruled.
The plaintiff maintains in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that he lost his job with UMA Home Decor in order to "shut him up" and is seeking at least $10 million. In their court papers, attorneys for UMA and the supervisor deny the plaintiff's claims.
On Monday, Judge Alison Mackenzie denied a motion by UMA lawyers to dismiss the plaintiff's causes of action for common law assault and battery, sexual battery and civil rights violations, writing that the plaintiff's suit has enough details to support the allegations that UMA "ratified" the boss' alleged sexual misconduct.
The suit also alleges multiple other allegations that were not addressed in the motion, including harassment, wrongful termination and retaliation.
The plaintiff was hired at age 17 to work as a warehouse worker in May 2020 and in September of that year his supervisor allegedly sexually abused him in a workplace restroom, then threatened to report the plaintiff to immigration officials if he said anything, according to the complaint.
The boss committed a similar attack on the plaintiff two months later and continually abused the plaintiff verbally, the suit filed last Sept. 21 alleges.
When the plaintiff complained about some of his supervisor's attacks to UMA's director of operations, the supervisor was retained and the plaintiff was fired in order to conceal the boss' alleged abuses, according to the suit.