Hon. Rita “Sunny” Miller

Mediator  •  Arbitrator  •  Referee

Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court, Retired

• Supermarket butcher with multiple sclerosis sued his employer asserting employment discrimination claims. He began having sudden flare-ups that prevented him from calling off work in a timely fashion. He was asked to get explanation from his doctor but the supermarket made it difficult to do. He had a flare up and failed to call off of work in a timely fashion and was terminated for his repeated failures to call off work in a timely fashion before he was able to get an explanation from his doctor to the supermarket.
  

• Female employee had sexual encounter with a lower-level male employee while both were out on medical leave from work. Unbeknownst to both of them, she had been promoted to be a supervisor, although male employee would not report to her directly. Both returned from their leaves with her as a supervisor. The relationship continued. Male employee was fired for unrelated misconduct. He sued for sexual harassment and wrongful termination, alleging that female employee had sex with him and allegedly pursued a relationship when he did not wish to have it. He claimed he was harassed and coerced into the relationship because he was afraid to say no to her and she had a reputation for retaliating against those she did not like. Female employee claimed the male employee was the person pursuing her and that she was the one who terminated relationship.
  

• Settled claims arising out of a minor's employment by a fast food franchise where the minor was allegedly given methamphetamine and then seduced by a co-worker, all with the knowledge of the restaurant's manager.
  

• Dishwasher was injured at work. Her doctor placed her on restrictions. The employer placed her on leave. Plaintiff claimed that unpaid leave is an improper accommodation when an employee can work with accommodation per the regulations. Employer claimed there was no available work for a person with her restrictions. Employee was later terminated. She claimed it was in retaliation for her failure to work due to her injury.
  

• Worker at drug abuse clinic claimed he was terminated because employer thought he had COVID and the termination constituted disability discrimination.
  

• Employee of a gas station sued for disability discrimination, claiming she was fired on the same day that she told her employer that she needed several weeks off after a surgery. She also claimed wage and hour, meal and rest period violations.
  
  
• Plaintiff worked for defendants as a meat cutter for 18 years. He suffered a work-related injury. He was given leave for nine months and was determined to be totally temporarily disabled. He was paid workers compensation benefits. His doctors put him out on disability leave until December 20, 2017. He did not report for work on that date or notify the employer of any continued disability. The employer telephoned and wrote a letter to which plaintiff did not respond. He was terminated and claimed he did not understand the letter and did not receive any phone messages, and that the employer failed to engage in the interactive process, failed to accommodate him, discriminated against him, and wrongfully terminated him due to his disability.
  
  
• Correctional officers who were pregnant pursued a class action suit for failure to accommodate and engage in the interactive process, because they claimed the prison system pursued a “one-size-fits-all” accommodation system not tailored to the individual needs of the plaintiffs.
  
  
• Assistant manager of a hotel’s housekeeping department went out on medical leave and was unable to perform job functions, even with accommodation. After extended leaves totaling more than 20 weeks in a 12-month period, she was terminated while on leave, with the hotel claiming undue hardship on continuing without filing her position. She sued for disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, failure to engage in the interactive process, and wrongful termination.
  
  
• A former employee of a tea shop claimed that she and 1300 class members were denied meal and rest breaks, overtime, and were victims of other illegal deductions from earnings. The class action sought to add employees of eleven tea shops owned in part by the same individuals under theory that all twelve tea shops were operated as an integrated enterprise and thus should be treated as a single employer based on 1) common ownership, 2) centralized management, 3) centralized control of labor relations, and 4) interrelating operations of corporations.
  
  
• Employee took almost one year of medical leave. When she sought to return to work, employer took the position that she was unable for medical reasons to perform her job as a “runner” and laborer at a hotel and terminated her. Employee sued for disability discrimination, etc.
  
  
• Plaintiff worked at the front desk of a hotel. His supervisor allegedly tried to get him to attend his Evangelical Christian church to date a “church lady,” said plaintiff needed to be saved, and made inquiries about plaintiff’s religious beliefs. Plaintiff was terminated. The employer claimed it was due to a large number of customer complaints. Plaintiff claimed it was in retaliation for his rejection of his supervisor’s entreaties and in retaliation for reporting the supervisor to Human Resources.
  
  
• Employee claimed she was terminated for taking too many sick days and sick leave. Employer claimed termination was based on poor performance prior to sick leave.
  
  
• Executive employee claimed he was constructively terminated in violation of his employment agreement due to employer’s failure to pay his salary in a timely manner on several occasions. Employee also claimed a violation of Labor Code section that requires accurate pay stubs to be issued with salary.
  
  
• Employee with breast cancer sued employer for failure to accommodate, family leave violations and disability discrimination after she was terminated due to length of absence from work due to unexpectedly long recovery time. Employer claimed it needed to put another person in the job and could not wait.
  
  
• Manufacturing assembler recovering from knee surgery sued employer for failure to accommodate and disability discrimination after he was terminated for the stated reason that he made an implicit threat of violence against a supervisor.
  
  
• Employee sued employer for sex discrimination and harassment after supervisor made flirtatious comments. Co-workers who spoke up to supervisor for this conduct sued employer for sex discrimination and whistleblower retaliation against them.
  
  
• Substitute teacher sued school district for age, race, and sex discrimination and harassment after principal referred to him as a “big old white guy”. He also sued for disability discrimination and failure to accommodate him by failing to provide him with an elevator key causing him to use a staircase frequently with a bad knee.
  
  
• Police officer sued the Department and City for disability discrimination and failure to accommodate her after she was off work with an injury and reassigned upon her return to a less desirable position. She alleged that the assignment was retaliatory.
  
  
• Female police officer sued the Department and City for sex discrimination after the Department selected a male employee over her as a helicopter pilot.
  
  
• Female employee sued employer for disability discrimination and failure to accommodate for failing to accommodate her need for frequent medical appointments.
  Waitress sued employing restaurant.
  
  
• Caucasian housekeeper for multi-national hotel chain sued employer for wrongful termination claiming her supervisor discriminated against non-Hispanics.
  
  
• Nurse sued employer for whistleblower retaliation after she reported that she and other nurses were performing tasks that should only have been performed by doctors.
  
  
• African-American in-house attorney sued employer for race discrimination.
  
  
• Female employee who was sexually harassed in a bathroom stall on a single occasion claimed that the event was so extreme as to be sufficient to alter the conditions of her employment.
  
  
• Police captain sued employer for wrongful termination.
  

Employment

​REPRESENTATIVE CASES​