A 54-year-old former manager of a network of plumbing, heating and air conditioning companies is dealing with allegations that he was wrongfully fired in January, including because of his age, a judge ruled Thursday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Justice Mel Red Recana granted a motion by American Residential Services LLC to compel arbitration over plaintiff Kerry Frederickson’s claims, which include wrongful termination, harassment, retaliation, failure to prevent the same causes of action , negligent hiring, monitoring and retention, and willful infliction of emotional distress.
Attorneys for ARS alleged that Frederickson never opted out of the company’s 2016 binding arbitration policy for all work-related disputes.
The judge stayed proceedings in the lawsuit pending the outcome of the arbitration and scheduled a post-arbitration status conference for Jan. 18.
Frederickson also sued several other ARS companies in the lawsuit, filed Feb. 9. He says he was hired for a second time as general manager at ARS in January 2013 and was promoted to regional manager three years later, where he worked where he ran an office in Covina and oversaw the defendants’ businesses in several western states.
In April 2020, Frederickson instituted a new compensation plan for the Northern California offices he serves to address ongoing wage and hour violations related to class action lawsuits alleging that the companies violated laws relating to unpaid minimum and overtime wages Meals, etc., violate rest periods, reimbursements of business expenses, uniform deductions, and accurate detailed payroll records, the lawsuit alleges.
Frederickson was named region vice president in November 2021, overseeing corporate offices in Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties. In doing so, he found that two Southern California offices had failed to implement the new compensation plan like the one he introduced, according to the lawsuit, he previously started in Northern California.
Frederickson raised his concerns with company executives during a budget meeting and regularly raised the issues thereafter, but no significant steps were taken to address the issues, the lawsuit says.
“Instead, Frederickson was advised that the defendants did not wish to implement a new pay plan because of the disruption to business operations and costs,” the complaint reads.
The companies also never compensated Frederickson for the additional responsibilities he assumed as the region’s vice president, the lawsuit alleges.
When Frederickson responded to a question during a leadership meeting in April 2022 that he had been with the company for 30 years, a senior executive replied, “Maybe it’s time for the 30-year-olds to give way to the newer ones.” , so the lawsuit states.
On another occasion, the same executive made the statement, “The old way isn’t the best,” the lawsuit states.
Last May, management began barring Frederickson from meetings he had previously attended and from correspondence related to the offices he oversaw, the lawsuit alleges.
“At a time when Frederickson should have been at the peak of his career and striving for excellence, he began to worry that his position was under threat,” the lawsuit states.
Frederickson raised complaints again in November about a failure to implement a new pay plan and was abruptly fired during a meeting with a manager at an Orange hotel after being told the organization had been restructured, according to the lawsuit.
Frederickson suffered lost income and emotional distress as a result of his resignation, the lawsuit alleges.
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https://mynewsla.com/business/2023/06/29/former-plumbing-ac-and-heating-services-execs-case-sent-to-arbitrator/
