Carney R. Shegerian, an employee rights attorney of Shegerian & Associates, a Santa Monica-based litigation law firm representing employees on wrongful termination and harassment matters, discloses a victory in the California courts of appeal for his firm’s client, Amir Peleg.
Mr. Peleg, a salesperson for Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills, was fired in February of 2008. In the months leading up to his termination, Peleg was harassed about his ethnicity and sexual orientation. But Peleg had signed Neiman Marcus’ arbitration agreement as a condition of his employment and was unable to proceed in court with his claims against the company.
Today the California court of appeal rejected Neiman Marcus’ arbitration agreement, finding it was unenforceable. The court ordered that the case be reinstated for a jury trial. As such, Peleg will be able proceed to trial by jury and have the arbitrator’s award – in Neiman Marcus’ favor – set aside.
“The appellate victory is not just good news for our client. It is good news for all employees forced to sign arbitration agreements that often times have very unfair provisions that grossly tilt the playing field in the employer’s favor. Neiman Marcus had numerous unfair provisions in its arbitration agreement that made getting justice in the arbitration system next to impossible,” Shegerian said.
Peleg has claims for discrimination, harassment and breach of contract that will be sent back to the Los Angeles Superior Court for trial. Attorney Carney Shegerian filed the state civil rights lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court in May of 2008.
An experienced trial attorney, Shegerian has tried many jury trials to verdict in both state and federal court, always representing individuals that have suffered financial or emotional losses and have been wronged by employers, including major corporations. Shegerian has built a remarkable career on helping those who have been wronged in the workplace. He remains undefeated in federal jury trials and has won 16 seven figure verdicts representing employees.
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