Carney R. Shegerian, an employee rights attorney and founder of Shegerian & Associates, a Santa Monica-based litigation law firm representing employees, disclosed a jury verdict from last week of $531,000 in favor of his client, Mrs. Betty Jones.

Mrs. Jones, a former employee at Social Vocational Services, (an alleged non-profit organization that is supposed to provide services for Californians with developmental disabilities and which is funded by the state) had been employed by the company since 1988 terminated in 2004, has won a wrongful termination lawsuit and will be awarded more than half a million dollars by a jury in downtown Los Angeles.

Jones sued alleging wrongful termination, disability discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodation. The jury found in her favor on all claims. Attorney Carney Shegerian filed the lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court in February of 2006. After having to appeal an earlier adverse ruling dismissing the case made by a previous trial judge, Shegerian successfully appealed the case and had it reinstated in 2008. The jury in the civil litigation ruled in favor of Jones with a verdict of $531,000.

During trial, Betty Jones testified that Social Vocational Services terminated her employment because she needed an extended disability leave of absence caused by a hip replacement surgery and complications that resulted from the same. She also testified that despite being able to perform all of her duties as Operations Manager, Social Vocational Services required that she re-apply for her job without any physical restrictions. The law prohibits both actions taken by the defendant, SVS, Inc.

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 14 seven figure verdicts representing employees.