Daren Harris Lipinsky

FIGHTING FOR WORKERS FIRED FOR GOOD FAITH COMPLAINTS

PEREZ AND CARBONE V. ONTARIO CEMETERY ASSOCIATION DBA BELLEVUE MEMORIAL PARK
Daren H. Lipinsky and Aaron Ray Boyd

Robert Perez and Kimberly Carbone worked as family service counselors for Ontario Cemetery Association. They raised complaints to the board of directors and general manager about favoritism exhibited by the general manager to a co-worker, including what they believed to be a sexual relationship. Two weeks after making the complaints Perez and Carbone were fired, with the cemetery alleging they had unlawfully accessed its computer system and claiming Perez had threatened a co-worker. Lipinsky and Boyd filed suit for wrongful termination, saying their firings were in retaliation for their complaints. Perez, 63, was a decorated Vietnam veteran and a long-time sales associate. After he was fired he had to get a job several hours away from his home and dependent mother. He also had several close relatives buried at the cemetery he was unable to visit after being fired. Carbone, 43, was a single mother without a high school diploma. After she was fired she had to seek a much lower paying job and was diagnosed with depression. An arbitrator found in favor of Perez and Carbone on the wrongful termination claims, and against the cemetery on its allegations, and awarded the wrongfully-fired employees compensation for lost earnings and emotional distress.