Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo firm Celadon House look set to face a whistleblower lawsuit from a previous employee. Working as part of the home furnishing store in the past, the employee is taking Celadon House to court for wrongful termination and emotional distress. Represented by Anticouni & Associates, the claim is that the employer has forged a declaration and also forged the signature of the employee to beat back a Worker’s Compensation claim.
The employee, named Susanne Bjornson, worked at the retail store in the past. She alleges that she was in work the day that a fellow employee was hurt during moving some furniture. Having filed a claim against the company as part of her Worker’s Compensation package, Anticouni & Associates claim that the company did not hold Worker’s Compensation insurance, breaking Californian law in the process.
They also allege that Kelli Thornton and Cherisse Sweeney, the owners of the company, had prepared a Declaration in the name of Bjornson without her knowledge. Within the Declaration, it was claimed that the employee in question did not move injury, nor did they report the injury afterward. The lawsuit also makes the claim that one of the two owners then forged the signature of Bjornson on the document.
An ‘unlawful act’
Bjornson, for her part, claims that she was never interviewed by Cleadon House, and that the statements made in the Declaration are not true. In the claim, the argument is made that Bjornson is fearful of being caught up in an ‘unlawful act’ and thus chose to resign from the company immediately.
Bruce Anticouni, speaking on behalf of Bjornson, said: “When an employee is faced with working conditions so intolerable that reasonable person would have no other alternative except to resign, there has been a ‘constructive’ discharge of employment. The resignation is legally considered a termination of employment,
“The lawsuit alleges the Company forged Ms. Bjornson’s signature for an unlawful purpose. The two owners also violated the law by not having Workers’ Compensation insurance. Ms. Bjornson had no choice but to resign. Her forced termination was unlawful.”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.