Williams v. Sun Microsystems
Plaintiff Carl Williams sued his former employer Sun Microsystems, Inc., alleging causes of action for employment discrimination under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) (Gov. Code, 12900 et seq.), violation of Labor Code section 202 et seq., breach of implied contract, emotional distress, defamation, and invasion of privacy. Plaintiff alleged that he had been disciplined, denied a promotion, raises, bonuses, and stock options based upon his sexual orientation and in breach of an implied in fact contract, and that he had been defamed and suffered false light invasion of privacy by defendants publishing untrue statements about his conduct and behavior with coworkers.
The trial court granted defendants motion for summary adjudication of the FEHA, emotional distress, and Labor Code causes of action. Trial of the remaining contract and tort claims resulted in a defense verdict. Plaintiff appeals. He challenges the trial courts summary adjudication decisions. He also claims that the trial court erred in excluding certain evidence at trial and that it improperly rejected his special instruction pertaining to the tolling of the statute of limitations for the tort claims.
Court reject plaintiffs claims of error relating to summary adjudication of the Labor Code causes of action and to the rulings made at trial. Court agree that the trial court erred in granting summary adjudication of the FEHA cause of action. Accordingly, Court reverse.
Comments on Williams v. Sun Microsystems