A Rosemead, California McDonald’s Employee Claims She was Fired in Retaliation

Ashley Lopez, a former McDonald’s Shift Manager in Rosemead, California, claims she was pressured to violate state child labor laws and fulfill illegal demands from her employer. When she refused, Lopez claimed she was fired in retaliation.

The Case: Ashley Lopez vs M. Pernecky Management Corp.

The Court: Los Angeles County Superior Court

The Case No.: 21STCV31912

The Plaintiff: Ashley Lopez vs M. Pernecky Management Corp.

Ashley Lopez worked at a McDonald’s franchise run by M. Pernecky Management Corp. in Rosemead, California. Lopez claims that during her time as an employee she was pressured to violate State child labor laws, and to fulfill other unlawful demands by her employer. She claims that she pushed back against the demands, even reporting the violations to a corporate manager of the franchisee. She was allegedly fired as a result.

The Defendant: Ashley Lopez vs M. Pernecky Management Corp.

M. Pernecky Management Corp. runs a McDonald’s franchise in Rosemead, California at which the plaintiff, Ashley Lopez, was employed as a Shift Manager.

The Case: Ashley Lopez vs M. Pernecky Management Corp.

According to the lawsuit, Lopez’s problems with the Rosemead McDonald’s Store Manager, Cesar Reyes, did not begin until after he promoted her to Shift Manager. At the time of her promotion, Lopez was 16 years old. Lopez claims that after her promotion, Reyes regularly stopped complying with California state labor laws limiting the number of hours a minor can work. Lopez claims that Reyes frequently demanded she miss school or stay late on school nights to complete shifts that were illegally long considering the fact that she was a minor. According to the lawsuit, Reyes would insinuate that failure to comply with the illegal demands put Lopez’s job in jeopardy. Lopez also claims she was required to be on-call days she was not scheduled to work, some of which were school days. She also says she was required to work odd hours forcing her to miss even more school. In addition to missing school, Lopez claims she was pushed to skip doctor’s appointments. For instance, when she called out due to an emergency medical procedure, her manager, Reyes, allegedly responded by saying he might have been wrong in making her manager. According to Lopez, she brought the issue up with Operations Supervisor Ruben Duran, Reyes’ supervisor, but no action was taken. After she made the complaints, Lopez claims Reyes fired her. Lopez further claims that when she attempted to appeal the termination to Duran, he was hostile and ultimately sided with Reyes on the matter.

If you have questions about California employment law or if you need to file a wrongful termination lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.