A former fitness instructor at a Reseda nursing home has dropped her lawsuit against the facility, in which she alleged she was wrongfully fired in 2022 for responding to a resident's question by saying she believed U.S. tax dollars were better spent at home than in Ukraine.
Attorneys for plaintiff Karima Williams filed court papers on Oct. 18 with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gail Killefer asking that their client's lawsuit against the Grancell Village of the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging be dismissed "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be refiled.
The court papers did not state if a settlement was reached or if Williams was not pursuing the case for other reasons, but on June 22 the judge referred the parties to mediation that was to be completed by Oct. 31.
In her suit, Williams sought at least $150,000 in damages each for lost earnings and emotional distress as well as punitive damages.
In their court papers, attorneys for the Tampa Avenue facility denied Williams' allegations, stated that any actions the home took regarding the plaintiff were for legitimate business reasons and that the lawsuit should be dismissed.
Williams was hired at the nursing home as a fitness instructor in 2006 and her job was to help residents exercise during a 24-hour work week that paid her $37.70 per hour, the suit stated.
Grancell Village residents were discussing political issues and current events in the facility's gym around Election Day in 2022 when the topic became the ongoing war in Ukraine and whether Donald Trump was a better president than Joe Biden, the suit stated
After one resident asked Williams what she thought about the Ukraine war, the plaintiff said that in her opinion tax dollars should be spent in the U.S. rather than in that European country, according to the suit filed Jan. 13.
In retaliation for expressing her comments that she was free to express under the state Labor Code, Williams was fired in November 2022, according to the suit, which further states that the loss of her job has caused the plaintiff to lose earnings and suffer emotional distress.
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