A woman who alleges Paramount Pictures Corp. wrongfully fired her from her finance coordinator position in 2022 for complaining about lax coronavirus precautions, as well as for taking time to quarantine herself when she developed COVID-like symptoms, will have to shore up many of her claims, a judge has ruled.
In her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, Emily Chaho alleges wrongful termination and various violations of the state Labor Code. However, she also alleges five causes of action related to disability discrimination that Paramount attorneys sought to have dismissed.
During Friday's hearing, Judge Kristin Escalante ruled that instead of dismissing the five claims, she will give Chaho 15 days to file an amended complaint.
"Plaintiff does not sufficiently allege facts to support the conclusion that she suffered from a condition that constituted a disability," the judge wrote.
Chaho alleges that she developed a cough in May 2022 while working in the office. She was given a COVID test and the results were negative, but she continued to suffer from COVID-like symptoms and was placed on quarantine that was scheduled to end in mid-May 2022, the suit states.
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However, Chaho was still suffering from coronavirus-like indicators and was given another two days to return, but when she came back she was told she was being terminated, the suit states. Chaho alleges she was let go because she had a disability and also due to her complaining about allegedly unsafe working conditions.
But in their court papers, Paramount attorneys maintain Chaho lost her job because of a "series of performance issues in her brief stint of employment" and that she was not disabled.
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