A man has settled his lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and St. Aloysius Gonzaga School in which he alleged he was wrongfully fired from his teaching job at the Firestone-area campus after he complained that some employees might be drinking alcohol at work.
Jaime Hernandez maintained in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that his termination was based on a false assertion that he inappropriately touched a girl, an allegation for which he was later cleared.
Hernandez's lawyer filed court papers on Monday notifying Judge Holly J. Fujie that the case was resolved. No terms were divulged.
In their court papers, defense attorneys stated that any actions taken against Hernandez were "as a result of business necessity," that some or all of his claims were barred by the statute of limitations and that the plaintiff's lawsuit should be dismissed.
While employed at the school, Hernandez received a chain of inappropriate and non-work-related text messages from fellow teachers and the school principal, the suit stated. The plaintiff, who does not drink, was uncomfortable receiving the communications, which primarily regarded his mostly female co-workers and the female principal drinking and partying, according to the suit filed in November 2022.
When the principal gave alcohol to teachers as a gift for teacher appreciation week, Hernandez began receiving text messages from several teachers that included images of alcohol in classrooms, the suit stated.
Disturbed at the implication that teachers might be drinking alcohol at school, Hernandez reported what he saw and was told that if he had a problem, he should address it with the school principal, who ignored his concerns, the suit stated.
After Hernandez complained, he was told that a parent had complained that he inappropriately touched her daughter and that a criminal investigation was started, the suit stated.
"Plaintiff was appalled by the accusation and willingly cooperated with the investigation, even though he knew it was completely unfounded," the suit stated.
Although the criminal investigation was closed due to a lack of evidence that a crime had occurred, Hernandez was fired anyway, according to his suit.
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