A former employee of app-based kids' school ride service Kango has reached a tentative settlement in her lawsuit against the company in which she alleged she was wrongfully terminated in 2023 in retaliation for complaining about the qualifications of some of the drivers.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
Attorneys for Mareine Pearlman filed court papers on Thursday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Wendy Chang notifying her of a "conditional" resolution in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be brought by June 16. No terms were revealed.
In their previous court papers, Kango lawyers denied Pearlman's claims and said Kango had no liability.
Hired by Kango 2018, Pearlman was promoted multiple times and at the time of her termination was a regional driver and vendor operations lead. While employed, Pearlman complained to her supervisor, who was Kango's CEO, that some drivers were working without current driver's licenses, fingerprint checks or insurance, the suit stated
The plaintiff also contended that some employees behind the wheels of Kango vehicles were not trained to assist special-needs children.
Pearlman repeated her complaints to her boss in August 2023, additionally saying that she believed Kango wanted the plaintiff and her co-workers to violate laws in order to save the company money, according to the suit filed last Oct. 21, which further stated that Pearlman was terminated the next month.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok