A former UCLA phlebotomist is suing the UC Regents, alleging she was treated in a disparate way due to her Guatemalan ancestry and fired in 2022 for seeking accommodations for a knee injury.
Nuria Velasquez's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations include discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, harassment, failure to accommodate and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit brought Wednesday.
A UCLA spokesman said Monday that the university does not generally comment on pending litigation.
Velasquez, a 50-year-old Guatemalan native, was hired as a phlebotomist at UCLA in August 2016 and never received a critical personnel comment until she began complaining about harassment, her suit states.
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In March 2017, Velasquez was transferred to a morning shift under the supervision of a man of Middle East descent who spoke to her in a condescending tone, especially when providing her instructions, to suggest that the native Spanish speaker did not understand what he was saying, the suit states. Velasquez actually spoke, read and wrote English well, the suit states.
The supervisor gave Velasquez more difficult assignments and overly managed her, including timing the lengthy of her restroom breaks, while seldom doing the same with male employees, who were allowed to watch videos and converse while on duty, the suit states.
Female phlebotomists with long hair were required to put their locks in a bun, the suit states.
In 2018, Velasquez complained to two managers about the alleged discriminatory conditions, but nothing was done, the suit states.
Velasquez hurt her right knee in June 2019 while delivering blood samples, but she was required to continue working despite having a cane and knee brace, the suit states. Despite a doctor's eventual work restrictions, Velasquez was repeatedly ordered to stand repeatedly required to stand and walk for longer than five minutes per hour, the suit alleges.
Velasquez was informed during a followup clinic visit that her knee injury was worse and showing excessive swelling and inflammation, so she had knee surgery in November 2019 and went on medical leave, the suit states. But when Velasquez returned to work, she was assigned work that violated her work restrictions, the suit alleges.
Management subsequently put Velasquez on disability leave June 2021, told her she could not be accommodated and advised her to look for a different position, according to the suit, which further states she was unsuccessful in her new job search despite filing some 80 applications.
Velasquez was notified by letter in August 2022 that she was being terminated that month because of an inability to accommodate her, according to the suit, which further states that she has suffered lost income and experienced emotional distress since losing her job.
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