LOS ANGELES — A former dishwasher at a Glendale restaurant is suing his ex-employer, alleging he was wrongfully fired in 2019 for taking medical leave and that when he objected he was told, “We do things here the Armenian way, not the American way.”
Andreh Fazelimoghadam’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges that Adams Kabab House is guilty of wrongful discharge, retaliation, harassment and discrimination. He seeks unspecified damages in the suit filed Monday, which seeks $10 million in damages.
A man who answered the phone Tuesday at the restaurant located on the 1100 block of South Adams Street declined to comment on the suit.
Fazelimoghadam was hired last July as a dishwasher, and his duties additionally included the daily unloading of delivery trucks with an average of 40 large, heavy boxes of food supplies, pots and trash, the suit states.
Fazelimoghadam worked alternating schedules of three or four days weekly in 14-hour shifts and was paid $100 per shift, far less than the minimum wage, the suit states. He was not paid overtime was not provided meal and rest breaks, according to the suit.
Last November, Fazelimoghadam dropped a heavy crate of apples on his left toe, resulting in a long hospitalization and the amputation of one of his left toes, the suit states.
Management fired him later that month due to his injury and disability and also because he took a medical leave, the suit states. When Fazelimoghadam protested, his supervisor replied, “We do things here the Armenian way, not the American way,” according to the suit.
The restaurant never had workers compensation insurance covering Fazelimoghadam, a violation of California law, the suit states. The eatery has at least three other seriously injured employees, all of whom fear they also will be fired if they complain, the suit states.
