Electronically FILED by Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles on 02/14/2019 09:38 AM Sherri R. Carter, Executive Officer/Clerk of Court, by S. Perez,Deputy Clerk 19STCV05402 Assigned for all purposes to: Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Judicial Officer: Rafael Ongkeko 1 CHRISTINE ADAMS LAW, APC Christine M. Adams (Bar No. 172876) 2 christine@christineadamslaw.com 865 South Figueroa Street, 10th Floor 3 Los Angeles, California 90017 Telephone: (213) 364-0113 4 Facsimile: (213) 443-3100 5 CLINGO LAW GROUP, APC Jennifer A. Clingo (Bar No. 223831) 6 jennclingo@gmail.com 7904 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 100 7 West Hollywood, CA 90046 8 Telephone: (323) 498-5225 9 Attorneys for Plaintiff DANA J. TOMARKEN 10 11 12 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 13 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 14 Civil Action No. 15 DANA J. TOMARKEN, an individual, COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES: Plaintiff, 16 17 26 27 VIOLATION OF LABOR CODE SECTION 1102.5 2. WRONGFUL TERMINATION IN VIOLATION OF PUBLIC POLICY (TAMENY CLAIM) 3. DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEX IN VIOLATION OF FEHA [Govt. Code Section 12940 et seq.] 4. DISCRIMINATION BASED ON AGE IN VIOLATION OF FEHA [Govt. Code Section 12940 et seq.] 5. UNLAWFUL RETALIATION IN VIOLATION OF FEHA [Govt. Code Section 12940(h)] 6. FAILURE TO PREVENT RETALIATION AND DISCRIMINATION [Govt. Code Section 12940(k)] vs. 18 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF RECORDING ARTS & SCIENCES, INC., a Delaware 19 corporation; MUSICARES FOUNDATION, INC., a 20 Delaware corporation; GRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC., 21 a California nonprofit corporation; GRAMMY FOUNDATION, INC., a 22 California nonprofit corporation; and DOES 1-10, Inclusive. 23 Defendants. 24 25 1. 28 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 7. INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS 2 3 Trial Date: None Set 4 DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 Plaintiff DANA J. TOMARKEN (hereinafter “Ms. Tomarken” or “Plaintiff”) alleges the 2 following against THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF RECORDING ARTS & SCIENCES, INC., 3 (hereinafter “Recording Academy” or “Academy”) MUSICARES FOUNDATION, INC., 4 (hereinafter “MusiCares”) GRAMMY FOUNDATION, INC., and GRAMMY MUSEUM 5 FOUNDATION, INC. (both hereinafter “Grammy Foundation”) (hereinafter collectively referred 6 to as “Defendants”). 7 8 NATURE OF ACTION 1. This complaint arises from the efforts of Recording Academy leadership to cover 9 up misconduct and hide its abuse of MusiCares by exploiting a hostile and discriminatory 10 workplace culture to retaliate against Plaintiff, a 75-year-old woman who had ably served 11 MusiCares for 25 years. 12 2. Neil Portnow led this misconduct. He served simultaneously as the president and 13 chief executive officer of both the Academy and MusiCares. He abused his position of trust and 14 violated his fiduciary duty by, among other things, using MusiCares as a bargaining chip in 15 Grammy Awards telecast negotiations to promote the Recording Academy’s interests over those 16 of MusiCares. To benefit the Academy’s telecast, Mr. Portnow bound MusiCares to agreements 17 that, for example, caused Musicares financial and reputational harm by compromising its signature 18 fundraising event, Person of the Year. Ms. Tomarken, who oversaw all aspects of Person of the 19 Year, witnessed Mr. Portnow’s harmful business decisions and tried to mitigate their impact. 20 Despite her best efforts, MusiCares suffered a substantial decline in fundraising because of Mr. 21 Portnow’s conflicts of interest and misconduct, including his withholding material information 22 from Ms. Tomarken and the MusiCares board of directors. 23 3. More specifically, the 2018 Person of the Year tribute yielded a decline in net 24 revenue to numbers not seen since 2002. For example, in 2017, MusiCares netted over $5 million 25 in revenue; but, as a result of Mr. Portnow’s actions, MusiCares was barely able to net $1 million 26 in 2018. Mr. Portnow came under heavy public criticism because the Grammys telecast also 27 suffered significant financial losses. He exacerbated the criticism by making inappropriate public 28 comments at the awards show suggesting that female professionals in the music industry needed to 2 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 “step up” if they wanted the Grammys to honor more women with awards and feature more 2 women in the telecast. Mr. Portnow justifiably feared that his career with the Academy and 3 MusiCares was in jeopardy as a result of all the criticism. 4 4. In the midst of these events, Ms. Tomarken told Mr. Portnow that she would be 5 making a report to MusiCares board members regarding the 2018 Person of the Year financial 6 results. Mr. Portnow feared that Ms. Tomarken’s report would reveal his misconduct and abuse of 7 trust by shedding light on the underlying business decisions he had made to benefit the Academy’s 8 Grammys telecast to MusiCares’ detriment. Consequently, Mr. Portnow refused to allow Ms. 9 Tomarken to make her report to the board. 10 5. At the same time, Mr. Portnow also set about to exploit a culture at the Academy 11 and MusiCares that was hostile and discriminatory to women like Ms. Tomarken in order to rid 12 himself of the threat she posed. As part of this plan, Mr. Portnow enlisted Gaetano Frizzi, chief of 13 the Academy’s human resources department, and one of a group of men that was extremely loyal 14 to Mr. Portnow. Mr. Frizzi, who had previously been hostile to Ms. Tomarken because of her age 15 and gender, became aware of an outstanding pledge that Ms. Tomarken had made in 2017 and 16 used that pledge as a pretex to orchestrate Ms. Tomarken’s termination. Even though Ms. 17 Tomarken immediately affirmed her obligation to pay the pledge the first time she was ever 18 reminded of it, Mr. Frizzi used the overdue payment as the basis for a trumped-up investigation 19 and terminated Ms. Tomarken. Mr. Frizzi also wrongfully orchestrated the termination of another 20 colleague who had also witnessed Mr. Portnow’s abuse of MusiCares and the hostile and 21 discriminatory culture at the Academy and MusiCares. 22 6. With Ms. Tomarken gone from MusiCares, the stage was set for Mr. Portnow to 23 present to the Musicares board, as well as the Academy board, his own version of the facts 24 regarding the reasons underlying the poor financial results for Person of the Year 2018 and to 25 cover up his conflicts of interest and violation of his fiduciary duties to MusiCares. Ms. 26 Tomarken’s termination also gave him the chance to protect his career and the hostile, 27 discriminatory culture at the Academy and MusiCares. 28 3 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 THE PARTIES 7. Plaintiff Dana J. Tomarken is an individual who resided in Los Angeles County, 3 California. Before Ms. Tomarken was wrongfully terminated, she was employed by Defendants, 4 and each of them, for 25 years -- from July 15, 1993, until April 16, 2018. At the time she was 5 terminated, Ms. Tomarken held the title vice president, MusiCares/Grammy Foundation. 6 8. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF RECORDING 7 ARTS & SCIENCES, INC., is, and at all times herein mentioned was, a corporation authorized 8 and doing business in the State of California, County of Los Angeles. Defendant Recording 9 Academy’s principal place of business and corporate headquarters, and where the following 10 actions took place, was and is located in the County of Los Angeles, at 3030 Olympic Blvd., Santa 11 Monica, California 90404. 12 9. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant MUSICARES FOUNDATION, INC., is, and at all 13 times herein mentioned was, a corporation authorized and doing business in the State of 14 California, County of Los Angeles. Defendant MusiCares’ principal place of business and 15 corporate headquarters, and where the following actions took place, was and is located in the 16 County of Los Angeles, at 3030 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, California 90404. 17 10. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant GRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC., is, 18 and all times herein mentioned was, a corporation formed, authorized and doing business in the 19 State of California, County of Los Angeles. Defendant GRAMMY FOUNDATION, INC. was at 20 all times herein mentioned, a corporation formed, authorized and doing business in the State of 21 California, County of Los Angeles. Plaintiff alleges that both the GRAMMY MUSEUM 22 FOUNDATION, INC. and GRAMMY FOUNDATION, INC. currently operate as GRAMMY 23 MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC. (collectively referred to herein as “Grammy Foundation”). 24 Defendant GRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC. and GRAMMY FOUNDATION, INC.’s 25 principal place of business and corporate headquarters, and where the following actions took 26 place, was and is located in the County of Los Angeles, at 3030 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 27 90404. 28 4 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 11. The true names of Defendant Does 1 through 10, inclusive, are presently unknown 2 to Ms. Tomarken, who therefore sues these Defendants by such fictitious names and capacities. 3 Ms. Tomarken will amend this complaint to allege their true identities when ascertained. Ms. 4 Tomarken is informed and believes, and on that basis alleges, each fictitiously named Defendant is 5 responsible in some way for the acts and failures to act herein alleged, and that Ms. Tomarken’s 6 injuries as herein alleged were legally caused by the conduct of each such Defendant. 7 12. Ms. Tomarken is informed and believes, and thereupon alleges that, at all times 8 material herein, each of the Defendants was the agent or employee of, and/or working in concert 9 with, his/her co-Defendants and was acting within the scope of such agency, employment, and/or 10 concerted activity. Ms. Tomarken alleges that to the extent that certain acts or omissions were 11 perpetrated by certain Defendants, the remaining Defendant or Defendants confirmed and ratified 12 said acts and omissions. 13 13. For purposes of liability, Defendants Recording Academy, MusiCares, and 14 Grammy Foundation are joint employers, integrated enterprises and alter egos of each other, and 15 during all times relevant herein, jointly employed Plaintiff. 16 14. Whenever and wherever reference is made in this Complaint to any act or failure to 17 act by a Defendant or Defendants, such allegations and references shall also be deemed to mean 18 the acts and failures of each Defendant acting individually, jointly and severally. 19 15. The Court has subject matter jurisdiction because the potential amount of damages 20 and civil penalties are within the jurisdictional amounts of the Superior Court of California. 21 16. The Court has personal jurisdiction over the Defendants as they are either residents 22 of the State of California or transact a substantial portion of their business within the State of 23 California. Defendants, and each of them, have transacted extensive business in California related 24 to the subject matter of this action. 25 26 VENUE 17. Venue is proper under Government Code Section 12965(b) and Code of Civil 27 Procedure Section 395 in Los Angeles County because it is the County in which Defendants 28 reside, and where a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claims for relief occurred. Sub5 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 venue is also proper in the Central District pursuant to Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rule 2 2.0(c). 3 FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 4 Dana Tomarken’s Successful 25-year Career and Sterling Reputation with MusiCares 5 18. Until she was improperly fired to cover up wrongdoing at the Recording Academy, 6 Ms. Tomarken had enjoyed a 25-year award-winning and successful career at MusiCares and the 7 Grammy Foundation. MusiCares and the Grammy Foundation were both nonprofit organizations 8 affiliated with the Recording Academy. MusiCares provided emergency financial assistance for 9 musicians and music industry members who were experiencing hardship through personal health 10 crises, addiction or natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina. MusiCares’ mission was to serve as a 11 safety net of critical assistance for its clients in times of crisis and serious need, thereby supporting 12 the health and welfare of the music community. The Grammy Foundation, which later merged 13 with the Grammy Museum and became the Grammy Museum Foundation, sought to cultivate the 14 understanding, appreciation and advancement of recorded music in American culture. 15 19. During Ms. Tomarken’s tenure, she created fundraising initiatives for MusiCares 16 and the Grammy Foundation that raised over $100 million to support their important causes. Her 17 efforts included overseeing galas and luncheons; sporting and private events and concerts; 18 sponsored, live, silent and online auctions; giving and public awareness campaigns; sponsorship 19 acquisitions; grassroots outreach efforts; and more. Most significantly, Ms. Tomarken oversaw all 20 aspects of MusiCares’ annual signature fundraising event, Person of the Year, a tribute that 21 selected and honored a musician each year for artistic achievement in the music industry and 22 dedication to philanthropy. Musicians who had been honored as Persons of the Year included 23 Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan. The tribute 24 occurred every year during “Grammy week,” as part of a string of galas just before the annual 25 Grammy Awards ceremony. 26 20. Ms. Tomarken dedicated her professional career to the MusiCares mission. In the 27 music industry, her character was prized and her reputation was sterling. She was the face of 28 MusiCares. Those who worked with her knew that her word was her bond and that she would 6 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 remain committed to any endeavor she undertook through to its completion. In the ten years before 2 she was terminated, Ms. Tomarken nearly doubled MusiCares’ revenue. She also received an 3 Emmy award nomination for the 2007 production of Person of the Year honoring musician James 4 Taylor. More recently, in January 2018, the trade magazine Variety honored Ms. Tomarken as one 5 of four women at the Recording Academy responsible for leading initiatives and departments that 6 were “absolutely essential to making” Grammy Week “a success and keeping the 60-year-old 7 Academy running year-round.” In sum, Ms. Tomarken was instrumental in MusiCares’ record of 8 distributing over $60 million to more than 125,000 clients in need over its nearly 30-year history. 9 10 The Boys’ Club at the Recording Academy 21. Despite Ms. Tomarken’s success with MusiCares, a sexist culture at the Academy 11 and MusiCares stymied her career. She was also treated worse as she became older. The culture 12 of sexism that pervaded the Academy and MusiCares was evidenced by the “boys’ club” 13 surrounding Neil Portnow, the Academy’s and MusiCares’ president and chief executive officer 14 (CEO) since 2002. The so-called boys’ club was a group of men who were deeply loyal to Mr. 15 Portnow, regularly socialized with him, and served as go-tos for anything he needed. Multiple 16 women failed at breaking down the barriers to join this club. Every chief executive at the 17 Academy was male. With the exception of one woman who left in 2008, no female had ever 18 attained the chief executive title in the Academy’s or MusiCares’ history despite several women’s 19 best efforts. Only two women had ever attained the title of senior vice president: one eventually 20 retired after receiving no further promotions and the other departed after her requests to be 21 promoted were repeatedly ignored. 22 22. Ms. Tomarken attained the title of vice president, MusiCares/Grammy Foundation 23 in 2003. Even though she worked tirelessly for MusiCares, garnering record-breaking fundraising 24 success and producing acclaimed, award-winning events, Mr. Portnow refused to promote her to 25 senior vice president and left her in the same position for 15 years. Each year for three years in a 26 row, in 2015, 2016 and 2017, Ms. Tomarken asked Mr. Portnow for a promotion during her 27 annual review. Each year he praised her work and her success and had not a single word of 28 criticism. Yet he still refused to promote her. At her last review in 2017, Mr. Portnow made 7 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 reference to her age and asked what her plans were. Ms. Tomarken responded that she had no 2 plans yet to retire because she believed there was still good work ahead of her. She said she still 3 had more roads to travel. Mr. Portnow told her that, when she did decide to retire, there would be 4 a retirement package and a diamond ring from Tiffany’s waiting for her, along with a celebrated 5 recognition event to honor her accomplishments, just as had been the case for another female 6 former colleague. 7 23. Even though her career was blocked, Ms. Tomarken persevered for several reasons. 8 For one thing, she was good at what she did and believed in her mission to raise money and 9 awareness in support of MusiCares’ music industry clients. For another, even if Mr. Portnow 10 refused to promote her within MusiCares, the music industry recognized her success. The Emmy 11 nomination and Variety commendation were just two examples of the public recognition she had 12 received. Ms. Tomarken also persevered because she had the support and appreciation of the 13 MusiCares board of directors. At one point in fact, in or around 2005, Mr. Portnow had attempted 14 to hire a male executive at a higher salary than Ms. Tomarken. The MusiCares board blocked his 15 efforts, however, and Mr. Portnow was forced to match Ms. Tomarken’s salary to that of the new 16 male executive. Finally, Ms. Tomarken also persevered because she enjoyed the fellowship and 17 opportunities to advocate on behalf of her female colleagues at MusiCares. 18 24. In later years, Ms. Tomarken experienced increased hostility at the Academy and 19 MusiCares both personally and in connection with the all-female fundraising department she 20 oversaw. The direct hostility she experienced included the actions of Gaetano Frizzi, the chief of 21 human resources for the Academy. He was a loyal member of Mr. Portnow’s boys’ club, and 22 became increasingly hostile to Ms. Tomarken as she grew older. Mr. Frizzi displayed his hostility 23 toward Ms. Tomarken in one instance by openly criticizing her abilities in a fit of anger while 24 speaking to her subordinate, Dorit Kalev, the managing director of MusiCares. In that 25 conversation, Mr. Frizzi told Ms. Kalev, “It’s unfortunate that Dana can’t hear;” “It’s unfortunate 26 that Dana can’t comprehend a conversation;” “It’s unfortunate that Dana can’t follow directions;” 27 “It’s unfortunate that Dana doesn’t pay attention;” and “It’s really unfortunate that Dana can’t 28 manage these simple tasks.” Ms. Kalev was shaken enough by Mr. Frizzi’s comments that she 8 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 later described them to Ms. Tomarken, warning her that Mr. Frizzi was biased against her, and 2 told Ms. Tomarken that she no longer felt safe speaking to him or being in his company. Later, as 3 set forth below, Ms. Tomarken encountered Mr. Frizzi’s hostility directly during the course of his 4 efforts to oust her and Ms. Kalev. 5 25. Ms. Tomarken’s experience of workplace hostility toward women in connection 6 with her department also included the actions of Todd Thorson. He was a male part-time 7 employee that the MusiCares business affairs department sent over to Ms. Tomarken’s 8 department to assist with account reconciliation. Mr. Thorson was flippant, rude and 9 condescending to several of the women in the fundraising department; whereas he was polite and 10 professional to other colleagues. Mr. Thorson’s behavior toward the women in the fundraising 11 department grew worse every year. By around June 2017, his behavior hampered the fundraising 12 department’s productivity so severely that Ms. Kalev met with Ms. Tomarken to try to resolve the 13 situation. Ms. Tomarken and Ms. Kalev agreed that the best course of action was for Ms. Kalev 14 to bring the group’s complaints about Mr. Thorson to his supervisor, the head of MusiCares 15 business affairs, since she (Ms. Kalev) was the senior most person who had experienced Mr. 16 Thorson’s hostile behavior on an ongoing basis. In keeping with their plan, Ms. Kalev reported 17 Mr. Thorson’s conduct to the head of business affairs and explained that his chronic rude 18 behavior negatively impacted the fundraising department’s productivity. Ms. Kalev discussed her 19 concerns at length and the meeting with the head of business affairs lasted well over an hour. 20 Nevertheless, as far as Ms. Tomarken and Ms. Kalev could tell, Ms. Kalev’s concerns were never 21 addressed. Mr. Thorson continued to behave in a hostile and discriminatory manner, he was never 22 removed from the fundraising department, and he became more, rather than less, involved with 23 its functions. 24 25 The Move to New York of the Grammys and Person of the Year 26. In early 2017, Ms. Tomarken learned that Mr. Portnow had decided to move the 26 2018 Grammy Awards to Manhattan’s Madison Square Gardens (MSG) from its home in Los 27 Angeles for the last 14 years. This meant that Person of the Year would also have to move from its 28 home at the Los Angeles Convention Center to New York to be near the Grammy Awards. The 9 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 move for Person of the Year, not to mention the Grammys, was a significant challenge. Over the 2 previous 14 years, relationships and systems had naturally developed year over year at the 3 Convention Center that lent to a nearly flawless execution of the tribute event well within its fiscal 4 budget. 5 27. In June 2017, Ms. Tomarken and colleagues from the MusiCares fundraising 6 department, including Ms. Kalev, traveled to New York to find a venue for Person of the Year and 7 negotiate the deal terms. Brooklyn’s Barclays Center quickly emerged as the top contender. In 8 addition to a musical performance, Person of the Year also included a silent auction and gala 9 dinner. Barclays rendered plans to create a platform on top of a lower seating bowl that would 10 provide enough floor space for 250 to 300 banquet tables, which could be sold to corporate 11 partners, as well as multiple stages and a large silent-auction space. A tribute at the Barclays 12 facility would thus allow MusiCares to stay true to its prestigious gala dinner and silent auction 13 model. On top of that, Barclays also offered to waive the rent for the night, to share suite revenue 14 with MusiCares, and to connect the charity’s sponsorship team with Barclays’ owner’s sponsor 15 network for its concerts, events and Brooklyn Nets division. 16 28. In the midst of her negotiations in New York with Barclays, Ms. Tomarken 17 received a call from Irving Azoff, chairman and CEO of Azoff MSG Entertainment, which was a 18 joint venture owned by Mr. Azoff and MSG. He told Ms. Tomarken that Mr. Portnow and MSG 19 had early on in their Grammy negotiations agreed that the Person of the Year tribute would be 20 held only in Manhattan and that it could not be at Barclays. Ms. Tomarken was stunned. Neither 21 she nor anyone on the MusiCares staff had ever been notified of these discussions or the 22 agreement. The MusiCares board had also never been consulted. Mr. Azoff instructed Ms. 23 Tomarken to terminate her discussions with Barclays immediately and advised that she begin 24 discussions with Radio City Music Hall, an MSG venue. Unbeknownst to Ms. Tomarken and her 25 staff, Radio City was already holding a date for Person of the Year. 26 29. What Tomarken did not know was that, back in April 2017, Joel Fisher, a vice 27 president at MSG in New York, had sent an email to Recording Academy executive Brandon 28 Chapman, with whom he was negotiating the contract for the 2018 Grammy Awards. The email 10 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 stated: “When we went into this, we said no events could be at Barclays.” MSG and AEG were 2 longstanding rivals in the live-entertainment business and Barclays was an AEG facility. Fisher 3 threatened it would “kill the entire deal” for MSG to host the Grammys telecast if its rival, the 4 Barclays Center, hosted the Person of the Year event two nights before the awards. He signed off: 5 “Please confirm no Barclays. Thanks.” Even though the Radio City deal was at least twice as 6 expensive as the Barclays Center offer, not including the additional financial support the potential 7 Barclays sponsorships would have garnered, Tomarken was forced to terminate negotiations with 8 Barclays. 9 30. Radio City’s event space was not configured to host Musicares’ traditional gala 10 dinner, but Ms. Tomarken and her staff could find no better options in Manhattan. Even so she 11 held off on signing the agreement with Radio City as long as possible. The deal terms that Radio 12 City offered were so costly and unacceptable to Ms. Tomarken that she continued to hold off 13 signing in an effort to secure Radio City’s agreement to cut expenses or make significant 14 contributions to the tribute event. In November, however, Mr. Chapman announced in a senior 15 staff meeting that MSG would not sign the Grammys telecast deal unless Ms. Tomarken signed 16 the agreement with Radio City; whereupon, Mr. Portnow instructed Ms. Tomarken to sign the 17 agreement with Radio City without any further delay. At this point, Ms. Tomarken’s hands were 18 tied. She knew the deal was not in MusiCares’ best interest, but she had been instructed by her 19 boss, the CEO of MusiCares, to sign the agreement and believed she had no choice but to follow 20 the instruction. Consequently, the gala dinner experience was sacrificed and plans were put in 21 place to stage a straightforward concert at Radio City, with an anticipated resulting impact on 22 ticket prices and interest in attendance. 23 31. As far as Ms. Tomarken could tell, the future of Person of the Year 2018 was bleak. 24 That summer she began to focus on her mission to salvage it. In or around July 2017, Mr. 25 Chapman contacted Ms. Tomarken and instructed her again on behalf of Mr. Portnow to hold back 26 from selling 300 prime seats to Person of the Year, so that the tickets could be sold at a discounted 27 price in Grammy ticket packages. Without consulting Ms. Tomarken or the MusiCares board, Mr. 28 Portnow had again bound MusiCares in a deal solely to benefit the Recording Academy. This time 11 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 the deal was with the Oak View Group, an Azoff company that partnered with MSG, and this time 2 it was to sell Grammy Week packages that included tickets to the telecast and Person of the Year. 3 The Recording Academy had never before bound MusiCares in an agreement that required the 4 charity to sell its seats at a discount. Nevertheless, Ms. Tomarken was again forced to relent and 5 accept the terms because Mr. Portnow was her boss and had agreed to cut the deal. 6 32. Ms. Tomarken held the tickets as instructed. Mr. Chapman had assured her that she 7 could expect $1.2 million in revenue from the package sales for MusiCares, but as the event grew 8 nearer, Ms. Tomarken could not get verification that the tickets had been sold. She was especially 9 concerned because the tickets were for the best seats in the house. Ms. Tomarken repeatedly tried 10 to contact Mr. Portnow and Tim Leiweke, the head of Oak View Group, for an update but neither 11 would return her call. Finally, just before Christmas, another executive at Oak View announced in 12 a weekly senior staff meeting that, back in November, Mr. Portnow had approved dropping 13 MusiCares from the package revenue deal. The costs of holding the Grammys in New York had 14 turned out to be much higher than Mr. Portnow had anticipated. Consequently, he agreed to drop 15 MusiCares from the ticket packages and apply the funds to the Grammys telecast deficit. This was 16 terrible news for Ms. Tomarken and MusiCares. With the looming holidays and barely a month 17 until the event, Tomarken and MusiCares had no time to market and sell the prime seats or 18 somehow make up the lost revenue. 19 33. The Grammy Awards and Person of the Year both suffered serious revenue 20 shortfalls in 2018 in New York. The Grammys experienced an estimated $6-8 million deficit and 21 Person of the Year projected net revenue of less than $1 million, as compared to $5 million the 22 tribute event had earned the previous year in Los Angeles. Mr. Portnow and the Academy came 23 under heavy criticism. To make matters worse, Mr. Portnow and the Academy were also criticized 24 for the lack of female representation in the awards and in the show. (Only one woman had 25 accepted a televised award onstage.) Mr. Portnow added fuel to the fire when he told a reporter 26 after the Grammys show that female artists and executives needed to “step up” if they wanted to 27 be better represented in the music industry. Days later, a publicly circulated petition calling for his 28 resignation received more than 30,000 signatures, while an open letter signed by more than a 12 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 dozen women executives in the music industry also urged his resignation, saying that Mr. Portnow 2 was part of the problem. To diffuse the growing crisis, the Recording Academy appointed a high3 profile task force to improve inclusion at the Grammys and within the Recording Academy. Even 4 so, however, high-ranking male and female music executives wrote additional open letters 5 criticizing the Academy. 6 34. In or around January 2018, Ms. Tomarken learned that the MusiCares business 7 affairs department had asked staff in the MusiCares health and human service department to 8 reduce the amount of financial support for MusiCares clients in need in order to offset the revenue 9 loss from the New York Person of the Year event. Ms. Tomarken vehemently opposed this plan. 10 She immediately went to Mr. Portnow and told him this was the wrong thing to do for several 11 reasons. First, this decision required and had not received approval by the MusiCares board. Ms. 12 Tomarken told Mr. Portnow he could not allow this decision to be carried out unilaterally by 13 MusiCares staff without board approval. Mr. Portnow also could not authorize reducing financial 14 aid to clients because, as MusiCares’ president and CEO, he answered to the MusiCares board, 15 which held final authority over the charity. Second, Ms. Tomarken told Mr. Portnow that 16 MusiCares had more than $5 million specifically earmarked for financial assistance and that 17 MusiCares had to spend this money on its clients instead of reducing their financial support. Ms. 18 Tomarken was especially sensitive to this issue because MusiCares had previously been the 19 subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative piece in connection with MusiCares’ failure to 20 disburse funds to clients in need. Mr. Portnow relented and agreed to speak to the MusiCares 21 business affairs department about these decisions. 22 35. Ms. Tomarken also began pressuring Mr. Portnow to allow her to share Person of 23 the Year’s poor financial results with the MusiCares board so that it could take immediate steps to 24 mitigate the effects of the lost revenue, as the numbers in 2018 were nowhere near the numbers of 25 the previous ten years. Mr. Portnow resisted Ms. Tomarken’s efforts because he feared her report 26 to the board would lay bare his abuse of MusiCares by using it as a bargaining chip for the 27 Grammys, his violation of his duty of loyalty to MusiCares, and the conflict of interest he 28 exploited as the head of both the Academy and MusiCares by binding MusiCares to agreements 13 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 that would benefit the Grammys to the detriment of MusiCares. Mr. Portnow forbade Ms. 2 Tomarken from speaking to the MusiCares board about the tribute event’s financial results unless 3 he was also present and then refused to make himself available for any such meeting. Ms. 4 Tomarken tried several times to schedule a call with MusiCares board members, Mr. Portnow and 5 herself, but Mr. Portnow claimed each time that he was unavailable. Because Ms. Tomarken 6 urgently wanted to share the results, she asked Mr. Portnow to let her speak to the MusiCares 7 board members on her own since his schedule was full, but he refused. 8 36. Additionally, Mr. Portnow also refused to allow Ms. Tomarken to schedule the 9 MusiCares board’s annual meeting by providing her with any available dates, even though the 10 board was required to meet in-person annually before the end of July each year, and it was already 11 March. Mr. Portnow’s refusal to allow the MusiCares board meeting to be scheduled also 12 stemmed from the same reasons Mr. Portnow refused to permit Ms. Tomarken to speak to the 13 board about the Person of the Year financial results: Mr. Portnow had already come under a great 14 deal of fire for moving the Grammys to New York and for making inappropriate comments about 15 women after the awards show. He feared Ms. Tomarken’s report to the board would also make 16 clear that he had violated his duty to act in MusiCares’ best interest and to disclose any conflicts 17 of interest, thereby exacerbating an already precarious situation and jeopardizing his future with 18 both the charity and the Academy. 19 20 The Investigation of the Unsold Hotel Certificate 37. In March 2018, around the same time that Ms. Tomarken was having difficult 21 conversations with Mr. Portnow about the reports she needed to make to the MusiCares board, 22 Ms. Tomarken was summoned to a meeting with Mr. Frizzi and a human resources colleague. 23 Mr. Frizzi started the meeting by claiming that an “external audit” had revealed that Ms. 24 Tomarken had approved a fraudulent invoice for Person of the Year the previous year, thereby 25 enabling a third-party vendor to double-bill MusiCares. Ms. Tomarken explained the relevant 26 facts, making clear that the vendor had billed MusiCares only once and properly. Mr. Frizzi’s 27 accusation struck Ms. Tomarken as odd because it was so obviously ill-founded -- the vendor had 28 performed the same services for the Person of the Year tribute and submitted a similar invoice 14 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 every year for more than twenty years. Puzzled, Ms. Tomarken also questioned Mr. Frizzi’s 2 representation that there had been an external audit regarding unsold auction items because Ms. 3 Tomarken worked closely with MusiCares’ external audit firm Deloitte, and believed the firm 4 would have contacted her to ask any questions. Mr. Frizzi responded by telling her she had a 5 “listening problem” and that it was her “problem” if she could not “accept or comprehend” that 6 there was an external audit. 7 38. As Ms. Tomarken was leaving his office, Mr. Frizzi told her the “external audit” 8 also revealed that she had taken a trip to Portugal using a hotel certificate that had not sold at 9 auction at the 2017 Person of the Year. Unconcerned that she had done anything wrong, Ms. 10 Tomarken forthrightly replied that this was true and that she had made a pledge in connection 11 with the certificate. Mr. Frizzi said he had copies of her MusiCares emails to prove it. Ms. 12 Tomarken said yes, it was all very transparent. Mr. Frizzi then asked Ms. Tomarken if she had 13 paid the pledge. Ms. Tomarken said she believed she had, but that she would need to check her 14 records to confirm. Ms. Tomarken made clear that, in any event, her pledge was still her pledge 15 and she would pay it no matter what. Mr. Frizzi told her to provide proof of the pledge’s payment 16 and then launched into a rant that Ms. Tomarken did not listen and could not absorb directions. 17 Ms. Tomarken told him to stop and that they should not engage in personal attacks. 18 39. Ms. Tomarken returned to her office and immediately asked Ms. Kalev to review 19 the department’s records to determine if she had paid the pledge. Ms. Kalev reviewed the records 20 and determined there was no record of a payment. Ms. Tomarken asked her to print out a 21 payment authorization form that she could use to pay the pledge if Ms. Tomarken determined, 22 after she went home and checked her records, that the pledge was still outstanding. That evening 23 Ms. Tomarken reviewed her records at home and confirmed that she had not yet paid the pledge. 24 40. The next day, Ms. Tomarken filled out the payment authorization form that Ms. 25 Kalev had printed out for her and brought it along with the donation certificate to Mr. Frizzi. 26 Instead of being satisfied, Mr. Frizzi angrily demanded, “Let me see that!” He then made copies 27 of both documents and gave them back to her. She then walked the payment authorization form 28 to the business affairs department so that it could be processed immediately. 15 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 41. Ms. Tomarken was unsettled by Mr. Frizzi’s hostile treatment. Though she had 2 never intended to be remiss in the payment of her pledge, a late payment was a routine matter in 3 the nonprofit world. The practice with donors had always been to follow up with courteous 4 reminders in an effort to receive the late payment. The meeting with Mr. Frizzi was the first time 5 Ms. Tomarken had been reminded of the outstanding pledge. Though the payment had been due 6 at year end, being a few months late was by no means unprecedented. Past practices dictated that 7 she should be afforded at least one chance to pay it. 8 42. A late payment to MusiCares was also routine at the Recording Academy. In one 9 instance, a counsel to the board of trustees was over a year late to pay a pledge of $20,000. Ms. 10 Tomarken courteously reminded him until the payment was made. Another counsel to the board 11 of trustees balked at his obligation to pay for a piece of jewelry he had purchased at the Person of 12 the Year auction, even though there was an explicit, written policy that all auction sales were 13 final. Ms. Tomarken politely followed up with him until he agreed to return the item and make a 14 donation instead. In another instance, an Academy executive took nearly a year before she paid 15 for her guest’s ticket to Person of the Year. Ms. Tomarken and her staff simply continued to 16 follow up for payment. Another Academy executive seated her guest at the event even though he 17 had no ticket at all. Ms. Tomarken and her staff never resorted to shame or accusations of fraud. 18 43. Mr. Portnow himself often asked to seat guests at Person of the Year without 19 reimbursement to MusiCares. The least expensive ticket cost $1,750, which was not an 20 insignificant sum, and until the event moved to New York, it regularly sold out every year. 21 44. That Ms. Tomarken forgot to pay the pledge after taking the trip in September 2017 22 was also understandable in light of the losses and setbacks she experienced that fall. In October 23 2017, her longtime partner’s mother passed away. In November, her son-in-law tragically took 24 his own life, leaving behind Ms. Tomarken’s daughter and two young granddaughters. In 25 December, Ms. Tomarken contracted pneumonia. In all that time, Ms. Tomarken took only four 26 days off, when she was sick with pneumonia. She took no other leave, but instead continued 27 tirelessly to dedicate her efforts to MusiCares and the worthy causes it supported. Ms. 28 Tomarken’s dedication to MusiCares was so tireless, in fact, that she had ceased accruing 16 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 vacation time at this point because she had already accrued the maximum allowed. 45. Ms. Tomarken was also surprised at the way Mr. Frizzi handled the matter of the 3 pledge’s late payment because she had been transparent about the pledge from the very 4 beginning. This was not a situation in which an unsold auction item had been secreted away to be 5 redeemed and never paid for. Ms. Tomarken made the pledge in her office in front of her staff. 6 When she told her staff the amount she intended to pledge, Ms. Kalev objected and told her the 7 amount was too much. Ms. Kalev believed Ms. Tomarken’s pledge was too high because the item 8 was a certificate for a stay in a relatively unknown hotel in Lisbon, Portugal. The certificate had 9 not sold at auction because it included no airfare and had extensive blackout dates, an expiration 10 date, and unknown additional restrictions. Because there was no set policy for the amount Ms. 11 Tomarken should pledge for the hotel stay – only an informal practice – the amount to pledge 12 was within Ms. Tomarken’s discretion. Ms. Tomarken could have pledged even some 13 outlandishly small amount and not been in violation of any Academy or MusiCares policy. 14 Instead, she pledged an amount even higher than what she should have paid in accordance with 15 MusiCares’ informal practice, which was $2,100. Ms. Tomarken insisted on pledging $2,500, and 16 told her staff that, even if she and her partner could not use the certificate, she would pay the 17 pledge as a full donation to MusiCares. 18 46. Ms. Tomarken was entirely transparent and above board in making her trip 19 arrangements. She corresponded with the Lisbon hotel to plan her stay on the MusiCares email 20 system, using her work computer. She also discussed blackout dates, the additional restrictions, 21 and other logistical details with the hotel in front of her staff while she was at the office. Ms. 22 Tomarken’s staff was also fully aware that she took the trip to Lisbon because she stayed in close 23 contact with them throughout her stay. She worked during most of the trip, as this was when she 24 was trying to salvage the Person of the Year event in New York. 25 47. Most significantly, Ms. Tomarken’s 25-year record demonstrated her good faith in 26 making the pledge and intending to pay for it: In her entire career at MusiCares, she had never 27 before been disciplined by the Academy or MusiCares for any wrongdoing, including any kind of 28 financial wrongdoing. She had also never before been late on any kind of payment due to 17 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 MusiCares or the Academy. Ms. Tomarken’s record amply demonstrated her belief in and 2 dedication to MusiCares’ mission and belied any nefarious intent. 3 48. After meeting with Ms. Tomarken, Mr. Frizzi and his human resources colleague 4 summoned Ms. Kalev to discuss the hotel certificate. Ms. Kalev was not surprised to be 5 summoned because Ms. Tomarken had told her that she (Ms. Tomarken) had told Mr. Frizzi and 6 his colleague that Ms. Kalev could provide additional information about practices related to 7 unsold auction items. Though Ms. Tomarken was concerned about Mr. Frizzi’s treatment of and 8 tone toward her, neither Ms. Tomarken nor Ms. Kalev suspected then that Mr. Frizzi was seeking 9 to escalate the matter into something that would threaten both their careers. Ms. Kalev met with 10 Mr. Frizzi and his colleague, as requested, and was again immediately taken aback by Mr. 11 Frizzi’s hostility and negativity toward Ms. Tomarken. 12 49. The next morning, Ms. Kalev met privately with Mr. Frizzi’s colleague to tell her 13 that she wanted to talk to her only and not Mr. Frizzi. Ms. Kalev explained that she did not 14 understand Mr. Frizzi’s hostility toward Ms. Tomarken and did not trust his intentions. She 15 described her earlier phone call with Mr. Frizzi in which he ranted about Ms. Tomarken and said 16 she did not feel safe or comfortable around him because of his inexplicable hostility toward Ms. 17 Tomarken. After briefly addressing the seemingly innocuous matter of the hotel certificate with 18 Mr. Frizzi’s colleague, Ms. Kalev again broached the topic of her concerns about Mr. Thorson. 19 She told Mr. Frizzi’s colleague that Mr. Thorson’s behavior had only worsened since she 20 complained about him to business affairs the year before, and that the women in her department 21 found it extremely difficult to work with him. Mr. Frizzi’s colleague asked Ms. Kalev if she 22 believed Mr. Thorson’s mistreatment of the women in her department was due to their gender and 23 Ms. Kalev said yes, absolutely. 24 50. A few days later, Mr. Frizzi told Ms. Tomarken and Ms. Kalev that an attorney and 25 an accountant were coming in to interview each of them separately about the unsold auction item 26 process. Neither Ms. Tomarken nor Ms. Kalev believed she had any reason to be concerned 27 because the implication was that this was all simply part of an effort to better understand how 28 MusiCares sought to monetize unsold auction items. It soon became clear, however, that the 18 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 purpose of the meeting had been misrepresented to them. Each went into the meeting and was 2 stunned to find herself subjected by two attorneys to a barrage of questions suggestive of an 3 interrogation, such as, did she lie or did she destroy paperwork to cover up wrongdoing? Ms. 4 Tomarken also immediately noticed when she walked in the meeting that the two attorneys 5 carried folders visibly marked “Investigation.” The attorneys directed questions to Ms. Kalev 6 about unsold auction items in a manner that suggested there was the belief that she too had 7 misused them. Stunned and caught completely off guard, Ms. Kalev answered the questions as 8 well as she could, knowing that she had never lied or stolen anything from MusiCares. 9 51. Soon after the meeting, Ms. Tomarken and Ms. Kalev were both notified that they 10 were suspended. Both women were told on the phone that they could not come on the premises 11 even to collect their belongings. On information and belief, the locks to their offices were also 12 changed and Academy and MusiCares staff were forbidden from contacting the women or from 13 providing their contact information to anyone who requested it. 14 52. Two weeks later, on April 16, 2018, Ms. Tomarken and her colleague, who had 15 worked for MusiCares since 1999, were both notified that they were terminated. The alleged 16 grounds for termination were that they had misappropriated property and misrepresented facts 17 during the course of the investigation. Ms. Tomarken and her colleague later learned that the 18 “external auditor” used by Mr. Frizzi in the investigation of the unsold auction items was Todd 19 Thorson, the same person Ms. Kalev had repeatedly complained about. 20 53. Ms. Tomarken also later learned that the MusiCares board had not been consulted 21 or even notified in advance about her termination. Both Mr. Portnow and Mr. Frizzi knew that 22 Ms. Tomarken had the confidence of the MusiCares board. Notifying the board after the fact of 23 her termination allowed Mr. Portnow and Mr. Frizzi to proceed without the board’s input (and 24 possible objections) and to control the narrative presented to the board regarding the underlying 25 facts. 26 27 28 54. Upon learning of her termination, members of the music community went on the record publicly praising her. She was called: --“professional, proactive, very thoughtful and sensitive about how MusiCares 19 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 presented the artist;” 2 -- “an outstanding collaborator – honest, thorough, hard working, intelligent and deeply 3 dedicated to MusiCares;” and 4 -- “the key to making [Person of the Year] an absolutely great night.” 5 55. Meanwhile, Mr. Portnow was now free to meet with the MusiCares board to 6 discuss its finances and to set a date for the annual board meeting because he knew that Ms. 7 Tomarken would not be present to report his failure to act in the best interest of MusiCares and 8 refrain from abusing his position of trust within the organization. In Ms. Tomarken’s absence, he 9 could also avoid discussing his failure to disclose his conflict of interests, and his failure to consult 10 with the MusiCares board before agreeing to compromise the success of its annual signature 11 fundraising event and before nearly allowing MusiCares to reduce needlessly its aid to clients. 12 56. By terminating Ms. Kalev, Mr. Portnow, Mr. Frizzi and Mr. Thorson also rid 13 themselves of another witness to Mr. Portnow’s misconduct, as well as a vocal critic of the hostile 14 and discriminatory culture against women at MusiCares and the Recording Academy. 15 57. During the entire course of the Academy’s investigation, Mr. Portnow never once 16 reached out to Ms. Tomarken, even though she was his direct report and they had always had a 17 close working relationship, or allowed her an opportunity to set the record straight. After 15 years 18 of working together, he of all people knew that Ms. Tomarken would never have risked the 19 reputation and career she had worked so hard to build for something as fleeting as a stay in 20 Lisbon. Instead he stood silently by as his loyalist Mr. Frizzi attacked Ms. Tomarken’s credibility, 21 humiliated her and left her, at 74 years old, without a job and, most importantly, her good name. 22 58. Before Ms. Tomarken was suspended, she came up with the idea for MusiCares to 23 select musical artist Dolly Parton as the 2019 Person of the Year. Ms. Tomarken presented her 24 idea to the MusiCares board and received its support. She then approached Ms. Parton’s 25 management team and arranged a meeting in Los Angeles. When Ms. Parton’s team flew out from 26 Nashville to meet Ms. Tomarken, however, Mr. Portnow blocked her from attending the meeting 27 on the ground that she was suspended. Instead he stepped in and, as a final blow to Ms. Tomarken, 28 took credit for her idea to select Dolly Parton as the honoree at the next Person of the Year. Mr. 20 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 Portnow called Ms. Parton’s selection “a personal triumph for me” and attributed no credit to Ms. 2 Tomarken 3 4 EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES 59. Plaintiff exhausted her administrative remedies by filing a complaint against each 5 of the named Defendants herein with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing 6 (hereinafter “DFEH”) within one year from the date of Defendants’ last adverse employment 7 action, and thereafter receiving “Right-to-Sue” letters from the DFEH on or about February 6, 8 2019. 9 FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION 10 VIOLATION OF CALIFORNIA LABOR CODE SECTION 1102.5 11 (As Against All Defendants) 12 60. Plaintiff repeats and repleads and incorporates by this reference, paragraphs 1 13 through 59 inclusive, above, as though fully set forth herein. 14 61. California Labor Code Section 1102.5 prohibits retaliation by an employer against 15 an employee for disclosing, or because the employer believes the employee may disclose, 16 information to a government or law enforcement agency, to a person with authority over the 17 employee, or another employee who has the authority to investigate, discover, or correct the 18 violation or noncompliance, if the employee has reason to believe that the information discloses a 19 violation of state or federal statute, or a violation of or noncompliance with a local, state, or 20 federal rule or regulation. 21 62. Defendants terminated Ms. Tomarken’s employment in substantial part because 22 they believed that she had disclosed, or feared she may disclose, information to a government or 23 law enforcement agency, to a person with authority over the employee, or to another employee 24 who has the authority to investigate, discover, or correct the violation or noncompliance, based on 25 her reasonable belief that the information disclosed a violation of state or federal statute, or a 26 violation of or noncompliance with a local, state, or federal rule or regulation. Specifically, 27 Defendants terminated Ms. Tomarken’s employment in substantial part because they believed she 28 had disclosed, or feared she may disclose, to members of the MusiCares board of directors, or to 21 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 any other government or law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the matter, her reasonable 2 belief that Mr. Portnow had violated his fiduciary duty to MusiCares by subordinating its interests 3 to the Academy’s, by failing to disclose the conflict of interest he created in his position as CEO 4 of both the Academy and MusiCares by forcing MusiCares into a position adverse to the Academy 5 and then negotiating on behalf of both entities, and by engaging in additional repeated acts to the 6 detriment of MusiCares in order to promote the Academy’s interests and his own personal 7 reputation. 8 63. Defendants are liable for a civil penalty not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars 9 ($10,000) for each violation of Labor Code Section 1102.5. 10 64. As a direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, as alleged above, 11 Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer economic damages, including lost wages and 12 other compensatory damages in an amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 13 65. As a further direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, as alleged above, 14 Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer mental and emotional distress, including but not 15 limited to humiliation, anxiety, nervousness, and depression and has been generally damaged in an 16 amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 17 66. As a direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, as alleged above, 18 Plaintiff has necessarily incurred and will continue to incur attorneys’ fees and costs in an amount 19 to be proven at the time of trial. Pursuant to the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure Section 20 1021.5, or any other provision allowed by law, Plaintiff is entitled to the reasonable value of such 21 attorneys’ fees and costs. 22 67. The above-described acts of Defendants, and each of them, which were carried out 23 by managing agents were willful, intentional, and carried out in conscious disregard of the rights 24 and safety of Plaintiff as well as members of the public. As such, in committing the above25 described acts, Defendants acted with malice and with the intent to vex, injure and annoy Plaintiff, 26 thereby warranting the imposition of exemplary and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to 27 punish said Defendants and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct. 28 22 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION 2 WRONGFUL TERMINATION IN VIOLATION OF 3 PUBLIC POLICY (TAMENY CLAIM) 4 (As Against All Defendants) 5 68. Plaintiff repeats and repleads and incorporates by this reference, paragraphs 1 6 through 67 inclusive, above, as though fully set forth herein. 7 69. Ms. Tomarken was an employee of Defendants Recording Academy, MusiCares, 8 and the Grammy Foundation. 9 70. Defendants terminated Ms. Tomarken’s employment in substantial part because 10 they believed that she had disclosed, or feared she may disclose, information to a government or 11 law enforcement agency, to a person with authority over the employee, or to another employee 12 who has the authority to investigate, discover, or correct the violation or noncompliance, based on 13 her reasonable belief that the information disclosed a violation of state or federal statute, or a 14 violation of or noncompliance with a local, state, or federal rule or regulation. Specifically, 15 Defendants terminated Ms. Tomarken’s employment in substantial part because they believed she 16 had disclosed, or feared she may disclose, to members of the MusiCares board of directors, or to 17 any other government or law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the matter, her reasonable 18 belief that Mr. Portnow had violated his fiduciary duty to MusiCares by subordinating its interests 19 to the Academy’s, by failing to disclose the conflict of interest he created in his position as CEO 20 of both the Academy and MusiCares by forcing MusiCares into a position adverse to the Academy 21 and then negotiating on behalf of both entities, and by engaging in additional repeated acts to the 22 detriment of MusiCares in order to promote the Academy’s interests and his own personal 23 reputation. 24 71. Defendants’ termination of Ms. Tomarken was contrary to the public policy 25 embodied by Labor Code Section 1102.5, subdivision (b), which prohibits employer retaliation 26 against an employee who reports a reasonably suspected violation of the law to a government or 27 law enforcement agency, to a person with authority over the employee or another employee who 28 has the authority to investigate, discover, or correct the violation or noncompliance. Section 23 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 1102.5 reflects the broad public policy interest in encouraging workplace “whistleblowers,” who 2 may without fear of retaliation report concerns regarding an employer’s illegal conduct. 3 72. Defendants’ termination of Ms. Tomarken violated fundamental principles of 4 public policy of protecting whistleblowers as described above and as codified in Labor Code 5 Section 1102.5. 6 73. Defendants’ conduct, as described hereinabove, also violated the policy of the State 7 of California, as evidenced by the enactment of FEHA (Govt. Code Section 12940, et seq.) 8 Specifically, Defendants terminated Ms. Tomarken on the basis of her age and gender and 9 subjected her to discriminatory treatment and comments. Defendants were aware of the 10 discriminatory conduct, including but not limited to Ms. Kalev’s complaints to Defendants. Yet, 11 Defendants permitted the discriminatory conduct to continue without taking any proper steps to 12 prevent further discrimination in the workplace against Ms. Tomarken and other female 13 employees. Defendants ultimately engaged in unlawful conduct in violation of FEHA and public 14 policy by discriminating against Ms. Tomarken on the basis of her age and gender and by 15 terminating her employment based on Defendants’ discriminatory motives. 16 74. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants; unlawful conduct which culminated 17 in her termination, Ms. Tomarken has suffered harm, including lost earnings, lost future earnings, 18 and other employment benefits, and humiliation, embarrassment, and mental anguish. Ms. 19 Tomarken is therefore entitled to general and compensatory damages in an amount according to 20 proof at trial. 21 75. Defendants’ actions described herein were done with a conscious disregard for the 22 rights of Ms. Tomarken and with the intent to vex, injure, and annoy Ms. Tomarken such as to 23 constitute oppression, fraud or malice under California Civil Code Section 3294 and to entitle Ms. 24 Tomarken to punitive damages in an amount appropriate to punish or set an example of 25 Defendants. 26 27 28 24 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION 2 DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEX IN VIOLATION OF FEHA 3 [Govt. Code Section 12940 et seq.] 4 (As Against All Defendants) 5 76. Plaintiff repeats and repleads and incorporates by this reference, paragraphs 1 6 through 75 inclusive, above, as though fully set forth herein. 7 77. Defendants Recording Academy, MusiCares, and the Grammy Foundation, and 8 Does 1-10, inclusive, and each of them are employers subject to California Government Code 9 Section 21940. 10 78. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) prohibits an 11 employer from taking adverse employment actions against a protected individual based on her sex. 12 Adverse employment actions include, without limitation, discharging from employment, refusing 13 to transfer/promote, refusing to hire, and discriminating in compensation, terms and conditions or 14 privileges of employment. “Sex” includes, but is not limited to, a person’s gender. Govt. Code 15 Section 12926(r). 16 79. Plaintiff began working for Defendants on July 15, 1993, and was working as vice 17 president, MusiCares/Grammy Foundation, at the time of her termination. Plaintiff was qualified 18 for this position. Throughout her employment, Plaintiff was directly supervised by Recording 19 Academy and MusiCares chief executive officer and president Neil Portnow. 20 80. Defendants’ discriminatory practices against its female employees are evidenced in 21 part by its hiring practices and promotion opportunities. Despite Ms. Tomarken’s repeated 22 requests to Mr. Portnow for a promotion, he refused to promote her to senior vice president or a 23 chief executive position. As compared to men, very few women in the history of MusiCares and 24 the Recording Academy were promoted to the position of senior vice president and only one 25 woman had ever been promoted to a chief executive position. Every other chief executive position 26 had always been held by a man. 27 81. Defendants also permitted a sexist culture to exist in the workplace that favored the 28 male employees over the female employees. Mr. Portnow encouraged and/or permitted the 25 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 existence of a “boys’ club” that allowed the male employees to socialize with Mr. Portnow and 2 garner favoritism in a way that the female employees were not permitted. This sexist culture 3 resulted in women failing to break through the barriers and gain executive positions at the same 4 rate as men. 5 82. Despite Ms. Tomarken’s successful work in her role as vice president since 2003, 6 Mr. Portnow refused to promote Ms. Tomarken to senior vice president and left in her the same 7 position for 15 years. Ms. Tomarken requested a promotion in each of the last three years of her 8 employment, and while Mr. Portnow praised her work and offered no criticism, he still refused to 9 promote her. 10 83. By way of example, in or about 2005, Mr. Portnow attempted to hire a male 11 executive at a higher salary than Ms. Tomarken’s. The MusiCares board blocked his efforts and 12 Mr. Portnow was forced to match Ms. Tomarken’s salary to that of the new male executive. 13 84. Additionally, as discussed above, members of the “boys’ club” demonstrated their 14 discriminatory bias towards the female employees in the fundraising department, including against 15 Ms. Tomarken. The chief of human resources for the Academy Mr. Frizzi displayed open hostility 16 towards Ms. Tomarken, and Mr. Thorson was rude and condescending to the women in the 17 fundraising department. Defendants were aware of the discriminatory conduct through Ms. 18 Kalev’s complaints regarding Mr. Thorson’s conduct. Defendants failed to take any action in 19 response, however, and Mr. Thorson’s hostile and discriminatory conduct continued. 20 85. Ms. Tomarken is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Defendants 21 terminated her employment on the basis of her gender, and that the reason stated was mere pretext. 22 86. The discriminatory actions of Defendants against Ms. Tomarken constitute 23 unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of FEHA, codified in Government Code 24 Section 12945(a). 25 87. The above-mentioned sex-based discriminatory actions further reveal Defendants’ 26 discriminatory attitude about women and their value in the workplace. Upon information and 27 belief, had Ms. Tomarken been a man, Defendants would have treated her with far more respect 28 and promoted her. 26 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 88. As a proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of them, as described 2 above, Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer economic damages, including lost wages, 3 lost benefits, loss of promotional opportunity, and other compensatory damages in an amount to 4 be ascertained at trial. 5 89. As a proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of them, Plaintiff suffered 6 and continues to suffer humiliation, emotional and mental distress, anxiety and stress and has been 7 generally damaged in an amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 8 90. As a direct and proximate result of the conduct of Defendants, and each of them, 9 Plaintiff was forced to incur substantial costs and attorneys’ fees. Under Government Code 10 Section 12965(b), Plaintiff is entitled to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees according to proof at 11 the time of trial. 12 91. The acts of Defendants, and each of them, were intentional, willful and malicious, 13 carried out by managing agents, and done in conscious disregard of Plaintiff’s rights, safety and 14 well being and with the intent to vex, injure and annoy Plaintiff. As such, Plaintiff requests that 15 exemplary and punitive damages be assessed against each of these Defendants in an amount 16 sufficient to punish said Defendants and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct. 17 FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION 18 DISCRIMINATION BASED ON AGE IN VIOLATION OF FEHA 19 [Govt. Code Section 12940 et seq.] 20 (As Against All Defendants) 21 92. Plaintiff repeats and repleads and incorporates by this reference, paragraphs 1 22 through 91 inclusive, above, as though fully set forth herein. 23 93. Defendants Recording Academy, MusiCares, and the Grammy Foundation, and 24 Does 1 through 10 are “employers” within the meaning of California Govt. Code §12940, 25 commonly known as the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”), in that Defendants 26 regularly employed five or more individuals at all relevant times, and that Plaintiff was a covered 27 employee within the meaning of the FEHA. 28 27 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 94. Pursuant to Government Code Section 12940(a), it is an unlawful employment 2 practice, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification, or, except where based upon 3 applicable securities regulations established by the United States or the State of California, for an 4 employer, because of age, to discharge the person from employment or to discriminate against the 5 person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. 6 95. Pursuant to Title 2 of the Code of Regulations Section 7295.0(a), it is the purpose 7 of the law prohibiting age discrimination in employment to guarantee all protected individuals 8 aged forty or over employment opportunities commensurate with their abilities. The regulations 9 were promulgated “to assure that employment opportunities for those protected persons over the 10 age of forty are based upon their abilities and are not conditioned upon age-based stereotypes and 11 unsupported generalizations about their qualifications or job performance.” 12 96. Plaintiff is 75-years-old and was continuously employed by Defendants Recording 13 Academy, MusiCares, and the Grammy Foundation for over 25 years until April 16, 2018. 14 97. From the date of when Plaintiff was hired through the date of her termination, 15 Plaintiff performed competently and capably. At the time of her termination, Plaintiff held the 16 position of vice president, MusiCares/Grammy Foundation. 17 98. During the last few years of her employment, Defendants’ staff became 18 increasingly younger. Defendants’ staff consisted largely of supervisors in their fifties and 19 younger, who subjected Plaintiff and other older employees to a pattern and practice of 20 discrimination based on their age. 21 99. Defendants promoted, encouraged and/or condoned the practices and policies of its 22 management team that favored the younger employees while targeting the older employees, 23 including Plaintiff, and treated Plaintiff less favorably than other similarly situated employees 24 outside her protected class. 25 100. Defendants’ discriminatory conduct against Plaintiff based on her age included, but 26 was not limited to, the following: 27 28 a. Mr. Portnow’s refusal to promote Ms. Tomarken for 15 years, despite her successful work and praise for her performance; 28 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 b. During Ms. Tomarken’s 2017 performance review, Mr. Portnow made 2 reference to Ms. Tomarken’s age and asked about her plans, referring to 3 retirement. Ms. Tomarken responded that she had no plans to retire at that 4 time, and Mr. Portnow told her that she would receive a retirement package 5 and recognition when she made the decision; 6 c. Mr. Frizzi made discriminatory and demeaning comments regarding Ms. 7 Tomarken, including: “It’s unfortunate that Dana can’t hear;” “It’s 8 unfortunate that Dana can’t comprehend a conversation;” “It’s unfortunate 9 that Dana can’t follow directions;” “It’s unfortunate that Dana doesn’t pay 10 attention;” and “It’s really unfortunate that Dana can’t manage these simple 11 tasks.” 12 101. The ageist comments demonstrate Defendants’ discriminatory conduct against its 13 older employees, including Ms. Tomarken. 14 102. On or about April 16, 2018, Plaintiff was terminated from her employment with 15 Defendants. 16 103. The true reason for Plaintiff’s termination was and is her age and Defendants’ 17 proffered reason for terminating Plaintiff was a mere pretext for unlawful age discrimination. 18 104. Plaintiff’s age was a substantial motivating factor in the termination of Plaintiff in 19 violation of FEHA, specifically, Government Code Section 12940(a). 20 105. Upon information and belief, Plaintiff was replaced by Defendants with a 21 substantially younger worker. 22 106. Furthermore, Defendants at all time maintained and continue to maintain a pattern, 23 practice, policy and procedure of systematically discriminating against employees on the basis of 24 age. The systematic discrimination based on age is evidenced in Defendants’ hiring and 25 terminating practices: statistical evidence indicated that Defendants consistently choose to 26 terminate its older employees and hire younger employees in a discriminatory manner. The 27 pattern, practice, policy and procedure of discrimination are ongoing. 28 29 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 107. Defendants engaged in an unlawful employment practice under Government Code 2 Section 12940(a) by terminating Plaintiff, which was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiff’s 3 harm. 4 108. As a direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of them, as 5 alleged above, Plaintiff has incurred compensatory damages, including lost earnings and other 6 economic damages, and has necessarily expended sums in the treatment of physical and mental 7 injuries, in an amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 8 109. As a direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of them, as 9 alleged above, Plaintiff will necessarily continue to expend sums in the future for the treatment of 10 the emotional and mental injuries sustained by Plaintiff as a result of said Defendants’ acts in an 11 amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 12 110. As a direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of them, as 13 alleged above, Plaintiff has suffered humiliation, mental and emotional distress, anxiety, and 14 nervousness and has been generally damaged in an amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 15 111. As a direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, as alleged above, 16 Plaintiff has necessarily incurred and will continue to incur attorneys’ fees and costs in an amount 17 to be proven at the time of trial. Pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Section 12965(b), 18 Plaintiff is entitled to the reasonable value of such attorneys’ fees and costs. 19 112. The above-described acts of Defendants, and each of them, were willful, intentional 20 and malicious and done with the intent to vex, injure and annoy Plaintiff and warrant the 21 imposition of exemplary and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to punish said Defendants 22 and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct. 23 FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION 24 UNLAWFUL RETALIATION IN VIOLATION OF FEHA 25 [Govt. Code Section 129409(h)] 26 (As Against All Defendants) 27 113. Plaintiff repeats and repleads and incorporates by this reference, paragraphs 1 28 through 112 inclusive, above, as though fully set forth herein. 30 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 114. California Government Code Section 12940(h) prevents an employer from 2 retaliating against an employee who complains and/or opposes any discrimination or harassment 3 under FEHA or for exercising her rights under FEHA. 4 115. Ms. Tomarken opposed and protested what she reasonably believed to be unlawful 5 discrimination and retaliation against her by Defendants. Plaintiff opposed the discrimination by 6 repeatedly requesting a promotion and by raising complaints of a pay differential as compared to 7 her male colleagues. Defendants were further aware of the sexist and biased atmosphere following 8 the complaints made by Ms. Kalev. 9 116. Rather than remedy the discriminatory practices, Defendants retaliated against 10 Plaintiff, prevented her from working in an environment free of discrimination and retaliation, and 11 ultimately took adverse employment action against Plaintiff, namely termination. 12 117. Ms. Tomarken’s opposition to discrimination was a motivating reason for 13 Defendants’ decision to terminate Plaintiff. 14 118. Defendants, and each of them, failed to take any remedial action, refused to 15 investigate the complaints of discrimination and failed to protect Ms. Tomarken and other 16 similarly situated employees from retaliation, including termination. 17 119. Defendants’ conduct, as described above, constituted adverse employment actions, 18 which Plaintiff suffered because she exercised her rights under FEHA. As such, the adverse 19 employment actions taken by Defendants materially affected the terms, conditions, and/or 20 privileges of Plaintiff’s employment, and constitutes unlawful retaliation in violation of FEHA 21 under Government Code Section 12940(h). 22 120. As a direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of them, as 23 alleged above, Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer economic damages, including lost 24 wages and other compensatory damages in an amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 25 121. As a further direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of 26 them, as alleged above, Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer mental and emotional 27 distress, including but not limited to humiliation, anxiety, nervousness, and depression and have 28 been generally damaged in an amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 31 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 122. As a direct and proximate result of the acts of Defendants, as alleged above, 2 Plaintiff has necessarily incurred and will continue to incur attorneys’ fees and costs in an amount 3 to be proven at the time of trial. Pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Section 12965(b), 4 Plaintiff is entitled to the reasonable value of such attorneys’ fees and costs. 5 123. The above-described acts of Defendants, and each of them, which were carried out 6 by managing agents were willful, intentional, and carried out in conscious disregard of the rights 7 and safety of Plaintiff. As such, in committing the above-described acts, Defendants, and each of 8 them, acted with malice and with the intent to vex, injure and annoy Plaintiff, thereby warranting 9 the imposition of exemplary and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to punish said 10 Defendants and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct. 11 SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION 12 FAILURE TO PREVENT RETALIATION AND DISCRIMINATION 13 [Govt. Code Section 12940(k)] 14 (As Against All Defendants) 15 124. Plaintiff repeats and repleads and incorporates by this reference, paragraphs 1 16 through 123 inclusive, above, as though fully set forth herein. 17 125. Employer Defendants have a statutory duty under Government Code Section 18 12940(k) to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination and retaliation from 19 occurring. Such steps include discipline of harassers, training, adopting an anti-harassment, anti20 discrimination, and anti-retaliation policy, and implementing those policies. 21 126. Here, as set forth above, Defendants engaged in gender and age discrimination, and 22 ignored the complaints and/or opposition made by Plaintiff and her coworkers. In doing so, said 23 Defendants unlawfully ignored their duty to prevent discrimination and retaliation, and instead 24 condoned and encouraged such unlawful conduct. 25 127. As a proximate result of the acts of said Defendants, and each of them, as described 26 above, Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer economic damages, including lost wages, 27 lost benefits, loss of promotional opportunity, and other compensatory damages in an amount to 28 be ascertained at the time of trial. 32 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 128. As a proximate result of the acts of said Defendants, and each of them, Plaintiff 2 suffered and continues to suffer humiliation, emotional and mental distress, anxiety, nervousness, 3 stress and has been generally damaged in an amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 4 129. As a direct and proximate result of the conduct of said Defendants, and each of 5 them, Plaintiff was forced to incur substantial costs and attorneys’ fees. Under Government. Code 6 Section 12965(b), Plaintiff is entitled to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees according to proof at 7 the time of trial. 8 130. The acts of said Defendants, and each of them, which were carried out by managing 9 agents, were intentional, willful and malicious and done in conscious disregard of Plaintiff’s 10 rights, safety and well-being and with the intent to vex, injure and annoy Plaintiff, as such Plaintiff 11 requests that exemplary and punitive damages be assessed against each of these Defendants in an 12 amount sufficient to punish said Defendants and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct. 13 SEVENTH CAUSE OF ACTION 14 INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS 15 (As Against All Defendants) 16 131. Plaintiff repeats and repleads and incorporates by this reference, paragraphs 1 17 through 130 inclusive, above, as though fully set forth herein. 18 132. The conduct described above, including the retaliation, gender and age 19 discrimination and wrongful termination, is extreme and outrageous, exceeding the bounds of 20 normalcy tolerated in a civilized society. 21 133. Defendants’ retaliation and termination immediately following Plaintiff’s protected 22 complaints as set forth above evidences Defendants’ discriminatory and retaliatory motives herein. 23 134. Defendants subjected Plaintiff to a trumped-up investigation as part of an effort to 24 destroy her credibility, humiliate her, and rid the threat that she posed to Defendants and Mr. 25 Portnow. In furtherance of these efforts to destroy her credibility, humiliate her, and remove her as 26 a threat, Defendants wrongfully terminated Ms. Tomarken by falsely claiming that she lied, 27 committed fraud, and stole property from MusiCares. Defendants’ conduct, including Defendants’ 28 retaliation against Plaintiff and refusal to address her protected complaints in any way, was 33 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 outrageous and intended to cause Plaintiff emotional distress. Defendants acted with blatant 2 disregard of Plaintiff’s rights and deliberately engaged in outrageous and severe conduct intended 3 to cause Plaintiff emotional distress. 4 135. Defendants knew or should have known that their retaliatory and discriminatory 5 conduct would cause Plaintiff to suffer emotional distress, and leave her without her employment 6 and her income from Defendants to support herself and her family, as well as negatively impact 7 her career, her reputation and future job opportunities. Defendants nevertheless retaliated against 8 Plaintiff by subjecting her to a trumped-up investigation, false charges and wrongful termination 9 on false grounds, all in conscious disregard of the likelihood that such conduct would cause her 10 severe emotional distress. 11 136. As a proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of them, as described 12 above, Plaintiff suffered economic damages, including lost wages and benefits, and other 13 compensatory damages in an amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 14 137. As a further proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of them, as 15 alleged above, Plaintiff has suffered severe emotional and mental distress and has necessarily 16 expended sums in the treatment of such injuries, all to Plaintiff’s damage in an amount to be 17 ascertained at the time of trial. 18 138. As a further proximate result of the acts of Defendants, and each of them, as 19 alleged above, Plaintiff will necessarily continue to expend sums in the future for the treatment of 20 the emotional and mental injuries sustained by Plaintiff as a result of said Defendants’ acts in an 21 amount to be ascertained at the time of trial. 22 139. The above-described acts of Defendants, and each of them, which were carried out 23 by managing agents, were intentional, willful and malicious and done in conscious disregard of 24 Plaintiff’s rights, safety and well-being and with the intent to vex, injure and annoy Plaintiff. As 25 such, Plaintiff requests that exemplary and punitive damages be assessed against each of these 26 Defendants in an amount sufficient to punish said Defendants and to deter others from engaging in 27 similar conduct. 28 34 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 PRAYER FOR RELIEF WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for judgment as against Defendants, and each of them, as 3 follows: 4 ON THE FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION 5 1. For compensatory damages against Defendants according to proof; 6 2. For special damages against Defendants according to proof; 7 3. For general damages against Defendants according to proof; 8 4. $10,000 in civil penalties pursuant to Labor Code §1102.5; 9 5. For reasonable attorneys’ fees according to proof, as provided by law; 10 6. For exemplary and punitive damages according to proof; 11 7. For costs of suit incurred herein; and 12 8. For such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper. 13 ON THE SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION 14 1. For compensatory damages against Defendants according to proof; 15 2. For special damages against Defendants according to proof; 16 3. For general damages against Defendants according to proof; 17 4. For exemplary and punitive damages according to proof; 18 5. For costs of suit incurred herein; and 19 6. For such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper. 20 ON THE THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH, AND 21 SIXTH CAUSES OF ACTION 22 1. For compensatory damages against Defendants according to proof; 23 2. For special damages against Defendants according to proof; 24 3. For general damages against Defendants according to proof; 25 4. For exemplary and punitive damages according to proof; 26 5. For costs of suit incurred herein; and 27 6. For such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper. 28 35 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 ON THE SEVENTH CAUSE OF ACTION 2 1. For compensatory damages against Defendants according to proof; 3 2. For special damages against Defendants according to proof; 4 3. For general damages against Defendants according to proof; 5 4. For exemplary and punitive damages according to proof; 6 5. For costs of suit incurred herein; and 7 6. For such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper. 8 9 DATED: February 11, 2019 CHRISTINE ADAMS LAW, APC 10 11 By Christine M. Adams Attorneys for Plaintiff DANA J. TOMARKEN 12 13 14 15 DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 16 17 Plaintiff hereby demands a trial by jury of the causes of action and claims asserted herein. 18 19 DATED: February 11, 2019 CHRISTINE ADAMS LAW, APC 20 21 22 23 By Christine M. Adams Attorneys for Plaintiff DANA J. TOMARKEN 24 25 26 27 28 36 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL