Rock Band’s Hairstylist Sues For Wrongful Termination After He Complained About The Band’s Failure To Respond To A Coworker’s Medical Emergency

You have the right to sue your employer for retaliation if your employer fires you or otherwise takes an adverse action against you in response to you engaging in a legally protected activity.  Many of the activities protected under federal and state employment laws relate to speaking up about misconduct that you witness in the workplace.  Complaining to your employer’s human resources department or upper management about misconduct you have witnessed may be a protected activity.  The law also protects you from retaliation if you report the misconduct to the relevant regulatory body, such as by reporting workplace safety hazards to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or reporting discrimination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  Likewise, notifying law enforcement about criminal acts you have witnessed at your place of employment may be a protected activity.  If your employer fired you for reporting misconduct at your place of employment, contact a Los Angeles retaliation lawyer.

Hairstylist Blames Employer for Coworker’s Preventable Death From COVID

The plaintiff in this case worked for 30 years as a hairstylist for a rock band known for its distinctive visual style.  The band went on tour in the fall of 2021, and the hairstylist voiced his concerns several times that the band should adopt stricter protocols for preventing the spread of COVID-19.  Several people who were touring with the band became ill with COVID during the tour.

When the band was in Illinois in October 2021, a guitar tech who had accompanied the band on many tours began to suffer from severe COVID symptoms.  The hairstylist encouraged him to go to the hospital.  The hair stylist went to the dressing room of one of the band members and also spoke by phone with the band’s manager about the situation.  Medical personnel visited the guitar tech in his hotel room and tested him with an oxygen meter, but they did not take him to the hospital.  The band arranged for a Live Nation representative to take the guitar tech to the hospital, but the representative did not arrive until after midnight, and when he reached the guitar tech’s room, the guitar tech had already died.  The hairstylist believes that the guitar tech would still be alive if the band and the manager had called an ambulance immediately and had not wasted hours deciding what to do.

Rolling Stone magazine published an article memorializing the guitar tech and describing the circumstances of his death.  The hairstylist denied that he provided information to the magazine, but the band fired him.  He is now suing for retaliation and wrongful termination of employment.

Speak With a Los Angeles Employer Retaliation Lawyer

A Los Angeles employer retaliation lawyer can help you if your employer fired you for speaking up in order to help one of your coworkers.  Contact Litigation, P.C. in Los Angeles, California to discuss your situation or call (424)284-2401.

Source:

tmz.com/2023/02/23/kiss-gene-simmons-sued-wrongful-termination-former-hairstylist-paul-stanley/