Fil-Am worker allegedly seen as ‘too old,’ ‘too ethnic’ settles lawsuit
In a lawsuit filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court, Filipino American health care worker Cynthia Batac alleges that she experienced harassment, discrimination and retaliation from a supervisor who considered her ‘too old’ and ‘too ethnic. She has reached a tentative settlement of her lawsuit. FILE PHOTO
LOS ANGELES – A Filipino former employee of a Van Nuys nursing home has reached a tentative settlement of her lawsuit alleging that she experienced harassment, discrimination and retaliation from a supervisor who considered her “too old” and “too ethnic.”
The plaintiff, 47-year-old Cynthia Batac, also contended that her boss ignored her complaints about alleged patient care issues.
On Thursday, Batac’s attorneys filed court papers with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tony Richardson notifying him of a “conditional” resolution of her case with Windsor Terrace Healthcare Center and other defendants and that a request for dismissal will be filed by Dec. 31.
No terms were revealed.
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In August 2023, Judge Stephen Goorvitch granted a defense motion to compel Batac to take her case before an arbitrator rather than a jury.
However, the arbitrator stayed the case while the settlement was being worked out.
According to her suit filed in March 2023, Batac’s supervisor believed the plaintiff was “too old” and “too ethnic” and when Cynthia Batac stood up for herself as being overworked, she experienced harassment, discrimination and retaliation. Batac also believed understaffing at the facility negatively impacted patient care, according to the complaint.
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After Batac’s June 2021 firing, she suffered shock and distress that made it hard for her to eat and sleep and caused her to become ill, according to her suit, which further stated that she was replaced with a younger, non-Filipino employee. (CNS)
