A man has resolved his legal case against Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., where he claimed he was fired in 2023 after taking leave to care for his sick son.
Matthew Mendez claimed he faced sexual harassment from two male managers. The allegations in Mendez’s lawsuit filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court involve wrongful termination, harassment, retaliation, discrimination, failure to make reasonable accommodations and participate in the interactive process, as well as failing to stop harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.
Following the agreement, Judge Gary D. Roberts ruled to dismiss Mendez’s case on Monday. Mendez had requested $1 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages, although the specifics of the settlement were not disclosed in the court documents.
In earlier court documents, attorneys for Northrop Grumman refuted Mendez’s claims and stated that the company has “established policies, procedures, and practices to support disabilities… and to stop discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.”
As stated in Mendez’s lawsuit, he was employed as an aircraft mechanic in May 2020 at the Palmdale facility, and by the start of the following year, two male supervisors began sexually harassing him.
“His managers made unwanted sexual remarks and touched the plaintiff’s buttocks and genitals,” as stated in the lawsuit, which also claimed that one manager once kissed Mendez on the face.
Nevertheless, no measures were implemented against the two supervisors following Mendez’s report to management. In response to the plaintiff’s disclosure, the supervisors started retaliating by targeting him with warnings over trivial matters, as outlined in the lawsuit.
Mendez was given a new manager in 2023, but this individual was a friend of the other two supervisors and kept up the retaliation by closely overseeing the plaintiff, according to the lawsuit.
Mendez was let go in April 2023 after taking leave to look after his sick son, a situation that Northrop Grumman was aware of, as the complaint states the child had a condition that “limited major life activities.”
