Marcus Webster v. The Regents of the University of California, a public corporation, et al.

Case Background

Plaintiff Marcus Webster filed this wrongful termination lawsuit against The Regents of the University of California, a public corporation overseeing the University of California, including UCLA, for harassment and retaliation in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The case was filed in the California Superior Court, Los Angeles County. Judge Anne Richardson presided over the case. [Case number: 22STCV30740]

Cause

Plaintiff Marcus Webster had been hired as a Support Services Assistant Manager at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in January 2022. He believed his background as an anesthesia technologist and firefighter paramedic made him well-suited for the role. However, shortly after starting, Webster encountered significant issues with staffing and management. His supervisors, Sasha Young and Jasmine Briones, did not provide him with adequate training. He found the work environment to be drastically different from what they had promised. Employees under his supervision, including Jeffrey Hernandez, frequently violated policies without consequence, and management ignored Webster’s attempts to address these issues. Webster escalated these concerns, including incidents of employee misconduct and racist behavior by staff, particularly Brenda Quiroga. Despite his efforts, including raising patient safety concerns, management, led by Briones, refused to take action. Webster’s attempts to discipline employees were undermined, and his ability to enforce policies was restricted. Briones even instructed him not to train a newly hired African American employee, Montiel Poteat, whom she later fired after setting him up to fail. Webster formally reported the issues to Human Resources, but his complaints were dismissed. He soon became the target of false accusations orchestrated by Quiroga, including sexual harassment and union-busting allegations. Despite a lack of prior disciplinary actions against him, Webster was placed on investigatory leave in May 2022 and terminated in June. He believes his firing was retaliation for his whistleblowing on patient safety violations and racial discrimination. Webster asserts that his termination was in retaliation for his complaints about unsafe workin