LOS ANGELES — A Malibu rehabilitation center is being sued by its former human resources director, who alleges she was fired after two months in the job for complaining to management that some employees weren’t being properly paid or given work breaks.
Cynthia Begazao also alleges in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Passages Malibu that she was told to falsify information about a patient’s death, and that her age and medical condition also played roles in her termination.
In addition to Passages Malibu, Begazo’s lawsuit names as defendants Grasshopper House LLC; Passages Silverstrand in Port Hueneme; Passages Malibu co-founders Chris Prentiss and his son, Pax; and Passages COO Marina Mahoney, who was Begazo’s supervisor.
The suit’s allegations include wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination, harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Begazo seeks unspecified damages.
A representative of Passages’ human resources department did not immediately reply to a call for comment.
The suit, which was filed Friday, states that Begazo was 53 years old when she was hired in March and told her supervisors then that she had leukemia.
The same month she was hired, Begazo informed Pax Prentiss that some maintenance workers, housekeepers and kitchen servers were not receiving overtime pay or meal or rest breaks, according to the suit.
“Prentiss replied, ‘Don’t worry about it, you have bigger things to worry about,”’ the suit alleges.
No action was taken by management after Begazo also told them about a “startling number of non-compliance issues” involving training, licensure and physician contacts, the suit alleges.
In April, Mahoney fired a woman and told Begazo she did so because the employee “can’t keep up because she is too old,” the suit states.
The same month, Mahoney fired two more workers and acknowledged one of them was terminated because of his age, the suit alleges.
Begazo alleges she told Mahoney that it was illegal to fire employees because they are considered to be too old, but Mahoney replied she could “do whatever she wanted to do” because Passages was an at-will employer.
On April 23, a patient was found dead in his room with a bag and a trash can over his head and scratch marks on his face, the suits states. There also was blood on the bed of his roommate, who “inappropriately and insensitively took pictures of the deceased man and posted them on social media,” the suit alleges.
Mahoney spoke to detectives about the patient’s death, but after Begazo insisted that the incident also be reported to the proper civil authorities and the facility’s insurance carrier, Mahoney replied, “I don’t want you reporting any of it” and walked out of the room, the suit alleges.
Mahoney later admitted that Passages did not have “any formal or written procedures for intake, detoxing and the monitoring of patients” and told Begazo to “alter the employee files and falsify information about the patient’s death,” according to the complaint.
After Begazo refused, Mahoney stopped talking to her, the suit states.
Begazo says she took a week off in early May after she contracted an infection related to her leukemia. She says she returned to work May 6, but was told the same day that she was being fired. When Begazo asked why she was being terminated, she was told, “You’re no longer a fit, but your skills and experience are excellent,” her suit alleges.
