619-342-8000Alreen Haeggquist sat down with KPBS Midday Edition and host Maureen Kavanaugh to discuss how the FDA’s recent Pfizer vaccine approval will impact vaccine mandates in the workplace. Check it out here:
Firm News
THREE HAEGGQUIST & ECK CONSUMER PROTECTION AND SECURITIES LITIGATION ATTORNEYS NAB “BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA” ACCOLADES
Big congrats are in order for HAE Managing Partner Alreen Haeggquist and Partner Amber Eck, who were selected for inclusion in the 28th Edition of The Best Lawyers In America! Alreen was honored for her work in Consumer Protection Law, while Amber was selected for her work in Securities Litigation.
Alreen was also named San Diego’s Consumer Protection Lawyer Of The Year, and HAE associate Ian Pike was selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers: Ones To Watch list.
Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation.
Congratulations to the HAE team!
HAEGGQUIST & ECK CLIENT DESIREE HORTON HIGHLIGHTED IN PIECE ON GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN FIRE SERVICE
Reporter Andrew Gumbel recently published a deep dive into the gender discrimination and disparity issues facing the fire service. Check out “Houses On Fire,” his recent piece in Red Canary — which highlights Haeggquist & Eck’s case against the Orange County Fire Authority on behalf of fire pilot Desiree Horton — here.
HAEGGQUIST & ECK REPRESENTS OC’S FIRST FEMALE HELICOPTER FIRE PILOT IN GENDER DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY
Haeggquist & Eck’s Alreen Haeggquist and Jenna Rangel have filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the Orange County Fire Authority on behalf of Desiree Horton, OCFA’s first female helicopter fire pilot.
Horton, a career pilot with 30 years of flying experience and 16 years of aerial firefighting experience, joined OCFA in 2019 as the agency’s first permanently employed female fire pilot. Prior to joining OCFA, she was a fire pilot with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), where she also was that agency’s first female fire pilot.
In the lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court, the HAE team alleges that despite her experience (more than any of her male colleagues at OCFA) and despite glowing reviews from former employers and colleagues, OCFA failed Desiree after her one-year probationary period – and without the required one-year evaluation flight. The suit alleges that during Desiree’s time at the OCFA, she was unfairly and discriminatorily scrutinized by the male pilots, crew chiefs, and helicopter technicians, held to unfair and higher standards than her male counterparts, deprived of training opportunities offered to the male fire pilots, unfairly evaluated without proper training and often with little or no advance notice, lied to about the conditions of her passing probation, and forced to work in a hostile environment in which she was ignored, undermined, disrespected, disparaged, and made to feel as though she was incompetent.
Horton wants her job back — and she wants transparency and accountability from OCFA so women and underrepresented groups are treated fairly in recruitment, hiring, and training.
The HAE legal team was joined by representatives from California National Organization For Women, Democratic Party of Orange County, Stentorians of Los Angeles City, Orange County Veterans Democratic Club and Lavender Democrats at a virtual press conference June 9 announcing the case. Watch the news conference here.
Check out reporter Andrew Gumbel’s piece on the issues facing the fire industry (and highlighting Desiree Horton’s case) here.
LaFoy Trial Verdict
The San Diego Union Tribune has reported on Haeggquist & Eck’s trial victory in a sexual harassment and failure to prevent sexual harassment lawsuit against the County of San Diego’s Sheriff’s Department and former Assistant Sheriff Richard Miller. Read about how and why sexual harassment, no matter the form or how egregious, should be reported and taken seriously by employers: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2021-05-08/staffer-awarded-60k-in-sexual-harassment-allegations-targeting-former-assistant-sheriff
HAE Wins Sexual Harassment Trial Against San Diego Sheriff’s Department
After a three-year fight, HAE attorneys Alreen Haeggquist and Jenna Rangel prevailed this week in a sexual harassment trial against the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. Alreen and Jenna represented Louise LaFoy, a secretary who alleged that former Assistant Sheriff Richard Miller groped and harassed her starting in 2014. Read more about the case (and our incredible client) here.
