Henry Fenton, Nick Jurkowitz and Dennis Lee successfully represented neurosurgeon Sean Armin, M.D. in an appeal seeking damages for Dr. Armin under the hospital whistleblower statute and Unruh Civil Rights Act.
Dr. Armin had previously filed a religious discrimination and wrongful discharge action against the hospital where he worked, and a Superior Court granted in part the hospital’s anti-SLAPP motion, and awarded attorney fees to the hospital. Dr. Armin appealed, and the Court of Appeal reversed the decision, denying both the motion to strike Dr. Armin’s section 1278.5 action and the hospital’s request for attorney fees.
In its noteworthy published opinion, the Court of Appeal set the precedent that a physician could prosecute without first exhausting all administrative remedies. The Court also allowed Dr. Armin to pursue his claims of religious discrimination, rejecting the hospital’s argument that those claims should have been dismissed in response to the hospital’s anti-SLAPP motion.
