Legal Question in Employment Law in California

12/06/21

My name is Luis Alonzo I am a 54 yrs/old male who believes I been wrongfully terminated or forced to quit while working as an "At Will" employee/employer relationship.

Pioneer Circuits employees approx. 300 employees

Location: Santa Ana, CA

Manufactures – PCB (printed circuit boards)

I feel I was discriminated due to: English "speaking only" resulted in ridicule with belittling. Non-effective communications between senior employees and myself.

No official trainingor directed to resources to self educate. Was in the process of submitting a sample matrix on required solutions (was working on my own personal time on home pc)

I accepted a job offer from the company which I included with this letter. The job description is detailed and came with many responsibilities. The job was for s  Chemical Lab Operator position. I was hired by both Sandy Mariscal (HR) and Elizabeth Chung (Engineer) the hiring manager. Elizabeth has since left the company. Prior to Elizabeth leaving the company I was under her direct supervision, All training was conducted primarily from a coworker Augustine a senior employee waste water treatment operator (20yrs) worker. Very knowledgeable but unfortunately has a limited English vocabulary unable to reciprocate detailed discussions on pertinent information being trained on.

Unfortunately, when my Supervisor was leaving that Friday she asked me to report to the Cobrabond line just for a couple of hours. This was only for temporary manpower coverage in the event that myself or the Cobrabond operator was late or was absent and either one could cover each job function, I was shortly met by my new supervisor Dung? He explained to me that he was my new supervisor and that I was to report to the Cobrabond line the following morning which was Friday. He also said not to come in on Saturday just this one time. I followed his direction and reported to the Cobrabond line and worked with the operator that rest of the day which was Thursday. I reported to work the following day on Friday at 6am and reported to the Laboratory to find one of the Cobrabond operators being coached by Augustine. I thought to my self, this is kind of suspicious why is he here at this time? I continued working on a sampling matrix I was developing for expediting the sample testing methods in attempt to minimize the time required for sample testing,

My first 2 weeks I had reported to my immediate supervisor that there were many violations that needed to be addressed. The company wasn’t following OSHA guideline in so many areas.

On 09/24/2021 I had contacted OSHA regarding the companies safety issues

• Lockout/Tagout on equipment not followed

• HazCom not being practiced at facility

Radiation instrumentation no training

• No standard operating procedures on proper valve configurations for draining and refilling the Cobrabond tanks.

• Improper/Incorrect labeling of tanks.

• Hazardous waste streams getting mixed with regular waste streams. Laboratory gloves, paper towels, etc

• Ineffective communication using English language

• Unsafe sampling methods and procedures on various tank solutions.

• Unsafe as well as improper handling of Formaldehyde. Sulfuric Acid 93% used for adjustments

• as well as other highly corrosive chemicals. I spilled 3 drops on my shoe and pant leg, which literally burnt holes in both shoe and pants.

• Incorrect PPE issued for correct handling of hazardous chemicals for routine sampling of solutions and chemicals used for additions in various etching bath solutions.

• Special respiratory protection not available or provided when handling both Acid and Formaldehyde additions. example: green Formaldehyde repiratory cartridges affixed to half face or full face respirator. No permissible exposure limit data available on various bath solutions.

• No Industrial Hygiene Information provided or made available.

• Improper training on xray analyzer that requires calibration on a daily basis with instruction to sign off in book. Improper training on the daily operation of the Ionic solution.

• The laboratory working area equipped no safety shower/eyewash, spill cart/kit with absorbent and neutralizing solution, mercury clean-up kit.

• Fire extinguishers and safety shower/eye wash stations not inspected in over 6+months, Safety shower/eye wash stations were obstructed, including, misc bolts, parts inside the eyewash bowl, Supply water shut off to shower on another.

These safety violations and concerns were communicated to my immediate supervisor Elizabeth, but were never corrected to my knowledge.

Upon my hiring for this position I was immediately informed of my new hours of work to begin at 6am and end at 4pm Mon thru Fri and Sat. 8-11am effective immediately. Please note pay stubs to reflect paid working hours,

I was at my 30-days of continuous employment with no attendance issues. No missed or tardy days. I was prepared to begin my insurance with the company. This has been the first job in a long time offering a benefit package. I was very grateful and then devastated on my last day of employment.

Sandy Mariscal Tue, Sep 28, 2021 at 9:31 AM To: "[email protected]" Cc: Reina Lansangan , Cindy Le , Min Tak

Good morning Louie, This message is to summarize our conversation today, Tuesday, September 28, 2021. You informed me that you did not want to accept the change in job title and resigned today. Your final paycheck and all wages owed will be available on Thursday, September 30, 2021, at 4 pm. As you requested, we will go over your exit documents and provide your final paycheck on Friday, October 1, 2021, at 9 am. Please let me know if you have any questions. Regards, Sandy Mariscal HR Administrator D: (714)503-0149 -------------------------------

Louie Alonzo Fri, Oct 1, 2021 at 7:28 AM To: Sandy Mariscal

No that is incorrect. If I am correct we discussed the need for an english speaking worker on the Cobrabond line since there was many safety concerns I had regarding this issue. You said you were going to look into a worker that could communicate effectively in English. Since I had many concerns on that production line that needed to be addressed. Unfortunately when I spoke to you in person regarding this I was given no option since you indicated that my position was reassigned and I was to report to the department supervisor in charge of the Cobrabond line. I mentioned the type of harassment I was being subjected to as well but that never got addressed. I was completely surprised by the companies decision to end my position as the Chemical Laboratory Operator. The physical requirements were never addressed as well. I will see you at 9am today. Luis Alonzo [Quoted text hidden

These are some past experience I have in the Chemical and Oil refinery industry

• BBS (Behavior Based Safety) Chairman 2 years

• ESSC (Employee Site Safety Committee) Chairman 3 ½ years

• Hazardous Materials Entry Team Leader 5 years

• Standard Operating Procedure (Developer)

• Piping, Vessel and Valve diagramming using Visio Technical software

• Process Hazard Analysis Studies

• SCBA Respiratory Protection

• Industrial Hygiene Measurement

• Internal Quality Auditing

• Business Excellence Problem Solving/Process Improvement

• MRP (manufacturing resource planning)

• D19000/ISO 9000 (Boeing quality requirements)

• Fire Prevention Committee

• Preventative Maintenance Program Development

• Root Cause Event Analysis Team

• Dodd/Beal’s Fire Academy /Strategy & Tactics Team

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