A man is suing a Torrance-based property management company, alleging he was fired in 2023 for repeatedly reporting hazards at the property where he was a live-in manager and also because he complained about not being fully accommodated for on-the-job injuries.
Angelo Tafoya's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, brought against TR Wealth Management Inc., includes allegations of disability discrimination, failure to accommodate and engage in the interactive process, retaliation and violations of various state Labor Code violations. He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
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A TR Wealth representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit Tafoya filed July 17.
Tafoya was hired in September 2011 as a resident manager for one property and an off-site manager for another, both within Los Angeles. Tafoya's duties included answering tenants' calls day and night, removing trash, handling and reporting repairs and notifying management of leaks and safety hazards on the property.
TR Wealth President and founder William Mulkey told Tafoya that instead of being paid wages, he would be given rent credits, which the plaintiff maintains was a violation of state law. Tafoya also maintains he was denied timely, uninterrupted meal and rest breaks.
In 2017, Tafoya told Mulkey that wooden baseboards installed in one of the properties had rotted and were a potential safety hazard, but neither Mulkey nor the company management took action, the suit states.
That same year, one of the rotted baseboards fell on Tafoya's head while he was working, breaking his dental bridge as well as four teeth, according to the suit, which further alleges that Mulkey told Tafoya to say nothing and threatened to evict the plaintiff if he told anyone what happened to him.
The next year, Tafoya told Mulkey that he had a hernia that stemmed from being a violent crime victim in 1999, according to the complaint. Mulkey bought trash cans with wheels, but the plaintiff still had to empty heavy trash cans into a dumpster, the suit states.
Also in 2019, Tafoya severely injured his back after he slipped in water that Mulkey knew about and took no action after the plaintiff told him about tenants complaints about sewers not draining properly, the suit states.
Tafoya also suffered other injuries on the job during subsequent years, including engine oil that fell from Mulkey's parked car, the suit states.
"Even after years of damage to his body and neglect from defendants when requesting accommodation and warning of safety hazards, plaintiff continued to perform his job faithfully and to the best of his abilities," the suit states.
Tafoya received a notice on his door last August that he had been fired, but he continued living on the premises until June 30 of this year, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff believes he was fired so that company management would no longer have to hear his complaints of alleged potential safety hazards on the property.
Tafoya has experienced substantial lost earnings and benefits and also suffered emotional distress, the suit states.
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