Former Cedars Sinai worker alleges age, disability discrimination

A 57-year-old man is suing Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, alleging he was fired in 2023 from his job as a mental health worker due to his age and because he had sleep apnea.

Maurice Mouton's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges wrongful termination, age and disability discrimination, retaliation, failure to engage in the interactive process and failure to prevent discrimination and retaliation. Mouton seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit brought Tuesday.

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"Defendant engaged in a pattern of treating older employees less favorably than their younger counterparts," the suit states.

A Cedars-Sinai representative said the hospital does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Mouton was hired in December 2008 as a mental health worker and was responsible for assisting and monitoring patients as well as retrieving patient supplies. Four years later, Mouton was diagnosed with sleep apnea, a condition that can leave one drowsy during the day.

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.

Although Mouton worked with a doctor on a sleep apnea treatment plan, in October 2012 hospital management gave him a written warning with a suspension because he fell asleep during work hours, the suit states. Mouton was accommodated with a reduced number of work hours and for 10 years he was not observed sleeping on the job, the suit states.

But by  June 2023, Mouton was working 72 hours per week and management reported him to be sleeping on duty or having the appearance of doing and two months later his supervisor contended he saw the plaintiff with his head down, the suit states.

Mouton was put on a temporary leave and he met with his union representative as well as the supervisor, explaining that he was working long hours and was soon going get a new sleep apnea machine, the suit states.

However, hospital management did not offer any accommodations to Mouton and he was fired in August 2023, the suit states. Younger workers with several job warnings and admonishments were not terminated, including one who hit a patient and another seen asleep on the job, Mouton alleges.

Mouton has experienced financial losses and emotional distress since losing his job, the suit states.

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