A former employee who lost his job has sued the Miami-based software firm Kaseya, which received government incentives for creating jobs and whose name is on the Heat’s county-owned basketball arena.
Angelo Rodriguez, who worked at the firm until early April when he was 57, is suing over what he calls unlawful termination. He alleges that Kaseya engaged in age discrimination and failed to comply with multiple federal laws including one that requires companies making large workforce cuts to give adequate advance notice to people affected.
The case was filed on July 3 in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. Throughout his employment, Rodriguez worked from Texas, where he lives. According to court filings, Kaseya has until Aug. 13 to respond.
Terminations in early 2024
When the software company made the cuts in early April, an executive told the Miami Herald in an interview that the reductions were “performance-based terminations.” That was language the company used in other settings, too.
Over 150 employees were let go, Xavier Gonzalez , chief communications officer, said at that time.
But Rodriguez contends that right up until his termination, his performance was exemplary and lauded by the company.
On Friday, Millie Acebal, vice president for corporate communications, told the Miami Herald that “Kaseya does not comment publicly on personnel matters involving potential litigation.”
Kaseya worker history
Rodriguez received positive reviews for his work in 2023, according to court documents, and rated twice for “exceptional performance.”.
His boss wrote: “Angelo has consistently provided top notch demonstration and product expertise.”
Kaseya, which makes software that helps companies manage IT and security, was founded in 2000 in Silicon Valley and relocated to Miami around 2015.
In February 2023, the company was awarded as much as $4.6 million in subsidies from Miami-Dade County in exchange for going on a massive local hiring spree.
In 2019, Rodriguez joined Austin-based cybersecurity company Infocyte as director of pre-sales engineering and alliances. He worked remotely from his office in Williamson County, Texas. On Jan. 20, 2022, Datto Holding bought Infocyte. On April 11, 2022, Kaseya purchased Datto for $6.2 billion.
From January 2022 until he was terminated on April 2, 2024, he was principal solutions engineer at Kaseya and continued working remotely.
In February 2024, “less than 60 days before his clearly pre-textual ‘poor performance’ termination,” Kaseya gave him an “Exceptional Performance” award in part for obtaining the biggest sales deal in 2023, according to court documents.
In the lawsuit, Rodriguez claims Kaseya violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990 and the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) and the Texas Labor Code.
The lawsuit also has a class-action component that applies to other employees let go in April. Part of it alleges that a release form Kaseya required employees to sign in order to receive a $250 severance payment isn’t valid.
Violating the WARN Act could also require Kaseya to provide terminated employees 60 days of pay and benefits if it were to lose the case.
Most Popular
Comments / 0