A former employee of Good American, the clothing brand co-founded by reality star Khloe Kardashian, is suing over “wrongful termination.”
According to documents, obtained by The Blast, the former employee, whose name we chose not to disclose, was hired by Good American in 2019 and received “consistent positive reviews, promotions, and raises.”
But things took a turn in 2023 after the individual requested to work remotely due to her cancer diagnosis.
Former Employee Accuses Good American Of ‘Wrongful Termination’
In or about June 2021, the former employee was promoted from Intern to Marketing Coordinator and received “a commensurate raise in compensation,” per the docs, obtained by The Blast.
Plus, in or about February 2022, the company provided her “with a glowing performance review” where Good American described her work skills and abilities, as a “team player who gets the job done, no matter what, strong under pressure, works well with everyone, great multitasker, great on Emma and Khloé projects, an asset to the team, a pleasure to work with, hardworking, timely and dedicated, volunteers when tasks need assistance, goes above and beyond, collaborative and dependable, and a vital member of the marketing team and GA as a whole.”
The former employee was promoted once again, in or about June 2022, from Marketing Coordinator to Social Media. She, again, received a raise.
Another raise was given in or about February 2023, “based on [the former employee’s] continued good work and contributions to the organization.”
Former Good American Employee Requests Remote Work Due To Cancer Diagnosis
Things took a turn when the former employee, who had previously been diagnosed with cancer, claimed she provided a doctor’s note in June 2023 — from UCLA Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology — to the clothing brand requesting accommodations, but she says it was not received well.
The doctor’s note listed:
she was under a doctor’s “professional care”
requesting as an accommodation a “temporary excuse from work”
identifying her as “immune-compromised and sick and lung damaged”
stating that she was “recently discharged from the hospital”
stating that she “needs to complete a course of treatment”
requesting as an accommodation, including that “she returns to work remotely”
She says she submitted another doctor’s note in July 2023, but that is when “executives undertook a pressure campaign, in which [the company] made negative comments to [the former employee] about her need for accommodation.”
The former employee claims she was told “that her need for accommodation was undermining the organization” and “that her need for accommodation was resulting in a lack of support for company managers.”
She was also accused of “rather than engage in remote work [and] she should instead take a medical leave of absence from work” as “those who work remotely, are not doing so to ‘go to doctors’ or for medical need,” however, that was the case for the former employee as she had been previously diagnoses with cancer.
In September 2023, she submitted another medical note to Good American, which is co-founded by Khloe Kardashian — this time, requesting a continuing medical accommodation. Per the doctor’s note, the former employee “should work from home in order to limit physical contact with others to avoid all respiratory infections,” further stating that “it is my medical recommendation that she work from home.”
Good American Employee Fired Following Doctor’s Note Requests
The next month, on October 16, she was terminated as part of “a company-wide ‘layoff’ of some 12-14 workers,” per Good American, but the former employee says otherwise.
“This was not a lay off of people in [Good American]’s portion of the organization,” the docs state, and that her termination was “motivated by her medical condition(cancer)/physical disability, need or request for accommodation, interactive process, and/or other protected characteristics.”
The individual is suing the company, accusing them of violating Labor Code section 1102.5, which “prohibits, inter alia, retaliation against employees for reporting activity they have reasonable cause to believe is unlawful, or for refusing to participate in activity that actually is unlawful.”
The case is ongoing.
