Leal Trejo's Savannah Skelton delivers closings in a wrongful termination trial against Baldwin Park, California.
The strongest trial themes are brief, straightforward phrases that can memorably summarize an attorney’s entire case when it comes time for a jury to deliberate. And in a wrongful termination trial against a California city, Savannah Skelton’s theme came in the form of a nickname that powerfully pushed back against plaintiff’s claims, and helped key a defense win in a seven-figure case.
Suzanne Ruelas sued the City of Baldwin Park, California, claiming she was forced into retirement after complaining about a city’s finance director, and that she was discriminated against due to her age and ethnicity. Baldwin Park, for its part, claims Ruelas only lodged her complaints after justifiably being denied a raise.
And in the eight-day trial, Baldwin Park’s attorney, Leal Trejo’s Savannah Skelton, introduced the city by giving it a nickname that any tourist board would be proud of. Baldwin Park, Skelton told jurors in openings, was the “City of Opportunity.”
Skelton added that evidence would show Ruelas herself was the perfect example of that, as she walked jurors through Ruelas’ career with the city, rising from a seasonal employee to housing manager over the course of decades of service. The description of that career arc prefaced Skelton’s dive into the city’s decision to deny Ruelas’ request for a salary increase, as well as the reasons it issued the denial, just months before the plaintiff raised her discrimination claims.
The “City of Opportunity:” that theme in the form of a nickname would return in Skelton’s closing, And it vividly encapsulated her argument of the evidence she had presented, including the city’s waiver of degree requirements to allow Ruelas to ascend to a manager-level position.
“This isn’t the story of a workplace that mistreats or marginalizes its employees,” Skelton told jurors. “It’s the story of a workplace that offers its employees support, values its contributions, promotes longevity and upward growth.”
Jurors took that nickname — the “City of Opportunity” — back to the jury room, along with the evidence. And they cleared the defendant in a case where the plaintiff's attorneys had requested more than $6 million in damages.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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