Laguna Niguel Bank Loses Age Discrimination Suit

A jury awarded two former Union Bank employees a total of more than $2.5 million today, concluding they were discriminated against because of their ages, wrongfully terminated and defamed.

The Los Angeles Superior Court panel deliberated five days before reaching its verdict in a lawsuit filed in December 2009 by Nimet Behar, now 53, and Clorinda Greek, now 66.

The jurors rejected claims of ethnic discrimination and harassment. Both plaintiffs alleged the manager of the Laguna Niguel branch where they worked gave preferential treatment to employees who were of Iranian origin like him.

Behar, born in Cyprus, is of Turkish descent and lives in Aliso Viejo. She was awarded $1.6 million. Greek, born in Nicaragua, was given $962,022. She lives in Santa Ana.

Behar and Greek were both hired in the mid-1990s and handled accounts for wealthy clients. They were fired in September 2009 because they violated bank policy by making an investment with a client, creating a conflict of interest, bank attorneys argued.

Behar was 49 at the time of her firing, and Greek was 63.

But the plaintiffs' attorneys maintained Behar and Greek did not violate any bank rules.

Behar, who wept outside the courtroom after the award, and Greek said they were happy with the verdicts. They said the hardest part was listening to the versions of events given by their former supervisors.

Greek said she would like to be hired in another banking job.

Plaintiffs attorney James Urbanic also praised the verdict and his clients.

"Their careers may have been destroyed, but their dignity has been restored," Urbanic said.

Urbanic said the two were defamed, because each time they tried to get new banking industry jobs, they were turned away after explaining the reasons Union Bank officials gave for firing them.

Union Bank is now airing commercials featuring endorsements by actor Edward James Olmos and poet Maya Angelou.

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- City News Service