MIAMI – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently granted Sony Electronics' motion for summary judgment in a discrimination lawsuit filed by two former employees of a Sony retail store after they were terminated.
In a decision filed March 29, U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King granted summary judgment to Sony and dismissed the lawsuit filed by Frank Sanchez and Agustin Pino who worked at the now-closed Sony store at the Dolphin Mall in Miami, with Sanchez employed as a manager and Pino as an assistant manager.
Both sued Sony claiming they were discriminated against at the time of their termination for age and national origin. Court filings said Sony terminated Sanchez as store manager in August 2013 and Pino as retail assistant store manager in Dec. 2013 at the store, which closed in 2014 as part of a multi-store
closure plan.
"Sanchez and Pino each filed charges with the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR)," and no determinations were made on the case, court filings said. Sanchez and Pino then filed a lawsuit in state court "for age and national origin discrimination as to both Sanchez and Pino, and retaliation as to Sanchez, pursuant to the Florida Civil Rights Act."
Sony filed a motion to move the case to the federal court.
"On Nov. 3, 2017, Sony removed the case to this court under diversity of citizenship, alleging that about six months of Sanchez's back pay (from the date of Sanchez's termination through the date the store closed) would comfortably exceed the $75,000 jurisdictional threshold," the ruling said. "After the Jan. 30, 2019, deadline for aIl discovery, Sony moved for summary judgment, arguing that plaintiffs have not stated a prima facie case for discrimination or retaliation, and regardless Sony had legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for the terminations."
King granted Sony's motion for summary judgment, stating that "plaintiffs have provided no evidence" for the claims of age and national origin discrimination when they were terminated from their employment.