Omaha World Herald Reports on Keating, O’Gara Case Against Hearthstone Homes

One of Doug Peterson’s cases is featured in today’s Omaha World Herald:

SUIT CITES BIZARRE REASONING FOR FIRING
By Juan Perez Jr.
Omaha World Herald
June 30, 2010

A former employee of Omaha’s largest homebuilder has filed a lawsuit alleging that the company’s chief executive officer forced a religious agenda on workers and fired her because her unborn child carried “negative energy.”

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by Jammie D. Harms of Lincoln, who worked as administrative assistant to John J. Smith, chief executive officer of HearthStone Homes.

Harms alleged that Smith and other company managers “actively attempted to create a spiritual, religious work environment based on concepts incorporating universal energy, concepts of reincarnation, and intuitive spiritualism.”

Smith told employees that past lives can explain current behaviors, and they can be understood through positive and negative force fields, according to the lawsuit.

Harms, who alleges religious and pregnancy discrimination, is seeking back pay, reinstatement and compensatory and punitive damages.

An official with HearthStone Homes denied any wrongdoing and said Harms was fired, along with many other workers, because of the economic downturn that continues to plague the U.S. housing market.

Harms, hired in April 2008, believed she was required to follow these religious beliefs in the workplace and had to attend mandatory training sessions that reinforced the beliefs, said her attorney, Doug Peterson.

In April 2009, about one month after Harms told her boss she was pregnant, the lawsuit alleges that the following incidents occurred:

• Harms was called into a meeting led by Smith and other company managers. They told Harms that she had a troubling “disconnect” with her fetus.

• Harms was asked to take part in a conference call with an Arizona-based psychic to determine “whether or not negative energy was being created with the pregnant plaintiff because she had a male boss versus a female boss.”

• Smith consulted with a chiropractor and “self-described energy worker” who told Smith he shared a former life with Harms’ unborn child and suggested that he “partner” with the baby. Smith declined, saying the baby’s energy was hostile toward him.

Harms, who was paid $45,100 annually, was fired in June 2009.

Neil Smith, a HearthStone vice president who said he is not related to the company’s chief executive, declined to comment on the lawsuit’s allegations.

He said that Harms was let go because of the recession and that she declined the company’s offer of a severance package.

“This would appear to be just her next response as she tries to bring some sort of conclusion to her moving beyond HearthStone,” he said.

Neil Smith acknowledged that the company follows certain practices believed to help employees develop their intuition.

In addition to what he described as coaching sessions that help develop employee potential, he said the company uses massage therapy and creates quiet “meditative-type spaces, where people can take that time to get clear … so they can function at a higher level.”

Though the company’s practices may seem unorthodox, Neil Smith said, they should not be demonized. They even may have contributed to some of the company’s success despite bleak economic conditions, he said.

“The notion of ‘spiritualism’ takes it to more of an esoteric place that I’m not sure is productive,” he said. “We look at the body from a holistic perspective, and there are tons of different resources out there and we’re just open to exploring them.”

The company’s alleged emphasis on spiritualism has been argued before in the federal courts.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict that favored a former HearthStone employee who sued the company for religious discrimination in 2003.

The employee, a Protestant, had alleged that the company fired him because he resisted attending “Mind Body Energy” sessions designed to cleanse his body of negative energy.

Neil Smith, the company vice president, said HearthStone did not want to force its views on any of its employees.

“I’ve not had anybody personally come to me and tell me that it’s been pushed on them,” he said. “We have a pretty open environment here. If someone feels like they had been pushed upon, it’s not while they’ve been working here.”

HearthStone has built homes in Omaha since 1970.

Builder Magazine recently ranked the company No. 28 on its annual Builder 100 list, up from No. 30 in 2008 and No. 64 in 2007, placing the company among the nation’s largest home construction companies.

If you or a loved one have suffered employment discrimination, please call the experienced Nebraska employment attorneys of the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621.

Posted on June 30, 2010 in Employment Discrimination Nebraska Attorney, Employment Law, Lincoln Nebraska Employment Discrimination Attorney, Nebraska Employement Discrimination Lawyer, Nebraska Employment Discrimination
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What Justice Looks Like: “Pants” Judge Loses Appeal

Soo and Jin Chung, the drycleaners who were sued for $67 million, can take some solace from the fact that former judge Roy Pearson is out of a job.

From Law.com:

‘Pants Judge’ Loses Wrongful Termination Appeal

Former administrative law judge Roy Pearson Jr. just can’t catch a break in his quest to hold someone accountable for losing his job with the District of Columbia.

Pearson, recall, was the judge who filed a multimillion-dollar suit against a dry cleaner over a lost pair of pants. The suit didn’t go unnoticed. In 2007, Pearson was denied reappointment to his post as a D.C. administrative law judge. Pearson sued, making a host of claims.

When Pearson’s wrongful termination suit was dismissed by the federal district court in Washington, he turned to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Thursday, a three-judge panel upheld the dismissal of the suit . . . .

“The district court correctly concluded Pearson’s testimony before the D.C. Council and private communication with the Council’s staff were not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” D.C. Circuit Judges Douglas Ginsburg, Karen LeCraft Henderson and Merrick Garland said in a two-page judgment Thursday.

The judges pointed to a D.C. Circuit ruling last year in an unrelated case where the court said that a public employee speaks without First Amendment protection when he reports conduct that interferes with his job responsibilities. “Pearson did just that,” the panel judges said Thursday.

Pearson’s suit against his dry cleaner was also not protected speech, the appeals court said. “That suit did not involve a matter of public concern; as the district court stated, it was more properly ‘characterized as a personal vendetta against a dry cleaners over a pair of pants.’”

Posted on May 28, 2010 in Constitutional Rights, Employment Law
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Keating, O’Gara Attorneys Win Critical Appeal in Employment Case

Keating, O’Gara attorneys Doug Peterson and Joel Bacon won a critical appeal on behalf of a client who was wrongly terminated from his employment.

Former Beatrice bank worker wins appeal
Saturday, Mar 14, 2009 – 09:00:17 am CDT
The Associated Press

OMAHA – A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court’s decision against a former Beatrice bank worker who said he lost his job because of his rare voice disorder.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday said the U.S. District Court was wrong to rule in favor of First National of Nebraska before trial and against Jeffrey Willnerd. There are significant facts in the case that warrant a jury trial.

The case has been sent back to the federal court.

First National is the parent company of First National Bank.


Willnerd, of Beatrice, sued First National in 2005, saying the company’s decision to eliminate his job and refuse to rehire him violated rights guaranteed by the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Years earlier, Willnerd was diagnosed with a neurological voice disorder that made it difficult for him to speak.

First National has said Willnerd’s job was eliminated for economic reasons. The company also said he wasn’t rehired because of the merits of other job applicants, according to court documents.

In 2007, a federal judge granted First National’s request for a summary judgment in its favor, without a trial.

But, said the three-judge appellate panel, “Because reasonable jurors could resolve these outstanding questions in Willnerd’s favor and conclude he is entitled to relief on his claims, we reverse.”

Doug Peterson, Willnerd’s Lincoln-based attorney, said he was encouraged by the decision and believes the court analysis was very complete.

Phone messages left with First National’s attorneys were not immediately returned.

Posted on March 16, 2009 in Employment Discrimination Nebraska Attorney, Employment Law, Labor Law, Lincoln Nebraska Employment Discrimination Attorney, Nebraska Employement Discrimination Lawyer, Nebraska Employment Discrimination
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From offices in Lincoln, Nebraska, attorneys at Keating, O'Gara, Nedved & Peter, P.C., L.L.O. serve clients in Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney, Omaha, Hastings, Norfolk, Fremont, Beatrice, Broken Bow, Valentine, Lexington, North Platte, McCook, Ainsworth, O' Neill, Wayne, Norfolk, Fairbury, Kimball, Sidney, Seward, York, Aurora, Columbus, and communities throughout Lancaster County, Adams, Buffalo, Custer, Gage, Hall, Lincoln and Red Willow Counties, and those injured in traffic accidents on Interstate Highway 80, and Nebraska state highways 81, 83, 183, and 281.