Omri Ben-Ari

Bar / Professional Activity

• State Bar of California
• United States District Court, Central District of California
• United States District Court, Southern District of California
• California Employment Lawyers Association
• Practice Management Committee Member, 2021
• Mentorship Committee Member, 2020
• San Diego County Bar Association

Verdicts / Settlements (Case Results)

• Represented Plaintiff employee in religious discrimination and whistleblower retaliation action. Plaintiff is a practicing and strict follower of Judaism, and her religion was accommodated. Approximately two months into her employment, Plaintiff reported COMPANY for abuse of residents. After the reporting, Company began retaliating against Plaintiff, knowing of Plaintiff’s religious constraints; all of a sudden, Company began requiring Plaintiff to serve and interact with pork. In response to Plaintiff’s protests and in retaliation for her reporting, her manager advised Plaintiff that she had contacted a rabbi and instructed Plaintiff that he said it was now okay to serve and interact with pork and pork products. Immediately thereafter, Plaintiff’s coworkers were instructed to cease assisting Plaintiff with the serving of pork and pork-related products, thereby forcing Plaintiff to serve them in direct violation of her religious beliefs. Plaintiff was terminated for her refusal to interact with pork products, 2021.
• Represented Plaintiff employee in disability discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination action. Plaintiff sustained an on-the-job injury and sought assistance through the workers' compensation system. Immediately after doing so, COMPANY embarked upon a retaliatory rampage against him, eventually culminating in his unlawful termination, 2021.
• Represented female employee in egregious sexual harassment and retaliation case. Beginning in 2017, Plaintiff was exposed to constant unlawful, inappropriate, and unwelcome sexual advances, sexually suggestive remarks, sexual and physical abuse, and pervasive comments at the hands of her supervisor. Just a few examples of her supervisor's grotesque and unlawful actions included, but were not limited to, (a) telling Plaintiff he "dreamed" about her in a sexually explicit manner. (b) groping Plaintiff's breast without her consent; (c) telling Plaintiff that he “desired her”; (d) Attempted to kiss Plaintiff on several occasions. And actually, succeeded in forcibly kissing her on at least three occasions against her will. (e) stuck his hand down Plaintiff's pants and caressed her private parts without consent. (f) grabbing Plaintiff's hand and forcing Plaintiff to touch his genitals. (g) showing Plaintiff pornography on his phone. (h) throwing merchandise and food around in fits of rage when it became evident he was not going to get his way, 2021.
• Represented client employee against employer in pervasive sexual harassment case involving claims of (1). Sex discrimination in violation of Government Code Section 12940(A)(2). Unlawful sex harassment in violation of Government Code Section 12940(J)(1) and (3). Failure to Prevent Harassment and Discrimination in Violation of Government Code Section 12940(K)(4). Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, among various other violations. Plaintiff is a dedicated and loyal 20-year employee. However, despite her impeccable years of service and employment record, the defendant company turned a blind eye and instead retaliated against the plaintiff because she pleaded for assistance and shed light on her managers' sexual escapades, 2020.
• Represented three African American employees in a wrongful termination and race discrimination action. Some of the events that transpired at work included (1) an employee bringing in and hanging a Confederate flag at work. When it was brought to his managers' attention, the response was, "You were never a slave; I do not see why you have a problem with him bringing in the flag." The company refused to remove the Confederate flag from the workplace. (2) Later, an employee placed a hangman's noose right in front of the office and breakroom for everyone to see. (3). The words "F**k the N****r" were written in the bathroom stall. (4). A week later, another noose was placed on the back of the workplace. (5). Then "KKK" was written on the window of Plaintiff's car, and under each letter was stated "Ku Klux Klan." Following Plaintiff's complaints, all three were terminated, 2018.
• Represented client employee against her former employer in blatant disability discrimination, retaliation, and Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA")/California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) violation case. Defendants refused to accommodate Plaintiff, nor did they even attempt to engage in any interactive process. Instead, Plaintiff was terminated because of her disability and retaliated against for taking medical leave. Further, Defendants terminated Plaintiff after eight years of loyal service while she was on FMLA/CFRA protective leave. To support their unlawful actions, Defendants fabricated six generalized excuses in a lackluster attempt to establish pretext for termination - all of which were debunked, 2020.
• Represented a client employee against an employer in wrongful termination and retaliation actions. Claims included: unlawful (1). Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy (2). Retaliation in Violation of Labor Code Sections 1102.5, 1102.6(3). Failure to Pay Final Wages Upon Termination and Waiting Time Penalties in Violation of Labor Code Sections 201 To 203 (4). Defamation (5). Negligent Hire, Retention, and Supervision; and (6). Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, among various other violations. Plaintiff Prado was a 28-year veteran of the company. Plaintiff was the general manager of the restaurant. Plaintiff began noticing her district manager was acting suspiciously. Specifically, the district manager would either take herself or direct Plaintiff and coworkers to steal money from the restaurant's cash register, stealing an average of $500.00 with each visit. When Plaintiff asked for a receipt to inventory the taken cash, the District Manager would either brush her off, advise that she would provide one later, or instruct Plaintiff to fraudulently mark the theft under "food management" loss. In early 2019, a customer forgot his wallet - containing over $2,200.00 in cash - at the restaurant, which the plaintiff discovered and immediately turned into the district manager, who kept the wallet for herself. Plaintiff was later terminated for reporting the district managers' theft, 2020.
• Represented client employee against employer in age discrimination and wrongful termination actions. Plaintiff was employed by COMPANY as a project manager and project superintendent. During his employment, Plaintiff was subjected to a barrage of age-related discriminatory comments at the hands of his direct supervisor and company owner. He was often referred to as “you’re too old." (b) “You can’t keep up with the younger guys;” (c) “You’re just getting old;” (d) Constantly yelling and demeaning Plaintiff on the phone at all hours; (e) "You're not what you used to be"; and (f) "You're getting too old for construction.” (g) among others. Plaintiff was eventually terminated due to his age, 2020.
• Represented client employee against her employer in 2023 in sexual harassment and wrongful termination of action involving a world-champion athlete. Some of the conduct included (a) telling Plaintiff that he liked her and wanted to go out with her; (b) repeatedly leering and staring at Plaintiff’s body, including her breasts and buttocks; (c) forcibly kissing Plaintiff on numerous occasions; (d) taking Plaintiff to his office, forcibly kissing Plaintiff, and trying to pull her pants down to have sex with her; and (e) grabbing and stroking his penis, pulling his penis out of his shorts, and then grabbing Plaintiff’s buttocks and subsequently forcing her head towards his penis. Then the harasser began to masturbate to finish himself and ejaculated; (f) sending obscene text messages to Plaintiff, among others, 2020.
• Represented Plaintiff employee in disability discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination action. Defendants refused to accommodate Plaintiff, nor did they even attempt to engage in any good-faith interactive process. Instead, Defendants retaliated against her and ultimately terminated her employment, 2021.
• Sexual harassment and wrongful termination action involving a company director, 2023
• Sexual harassment and wrongful termination action involving sexual assault by three company employees against a single female, 2023.
• Whistleblower and wrongful termination action, 2023
• Disability discrimination, wrongful termination, failure to accommodate, and failure to engage in the interactive process matter against a national clothing retailer, 2023.
• Disability discrimination and failure to accommodate matter against labor agencies and a large construction company, 2023.
• Workplace sexual harassment and assault action by the company owner of a retail automotive chain, 2023.
• Disability discrimination and workers' compensation retaliation action against a large construction company, 2023.
• Workplace sexual harassment and sexual assault action perpetrated against two minor/underage employees, 2023.
• Workplace sexual harassment action against an international hotel chain, 2023.
• Disability discrimination and wrongful termination action pertaining to Covid-19 leave and accommodation, 2023.

Educational Background

• University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), Bachelor of Arts, cum laude

Scholarly Lectures / Writings

• Published Opinion: Loi Nguyen v. Durham Sch. Servs., L.P., 358 F. Supp. 3d 1056. Loi Nguyen v. Durham Sch. Servs., L.P., 358 F. Supp. 3d 1056, 1057, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29612, 1, 102 Fed. R. Serv. 3d (Callaghan) 1281. Lead attorney, Published Opinion, 358 F. Supp. 3d 1056 | 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29612 ** | 102 Fed. R. Serv. 3d (Callaghan) 1281. Labor and Employment, Affirmative Defense, Fair Notice, Defenses, Courts, Motion To Strike, Leave To Amend, Pleadings, Stricken, Claim For Relief, Argues, Additional Defense, Entitled To Relief, Federal Court, Heightened, Twenty-one, Decisions, Grounds, Textual, Terms, 2019.

Honors

• Avvo Clients’ Choice Award, 2015-2020
• Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

Awards

---

Avvo Client's Choice Award: This award is granted to attorneys with at least 5 reviews with 4+ stars in a given year on Avvo.com