An appeals panel has ruled a jury was right to award $7 million to a technician, who claimed he was fired, because he told Los Angeles building inspectors his media company was ignoring safety at a theater where a production was to be staged, saying the company was "reprehensible" in disregarding the concerns.
The July 14 decision was penned by Justice Helen Zukin, with concurrence from Justices Audrey Collins and Brian Currey, of California's Second District Court of Appeals. The decision favored Karl Zirpel in his action against Alki David Productions (ADP), of Los Angeles.
ADP is a media company owned by Alkiviades David. Zirpel was employed by ADP from 2013 to 2017, working primarily in the company's hologram technology projects and becoming vice president of operations in 2014, according to court papers. In hologram technology, images are projected onto a screen and reflected for audience viewing.
In September 2017, Zirpel was working to install holographic equipment in a former Los Angeles church under conversion into a theater. ADP had scheduled an invitation-only event at the theater for celebrities and potential investors. However, Zirpel warned ADP of electrical and plumbing code violations, as well as of the questionable integrity of the ceiling, to which 700-pound projectors would be attached.
According to Zirpel, ADP did not address all the safety concerns, leading him to contact city inspectors in the days leading up to the event. Zirpel, who is gay, also said he halted work at the theater, which allegedly caused Alkiviades David to confront him in a rage, allegedly screaming and flinging homosexual slurs in front of Zirpel's coworkers. Zirpel said he was fired on the spot and the hologram presentation went ahead the next day.
In November 2017, Zirpel sued ADP, claiming he was terminated in retaliation for contacting the inspectors. Zirpel won at trial, presided over by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dennis Landin, and in October 2021 was awarded $7 million.
On appeal, Justice Zukin said the panel determined the trial was properly conducted and the $7 million award was warranted.
"There is substantial evidence of reprehensible conduct on the part of ADP and its principal, David. David and Zirpel’s superiors ignored Zirpel’s repeated disclosures of potentially hazardous conditions at the theater, evincing a disregard of the health and safety of others. The most reprehensible aspect of David's conduct was firing an employee for standing up for the safety of invitees to the event," Zukin observed.
Zukin further founded "substantial evidence David acted with malice when terminating Zirpel’s employment."
In Zukin's view, Zirpel, who had not told coworkers he was gay, was "traumatized" by David's alleged homosexual epithets, which made David's behavior all the worse.
ADP had asserted that on the day of the event, the city issued a special event permit to ADP, but Zukin found no evidence of such a permit.
Zirpel has been represented by Nicholas W. Sarris and Jennifer A. Lipski, of JML Law, of Los Angeles.
ADP has been defended by Fred D. Heather, of Glaser, Weil, Fink, Howard, Avchen & Shapiro, of Las Vegas.