A former employee has filed a lawsuit against his previous employer, alleging wrongful termination and a series of workplace violations. Jose De Jesus Lopez Mercado filed the complaint on April 4, 2025, in the Superior Court of California, County of Ventura, targeting CJ Berry Well Services Management, LLC. The case sheds light on allegations of discrimination, retaliation, and unsafe working conditions that could have far-reaching implications for employment practices.
Jose De Jesus Lopez Mercado's complaint details his employment history with CJ Berry Well Services Management, LLC from November 2019 until March 6, 2025. He claims that despite maintaining an exemplary work record without disciplinary issues and consistently working long hours with comprehensive benefits, he faced numerous challenges during his tenure. The complaint highlights multiple safety complaints made by Mercado regarding workplace conditions and tool quality as protected activities under California law. These complaints were allegedly met with inaction and ultimately led to retaliatory measures by the employer.
On March 3, 2025, an incident occurred at Rig 374 where Mercado was physically assaulted by his supervisor after failing to hear instructions due to radio noise. In response to being struck in the head, Mercado threw coffee at the supervisor. Despite management acknowledging the incident and escalating it to Human Resources (HR), no proper investigation or protective measures were taken for Mercado. Instead, he received conflicting instructions about whether to stay or leave the worksite and was eventually told to clock out and stay home.
Mercado attempted to clarify his employment status on March 4 but received no communication from his employer on March 5. On March 6, he was terminated via phone call without formal documentation or adherence to progressive discipline procedures. This termination occurred within one month of his latest safety complaint while his wife was pregnant—a fact known to the defendants—further suggesting retaliatory motives.
The lawsuit accuses CJ Berry Well Services Management of violating several laws including discrimination under FEHA (Government Code §12940(a)), failure to prevent discrimination and retaliation (Government Code §12940(k)), workplace violence (Labor Code §6400), wrongful termination in violation of public policy, retaliation for making safety complaints (Labor Code §6310), failure to investigate workplace violence incidents adequately, failure to maintain a safe workplace environment (Labor Code §§6400 et seq.), failure to provide employment records upon request (Labor Code §§226 & 1198.5), non-payment of all wages due upon separation (Labor Code §§201-203), inaccurate wage statements provision (Labor Code §226), failure in maintaining required records accurately (Labor Code §1174) along with engaging in unfair business practices as per Business & Professions Code §§17200 et seq.
Mercado seeks various forms of relief from the court including general damages for lost earnings/benefits; compensatory damages covering emotional distress/humiliation; statutory penalties related specifically towards labor code violations mentioned above; reasonable attorney fees/costs incurred during litigation process; punitive/exemplary damages aimed at punishing defendant’s conduct deterring similar future behavior among others outlined comprehensively within prayer section attached towards end part present document itself.
Representing Jose De Jesus Lopez Mercado are attorneys Joshua I. White and Kyle DeCamp from Laurel Employment Law firm based out Santa Monica CA while case ID assigned Ventura Superior Court reads “2O25CUVYT041B23”.