L-A Radio: Former KLVE Host Appeals Wrongful Termination Ruling

Sofia Soria

A former announcer with the Spanish-language radio station KLVE K-Love 107.5 FM Los Angeles claims her former employer, Univision Communications Inc. (Univision), wrongfully terminated her employment with the radio station, in spite of high ratings, for alleged tardiness, when in reality plaintiff Sofia Soria was battling a stomach tumor and required surgery, or so she alleged. Soria launched a California Wrongful Termination appeal, which was heard in early November.

According to calabornews.com, Soria alleges in court documents that doctors diagnosed her stomach tumor in late 2010, and following a year of doctor visits that resulted in multiple absences from her radio program, Soria claims to have informed her employer that she would require surgery. That conversation, the plaintiff alleges, occurred in late 2011. Not long after, in November of that year, Soria was terminated from her job after fifteen years with the station.

A wrongful termination lawsuit the plaintiff filed against her former employer in January, 2013 alleges that at the time of her firing, her radio program enjoyed consistently high ratings, for which she earned pay raises and bonuses, as well as positive performance reviews, or so her lawsuit claims.

A lower court found in favor of Univision. Soria appealed, and on November 3 a California appeals court heard arguments supporting the plaintiff’s suggestion that she was wrongfully terminated from her California radio job.

Univision had argued originally that Soria was never really disabled and had not requested accommodation or medical leave.

The defendant had also argued that the tumor turned out to be non-cancerous, and thus was not a threat to the plaintiff’s health. In the employer’s view, the plaintiff had missed numerous shifts without just cause and was terminated for frequent tardiness. Univision was granted summary judgment, prior to Soria’s appeal.

The California Wrongful Termination lawsuit is Sofia Soria v. Univision Radio Los Angeles Inc. et al., case number B263224, in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District.