Khloe Kardashian’s Fashion Brand Says Ex-Employee’s Alleged Mental Distress Was Caused by Cancer Diagnosis NOT Work Discrimination
May 9 2024, Published 12:00 p.m. ET
Khloe Kardashian’s fashion company Good American and her business partner Emma Grede denied causing a cancer-stricken ex-employee mental distress — and demanded her wrongful termination lawsuit be thrown out of court
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Good American and Emma asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to dismiss all claims in the case brought by a former employee named Brooke in February.
The suit was brought by an ex-employee named Brooke who accused the defendants of wrongful termination, cancer discrimination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Khloe was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
In the suit, Brooke said she was hired by Khloe’s fashion company as a Marketing Coordinator in 2019. She said she received regular praise from her bosses and was promoted multiple times.
In June 2023, Brooke said her doctor recommended she work from home until she completed a series of treatments for cancer (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma).” She said she provided her bosses with a note from her doctor that said she was “immune-compromised and sick.”
Brooke said her bosses were unhappy after reading the doctor’s note. She claimed they told her the request was “undermining the organization.” The suit alleged that bosses tried to make her take medical leave instead of accommodating her request to work remotely.
In her complaint, Brooke said she saw a job posting for her position go up after she submitted her request. She said she was terminated one month after asking to work remotely.
She said her bosses told her it was due to a company-wide “layoff.” Brooke said nobody else in her department was laid off during the “layoff.” The lawsuit demanded unspecified damages for the alleged discrimination.
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As we first reported, lawyers for Good American and Emma denied all allegations of wrongdoing. They argued the company’s actions were non-discriminatory and claimed it would have been an “undue burden” to accommodate the requests.
Good American said the decision was “done out of business necessity.”
Now, in an amended response to the suit, Good American and Emma claimed Brooke accepted the “numerous, extensive, accommodations that were provided to her and never stated that she wasn’t accommodated, and she never requested additional accommodations beyond what was provided.”
In addition, the defendants argued they had no “knowledge of the need of [Brooke] for any additional accommodations.”
Good American and Emma said, “If [Brooke] was injured, the injuries were caused by alternative sources and stressors such as [Brooke’s] cancer diagnosis which caused her emotional distress and inability to find comparable employment.”
Further, they said, “To the extent [Broke] suffered any symptoms of mental or emotional distress or injury due to the alleged actions of Defendants alleged in the Complaint, including causes of action one through six, it was the result of pre-existing psychological disorders or alternative concurrent causes, and not the result of any act or omission of Defendants. On information and belief, [Brooke] had preexisting mental distress due to cancer and other alternative causes that existed before she was terminated. Any alleged emotional distress was not due to the alleged actions of defendants.”
Khloe’s company and business partner denied they fired Brooke due to her requests. “[Good American] provided numerous accommodations to [Brooke], including all of her requests due to her cancer. It is unclear what additional accommodations [Brooke] is requesting that she should have been provided, but she failed to notify Defendants that additional accommodations were needed beyond the numerous accommodations given to Plaintiff,” the lawyer added.
Good American asked the court to order Brooke to pay its legal bill.