Executive Who Oversaw Firm's SoCal Operations, Including San Diego, Sues Over Firing

By Editor, Times of San Diego

February 13, 2023

A former executive for a network of plumbing and heating and air conditioning businesses is suing the defendants, alleging he was wrongfully fired in January.

Kerry Frederickson, 53, accuses the firm, American Residential Services LLC – which includes operations in San Diego – of terminating him because of his age and for raising concerns about the failure to implement a new employee pay plan he developed in response to previous litigation.

The plaintiff’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit includes allegations against ARS and multiple other entities, among them wrongful termination, harassment, retaliation, failure to prevent those same causes of action, negligent hiring supervision and retention, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Frederickson seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

An ARS representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit, filed Thursday.

Frederickson was hired for a second time by the firm in January 2013 as a general manager and three years later was promoted to a region manager. He worked out of an office in Covina and oversaw the defendants’ operations throughout several western states, the suit states.

In April 2020, Frederickson implemented a new pay plan for the branches he oversaw in Northern California to address ongoing wage-and-hour violations related to class-action lawsuits. The companies were accused of violating laws regarding unpaid minimum and overtime wages, missed meal and rest periods, expense reimbursements, uniform deductions and accurate itemized wage statements.

Frederickson was elevated to region vice president in November 2021 and oversaw company branches in San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange counties, at which time he found out that two Southern California branches had failed to implement a pay plan like the one he started in Northern California, the suit states.

He expressed his concerns to corporate executives during a budget meeting and regularly raised the issues after that, but no significant steps were taken to correct the problems due to operation and cost concerns.

The companies also never compensated Frederickson for the additional responsibilities he took on as a region vice president, his lawsuit alleges.

When Frederickson responded to a question during an executive leadership meeting in April 2022 that he had 30 years service with the company, one executive responded, “Maybe it’s time the 30-year employees move out of the way for the newer employees.”

On another occasion the same executive said words to the effect, “the old way is not the best way,” the suit states.

Last May, management started to exclude Frederickson from meetings in which he previously participated and from correspondence related to the branches he oversaw.

“At a time when Frederickson should have been at the height of his career, and looking to excel, he started to having growing concerns that his position was in jeopardy,” the suit states.

The plaintiff again raised complaints in November about the failure to implement a new pay plan and was terminated abruptly during a meeting with a supervisor at an Orange hotel after being told that there had been a restructuring within the organization.

The filing concluded that he has suffered lost income and emotional distress as a result of his termination.

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