Shegerian & Associates: California Appeals Court Issues Stay In Ho v. Vietnamese Broadcasting Service (VBS)

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Court of Appeal ruled this week to issue an immediate stay of the trial court's order compelling the Vietnamese Broadcasting Service's CEO and Chairman Father Joseph Nguyen's attempt to force Tram Ho's case against them into private arbitration.

Ho, a television personality and former beauty queen, alleges in her lawsuit that Father Nguyen harassed her and made several sexual advances toward her, including forcing himself upon her.  She was then subsequently fired after refusing his advances.

"It's an example of a man of authority abusing his power to take advantage of a woman," said Anthony Nguyen, one of Ho's attorneys from Shegerian & Associates.

On September 21, 2017, the court ordered arbitration in the case, citing a clause in an employment agreement allegedly requiring arbitration.  Ho's attorneys argued that the arbitration provision was unenforceable, and at the very least, had been waived by defendants' own actions.  The Court of Appeal agreed to review the trial court's ruling, issuing a temporary stay in the case so that further briefing can be completed for defendants to explain their position.

"Arbitration can sometimes be a viable resource to resolve certain disagreements," said Carney Shegerian, trial attorney and founder of Shegerian & Associates.  "However, in matters such as employment disputes where one's civil rights are at stake, arbitration would highly prejudice employees, removing the case away from the public eye so that despicable actions by defendants can be swept under the rug.  As with this situation, hiding complaints of sexual harassment from the public is more prevalent than ever now, which is a huge problem.  The goal of the defendants to cover their illegal actions by forcing my client to privately arbitrate her claims away from the public eye through use of an unenforceable agreement is wrong and inconsistent with the transparency necessary in today's climate."

No date has been set as to when the Court of Appeal will issue its final ruling.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California and with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, & New York, Shegerian & Associates is a law firm specializing in protecting the rights of employees who have been wronged by their employers. Carney Shegerian, Trial Lawyer of the Year Award winner for 2013, has won 76 jury trials in his career, including 33 seven figure verdicts. Shegerian & Associates is passionately dedicated to serving the needs of its clients. For more information about the firm, visit www.ShegerianLaw.com.

Media Contact: To arrange interviews with Carney Shegerian regarding this case or other employment law matters, please contact [email protected]

Case # 30-2017-00911051

SOURCE Shegerian & Associates, Inc.

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