Woman settles case alleging co-workers called her stupid, worthless, dog

A former sales associate at Ross Dress for Less Inc. has settled her lawsuit against the clothing store chain in which she alleged she was repeatedly called “stupid,” “worthless” and a “dog” by co- workers because of her limited English-speaking proficiency.

Ines Angel Lopez also maintained in her Los Angeles County Superior Court lawsuit that she was fired in retaliation when she complained about her treatment. Her attorney filed court papers on Wednesday, Jan. 10, notifying Judge Cherol J. Nellon of a “conditional” settlement in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by Feb. 1. No terms were divulged. The parties in January 2021 had agreed to have an arbitrator decide the issues rather than a jury. A Ross representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Lopez was hired in February 2018 as a sales associate and was a “hard- working and dedicated employee,” the lawsuit stated. The Mexican national’s primary language is Spanish and she does not speak English proficiently, according to the lawsuit, which does not identify the store location where she worked.

While at Ross, Lopez alleges she “incurred a wrath of abuse, harassment, violence and retaliation” from five co-workers. The quintet regularly “mocked, bullied, intimidated, ridiculed, put down, insulted and harassed” Lopez because she did not speak English well, according to her suit filed in July 2020. Some of the co-workers regularly called Lopez “stupid,” “worthless,” and a “dog” because of her language deficiencies, the suit states. Some of them also kicked and punched Lopez, pulled her hair, threw clothing at her, pushed boxes against her and shoved clothing racks at her, the suit alleged.

Ross management knew what Lopez’s co-workers allegedly were doing to her, but did nothing to stop their behavior even though the plaintiff complained for nearly a year beginning in March 2019, according to the suit. Ross fired Lopez in February 2020 and she believes she lost her job for complaining about how her co-workers were treating her, according to her court papers.