Ex-worker alleges couple who hired her tried to ruin her reputation, employment, career

California’s law on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) does not automatically protect statements an employer makes when terminating an employee just because the employer asks the employee to sign a release of claims, a California court recently said.

A husband and wife – the defendants in the case of Nirschl v. Schiller et al – hired the plaintiff in 2017 at the recommendation of a friend who operated a nanny placement service. The plaintiff cared for their minor child and performed household duties.

The husband allegedly learned about four incidents that made them decide to terminate the plaintiff’s employment in March 2020. She supposedly:

• falsified time and expense records
• referred to the spouses’ son as “you fucking little shit,” a phrase that the child allegedly repeated
• violently shook the son after he had gone to the bathroom in his diaper
• failed to tell them that she was in a car crash with the child in the car

The plaintiff sued the spouses. She claimed that the spouses failed to give her meal and rest breaks, to pay overtime wages, to provide accurate wage statements, to reimburse work-related expenses, and to timely pay wages owed at the end of her employment. She later added a defamation claim.

The plaintiff alleged that the spouses:

• offered to give her a severance payment in exchange for a release of potential claims against them
• manipulated the wife...

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