Real Housewives of Orange County star Noella Bergener’s estranged husband James’ law firm is being accused of unlawful discrimination and harassment — with a former Afghan employee claiming they wouldn’t let her use her real name.
According to court documents obtained by Radar, Sweet James Accident Attorneys is being sued by a former employee named Rahan Alemi.
Noella’s husband James is a partner at the firm and is featured prominently in the advertisements for the company.
In her suit, Alemi’s lawyer describes his client as a “energetic and personable young woman of Afghan national origin and practices the Muslim religion.” She claims her former employer provided her with a prayer room and encouraged her religious and cultural observance — and supported her wearing religious clothing and a headscarf.
Alemi accepted a position as legal assistant at Sweet James in May 2021. She claims during intake she was told her name was being changed from Rahan to Rachael — and all staff would be calling her that.
Alemi claims she initially thought it was a joke but quickly realized it was not.
[Alemi] was understandably shocked. She felt disregarded, degraded, and disrespected. Clearly, there is no business justification to change [Alemi’s] name from Rahan to “Rachael.” [Alemi] objected to the name change because she feels her given name—Rahan— represents her as a Middle Eastern, Muslim woman of faith. [Her supervisor] told [Alemi] the name change to an Americanized, Judeo-Christian...
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