Julia Koch: World’s Richest Woman Sued for Sex Discrimination

The Law Office of David H. Rosenberg, P.C., (“Firm”), filed a gender, familial/marital status discrimination, and retaliation case brought pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New York City Human Rights Law, New York City Administrative Code § 8-502(a), et seq. (“NYCHRL”), the New York State Human Rights Law, Executive Law § 296, et seq. (“NYSHRL”); the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219 (“FLSA”); New York Labor Law §§ 650 et seq. and 190 et seq. (“NYLL”); the New York “spread of hours” pay required under 12 N.Y.C.R.R. § 142, against Defendants Koch Industries, Inc. (“Koch Industries”), Julia Koch (“Julia”, female), Mary Koch (“Mary”, female), and Matador Security Company NY, LLC (“Matador” and all together as “Defendants”)

 Plaintiff, a female veteran of the United States Air Force, was an employee of Defendant and was assigned to provide private security to several members of the Koch family including Julia, Mary, John, and David Jr., according to the Complaint. Plaintiff was instructed by Matador to work for Mary, Julia, and Koch Industries as an employee; and to regularly accept daily job duties, tasks, assignments, and hours of service instructions from the same, according to the Complaint.

From August 2018 through March 2020, Plaintiff typically worked seven days per week; 15 hours per day; was required to be on call 24 hours per day; worked a rotation of three weeks on and two weeks off; was required to be on call 24 hours per day even during those two weeks off; and yet was not paid at any rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 per week much less at the legally mandated rate of time and a half. Plaintiff was not paid the legally mandated spread of pay hours and her pay stubs did not accurately reflect all hours actually worked, according to the Complaint.

AS REPORTED IN THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES:

Julia Koch, the widow of billionaire David Koch, was accused of neglecting and abusing her late husband in the year before his August 2019 death. The accusations were part of a larger complaint filed by a former security guard with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging a hostile work environment.

The complaint filed by [Plaintiff], a U.S. Air Force veteran, was acquired Thursday by the New York Daily News. It accused Julia Koch of mistreating her aging husband by finding ways to hide her personal activities. Julia Koch allegedly told nurses not to give her husband a feeding tube in the months before his death.

… [Plaintiff] believed that Julia had refused David Sr.’s feeding tube because Julia could not deal with David Sr. anymore and did not want his life prolonged further,’ [Plaintiff] lawyer David Rosenberg said in a press release.

PLAINTIFF, AS REPORTED IN THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:

“The deception and lies for sure made me fearful of losing my job if I did speak up. I was always under the impression that they had so much money, if you don’t just bite your tongue and go along with things, they’ll get rid of you.”

AS REPORTED IN THE NY POST:

The complaint added that [Plaintiff] was fired on April 1, 2020, after being told that her Air Force husband’s recent transfer to California would hinder her ability to effectively protect the Koch family. 

“As a result of the discriminatory/retaliatory termination, [Plaintiff] suffered and continues to suffer damages,” the complaint said.

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Defendants subjected Plaintiff to adverse employment actions, chiefly the termination, as well as an atmosphere of adverse employment actions on account of gender, familial/marital status, and in retaliation because of Plaintiff’s participation in the protected activity of opposing discriminatory practices in violation of Title VII, the NYCHRL, the NYSHRL, according to the Complaint.

The information and allegations cited to herein comes directly from publicly filed documentation and are meant as a means of attorney advertising.