Guard says her firing was for complaints about lax COVID protocols

A former security guard is suing her ex-employer, alleging she was wrongfully fired in 2020 for criticizing the firm for allegedly not enforcing COVID-19 safety measures in areas her firm controlled that had been implemented by a client at her assigned location near Los Angeles International Airport.

Plaintiff Sheena Christian’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Gardena-based American Guard Services Inc. also alleges whistleblower retaliation and she seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. An AGS representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Friday.

Christian was hired in April 2019 and was stationed at the DHL Express Gateway location, where she was under AGS supervision, the suit states. She oversaw inbound and outbound delivery trucks, persons as well as personnel on the premises, according to the suit.

DHL administered COVID-19 safety measures in March 2020, but AGS failed to enforce the rules in areas under its control, including the AGS rooms where Christian and other security guards gathered to take their breaks, the suit alleges.

Christian expressed her concerns about the allegedly unsafe work environment to her supervisor repeatedly, specifically asking that her supervisors enforce the DHL mask wearing and social distancing rules, especially while indoors in close quarters with other employees in areas under AGS control, the suit states.

However, AGS superiors dismissed Christian’s concerns and instead warned her not to tell anyone about the allegedly risky conditions because they did not want to lose their business at the DHL Express Gateway location, the suit states.

While Christian’s complaints were ignored, COVID-19 increasingly spread among AGS employees, according to the suit, which further states that Christian began to directly ask her colleagues to social distance.

“Several employees responded argumentatively and told plaintiff that (she) did not have any authority to ask this of them,” the suit states.

Christian told her superiors in September 2020 that if they did not enforce COVID-19 safety measures, she would call a health department or other authority to report the safety issue, which brought a warning from AGS that if she did so she would be fired, the suit states.

Christian also sent a text message to a supervisor with images of the allegedly unsafe work environment to her complaints, hoping AGS would take her concerns seriously, but instead she was fired about a week later, the suit states.

Christian’s firing has caused her to lose income and suffer emotional distress in addition to having to spend money to hire a lawyer, the suit states.