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An arborist who worked for the city of Menlo Park between November 2015 and February 2017 filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the city on Oct. 10, alleging he was overworked, forced to work in dangerous conditions, deprived of breaks and denied overtime pay.
Ryan Talavera said he was fired on Feb. 23, 2017, “in retaliation for making numerous complaints of unsafe and dangerous working conditions.”
Between August 2016 and February 2017, he said, he was sent on tree removal and other assignments with insufficient staff. In several cases, Mr. Talavera said, he was assigned alone to operate machinery, load trucks or do other potentially hazardous tasks that typically require additional workers.
The lawsuit also alleges that Mr. Talavera was misclassified as an exempt employee and is owed overtime pay.
Menlo Park City Attorney Bill McClure confirmed that the city had received the complaint and the city will respond to it.
“I don’t have all of the facts or information, and even if I did, we really aren’t able to comment, since it is pending litigation,” he said.
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Wasn’t there another city arborist who was fired about 5 years ago?
If you have relevant information about this matter, please email it to: editor@AlmanacNews.com.