Case Background
Joe DiBenedetto applied for a Senior Accountant position with CB Empire Properties in the fall of 2022 after seeing the listing on Indeed.com. He interviewed with then-Vice President of Finance Jeff Chittenden and Director of Operations Khushpreet Kour. CB Empire did not offer him the accountant role but instead brought him on as a Due Diligence Consultant, an independent contractor position, and he signed a consulting agreement on November 12, 2022, earning $60 an hour. About a month later, in early December 2022, CB Empire hired him directly as Assistant Controller, ending the contractor arrangement. He continued at the hourly rate initially, then became a salaried employee on January 1, 2023, earning $100,000 a year with benefits. His duties grew to include day-to-day accounting and payroll.
Soon after starting as Assistant Controller, DiBenedetto discovered irregularities in the company's books. He found that CB Empire paid construction workers on one property by check instead of through payroll, with no withholdings and no 1099s issued. He also learned that gas station employees across the company's roughly 50 locations worked 12-hour shifts without overtime pay and without documented meal or rest breaks. He raised these issues with Chittenden, who acknowledged the problems and said he was trying to get the company's owners to fix them. DiBenedetto also alleged that Chittenden told him Kour had not wanted to hire him because he was "too old," and that the company's owner had separately said he wanted a "younger group" in the office. DiBenedetto was 54 at the time.
When the practices continued without correction, DiBenedetto contacted the Fraud Division of California's Employment Development Department in March 2023 and filed a written complaint. He told Chittenden about the complaint, and Chittenden told him it was fine. On March 24, 2023, Kour emailed DiBenedetto, with copies to Rajwinder Singh, Parampreet Singh, and Nikki Pai, informing him that his employment would end effective March 31, 2023, citing a shift in "partnership direction." Three days after that email, on March 27, representatives of California's Department of Labor visited CB Empire's Ontario headquarters and requested payroll records, which DiBenedetto believed was connected to his EDD complaint.
Cause
DiBenedetto filed his complaint on August 22, 2023, bringing three causes of action: age discrimination under Government Code section 12940, retaliation under Labor Code section 1102.5, and wrongful termination in violation of public policy. He obtained a right-to-sue letter from California's Civil Rights Department dated August 21, 2023, before filing suit.
Injury
DiBenedetto claimed he lost earnings and employment benefits as a result of his termination. He also claimed he suffered anxiety, worry, embarrassment, humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional distress because of the way CB Empire and its officers treated him.
Damages Sought
DiBenedetto asked for statutory and civil penalties, general damages, special damages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, attorney's fees, and costs of suit on each cause of action for which such remedies applied.
Key Arguments and Proceedings
Legal Representation
Plaintiff: Joe DiBenedetto
· Counsel for Plaintiff: Vincent Calderone
Defendants: CB Empire Properties | Rajwinder Singh | Parampreet Singh | Nikki Pai | Khushpreet Kour
· Counsel for Defendants: Charanjit "CJ" Singh | Mandeep Rupal | Natalie Antemate
Key Arguments by Counsel
Claims
Age Discrimination
DiBenedetto alleged that CB Empire subjected him to adverse employment actions, including termination, because of his age, and that his age was a substantially motivating reason for the company's conduct toward him.
Retaliation
DiBenedetto alleged that CB Empire terminated him after he complained about violations of federal and state labor laws regarding payroll practices and after he reported the company's conduct to the EDD Fraud Division. He argued this amounted to unlawful retaliation under Labor Code section 1102.5.
Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy
DiBenedetto alleged that his termination violated the public policy set out in the Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prohibits both age discrimination and retaliation against employees who report unlawful labor practices.
Cross-Complaint by CB Empire
CB Empire Properties filed a cross-complaint against DiBenedetto, which included a breach of contract claim. DiBenedetto answered the cross-complaint on December 5, 2023, denying the allegations and raising thirty-three affirmative defenses, including failure to state a claim, waiver, estoppel, lack of causation, unclean hands, and a defense that the cross-complaint had been filed in retaliation for his protected activity of reporting fraudulent conduct to a government agency.
Defense
CB Empire's cross-complaint sought damages and injunctive relief against DiBenedetto, though the specific factual basis for the breach of contract claim is not detailed in the documents provided beyond the fact that DiBenedetto had signed a consulting agreement with the company before becoming a direct employee. DiBenedetto denied any wrongdoing and asserted that CB Empire had not been damaged by his conduct.
Jury Verdict
The case went to trial on July 29, 2025, in Department S29 before Judge Nicole Q. Winter. A twelve-person jury heard the evidence and returned its special verdict on September 4, 2025.
On the disclosure question, the jury found that DiBenedetto had disclosed to a government agency that CB Empire committed illegal payroll practices, including failure to pay overtime, failure to provide meal and rest periods, and improper tax withholdings. The jury also found that he had reasonable cause to believe this information reflected a genuine legal violation. The jury further found that CB Empire discharged DiBenedetto. However, the jury found that CB Empire did not terminate him within 90 days of learning about his disclosure, and, critically, found that his disclosure was not a contributing factor in the company's decision to discharge him. Because the jury answered no to that question, it stopped there and did not reach the remaining questions on individual Defendant liability, malice, or damages.
On CB Empire's breach of contract cross-complaint, the jury returned a general verdict in favor of DiBenedetto and against CB Empire Properties.
Judgment
Based on these findings, Judge Winter entered judgment on December 3, 2025. The judgment ordered that DiBenedetto recover nothing on his complaint against CB Empire Properties, Rajwinder Singh, Parampreet Singh, Nikki Pai, and Khushpreet Kour. It also ordered that CB Empire Properties recover nothing on its cross-complaint against DiBenedetto. As the prevailing party on the contract-based cross-complaint, DiBenedetto was found entitled to reasonable attorney's fees under California Civil Code section 1717. The Court awarded him $300,305.00 in attorney's fees, plus interest at the legal rate from the date of entry of judgment until paid.
Court documents are available upon request at [email protected]
