A former lab assistant for a Torrance fertility clinic who said she was terminated in 2021 because she complained about another employee’s alleged contamination of biological tissue has reached a settlement in her lawsuit.
Narges Azadbadi’s Torrance Superior Court lawsuit against the Incinta Fertility Center LLC also contended that the fellow worker failed to quarantine infected tissue and that he was more aggressive toward female employees. On Wednesday, attorneys in the case filed court papers with Judge Alan Honeycutt informing him that a resolution of the case was reached March 10.
The judge signed an order stating he will retain jurisdiction over the case to enforce the settlement, the terms of which were not divulged. In their earlier court papers, Incinta attorneys denied Azadbadi’s allegations and cited multiple defenses, including violation of the statute of limitations and that any actions taken against her were for “legitimate, non-retaliatory and non-discriminatory reasons.”
Azadbadi began working full-time at Incinta in October 2021. During the course of her employment she saw the other employee contaminate biological tissue — including eggs, embryos and sperm — by failing to quarantine known infected tissue, which was against clinic protocol, the suit filed in July 2023 stated.
Azadbadi told her co-worker that the infected tissues, which were marked with a red tag, should be separated from others and stored in a quarantine tank, but he ignored her, according to the suit, which further states that her colleague would treat females differently by being more aggressive toward them. She also alleged the other employee practiced medicine without a license.
The plaintiff eventually reported the other employee’s conduct to management, including a staff doctor, the suit states.
“In a shaking voice, plaintiff expressed that she was tired and scared for her safety,” according to the complaint.
One day, the co-worker “barged into plaintiff’s office and bombarded her” with questions about some lab documents, then began video-recording her with his phone, telling her, “I am the boss, I am the lab director,” the suit states.
“This made plaintiff feel scared and harassed, so she decided to run upstairs and complain to her manager,” the suit states.
Azadbadi was soon thereafter suspended and then returned to work, but she was terminated in November 2021 and told it was due to a “low budget,” according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff was replaced by a male. She contended the real reason she lost her job was due to her age, gender and race, and also because she reported alleged unlawful conduct within Incinta.
