Rivera

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Jose Rivera sued his former employer, FSC Corporation dba Il Pastaio (Il Pastaio), asserting 17 causes of action, including claims under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) (Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.), claims for assault/battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and various wage and hour claims under the Labor Code.1 After Rivera voluntarily dismissed several causes of action, Il Pastaio moved for summary judgment or, in the alternative, summary adjudication, of the remaining causes of action. The trial court granted summary judgment on the grounds that Rivera’s FEHA claims were barred because he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, and his other claims failed as a matter of law. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude summary judgment was incorrectly granted with respect to Rivera’s harassment claims under FEHA, and his cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress. We therefore reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Il Pastaio is a restaurant in Beverly Hills. Rivera began working there in 2005 as a busser. In 2016, he became a “food expediter,”…