Firm launches whistleblower retaliation action against UCLA, Deloitte
March 21, 2023 — LOS ANGELES, CA.
Phillips, Erlewine, Given & Carlin LLP announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court against the Regents of the University of California, Deloitte Consulting LLP, two high-ranking UCLA officials, and the head of Deloitte’s higher education consulting division.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Omar Noorzai, who served as the Executive Director of UCLA’s Business Transformation Office (BTO) until he was demoted and ultimately fired in late 2021.
According to the complaint, under Mr. Noorzai’s leadership the BTO was tasked with shepherding $150 Million of taxpayer dollars by employing cost-effective in-house resources at UCLA to complete enterprise-level work, as opposed to using more expensive outside consultants.
The complaint alleges that, in 2020, the Defendants commenced a scheme to funnel millions—and potentially tens of millions—of dollars of consulting work at UCLA to Deloitte in violation of California’s competitive bidding laws. After reporting and objecting to this gross misconduct as illegal and economically wasteful, Mr. Noorzai was systematically undermined, demoted, and then fired in retaliation for his whistleblowing.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys Randy Erlewine, Brian Conlon, and Kyle O’Malley, asserts claims under the California Whistleblower Protection Act, which protects UC employees from retaliation for reporting waste and illegality, and section 1102.5 of the California Labor Code, which protects both private and public sector employees from retaliation for disclosing what the employee has reasonable cause to believe is a violation of the law.
"Mr. Noorzai was simply trying to do the right thing by reporting this alleged unlawful and wasteful scheme," said Randy Erlewine, one of Mr. Noorzai's attorneys. "Instead of being commended for his honesty and integrity—indeed, for doing his job—he was demoted and fired in alleged retaliation. This is unacceptable and we will fight to hold those responsible accountable for their actions."
Phillips, Erlewine, Given & Carlin LLP is a law firm with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles and has extensive experience successfully representing employees in high impact litigation including cases of retaliation against whistleblowers.