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On February 9, 2025, pages from a legal document surfaced on social media, showing that H3 Podcast host Ethan Klein and his wife Hila Klein were being sued by Elizabeth Borda, the plaintiff's attorney.
In a lawsuit filed on February 7, 2025, at 2:25 PM, the plaintiff alleged that Hila and Ethan Klein had violated the California Family Rights Act, engaged in "disability discrimination in violation of FEHA (Fair Employment and Housing Act)," failed to provide reasonable accommodation, and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent discrimination, among other things.
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The court document details 16 allegations against Ethan Klein, which are as follows:
- Violation of California Family Rights Act (Govt. Code § 12945.2)
- Disability Discrimination in Violation of FEHA (Govt. Code § 12940(a))
- Retaliation in Violation of FEHA (Govt. Code § 12940(h))
- Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodation (Govt. Code § 12940(m)) 5. Failure to Engage in Interactive Process (Govt. Code § 12940(n))
- Failure to Take Reasonable Steps to Prevent Discrimination (Govt. Code § 12940(k))
- Retaliation in Violation of California Paid Sick Leave Law (Lab. Code §§ 233, 246.5) 8.Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy
- Failure to Provide Meal and Rest Period (Lab. Code § 226.7)
- Failure to Pay Overtime (Lab. Code § 510)
- For Failure to Pay State and Local Minimum Wage (Lab Code §§ 510, 1194, 1194.2, 1197, 1198)
- Failure to Pay all Wages Due Lab. Code § 204)
- Failure to Furnish Wage Statements (Lab. Code § 226)
- Waiting Time Penalties (Lab. Code § 203)
- Failure to Provide Personnel Records (Lab. Code §§ 1198.5/226)
- Unfair Competition in Violation of Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200
A former employee has accused Hila and Ethan Klein of denying time off for hernia surgery
In the "Complaint and Damages" section of the lawsuit against Hila and Ethan Klein, the plaintiff, a former employee of the YouTuber couple, claimed that they denied her time off for hernia surgery. The document described a series of events that took place in June 2024:
"During her employment, Plaintiff suffered from a hernia of which the KLEINS were aware. On June 18, 2024, Plaintiff learned that she would need surgery for her hernia. The very next day, June 19, 2024 at 10:00 a.m., she notified Mrs. Klein that she would be needing time off for hernia surgery on July 19, 2024. Additionally, she told Mrs. Klein that her doctor expected her to need a month to recover but that if she felt better sooner, she would return earlier."
"On June 20, 2024, Plaintiff placed a call to Karen in TFI's Human Resources department as she was having a problem with her time card log in. She notified Karen, by voicemail on that date, that she would be going out for surgery on July 19, 2024 and that her doctor expected she would need a month to recuperate."
According to the document, Hila and Ethan Klein terminated the plaintiff's employee on June 20, 2024:
"Shortly thereafter on June 20, 2024, only 2 days after Plaintiff notified her employer that she needed time off for hernia surgery, Cari Bish, EDP of Finance, called Plaintiff to notify her that her employment was being terminated and that she did not need to return to the house. Days later, as Ms. Bish attempted to have Plaintiff sign a release which Plaintiff declined to sign, Plaintiff pressed for a reason for her termination. Ms. Bish responded that her employer was "going in a different direction" and referenced a "problem" she had with the KLEINS' nanny. This reason was pretextual. Defendants terminated Plaintiff because she requested time off for her hernia surgery. Plaintiff has exhausted her administrative remedies by filing a charge with, and receiving a Right-to-Sue letter from, the California Civil Rights Department ("C.D.")."
Ethan Klein responded to a lawsuit against him and his wife via an Instagram Story. The H3 Podcast host claimed that his former housekeeper was fired for being "horrifically rude" to his children's nanny. He also stated that his former employee's claim of being fired for requesting leave for hernia surgery was "100% fabricated."
