Brand ambassador sues Campari America alleging wrongful termination
Former Campari America employee Alex Negranza has taken the business to court, alleging unlawful discrimination, retaliation and interference with protected medical leave.
In the lawsuit, Negranza claims he disclosed qualifying disabilities to Campari America and sought reasonable accommodations. His employment was ultimately terminated, despite “receiving positive evaluations, increased responsibilities, and merit-based compensation bonuses during his employment”.
In addition to Campari America, the lawsuit names individual staff members who were Negranza’s direct supervisors or part of the HR team.
The complaint states that Negranza internally reported non-compliance and exercised “repeated good-faith efforts” to engage with management regarding his disability requirements. He claims he faced “administrative obstruction, inconsistent guidance, interference, retaliatory treatment, and ultimately termination”.
He also claims the company failed to produce his employment records and pay wages in a timely manner following his termination.
Negranza is therefore seeking relief for “economic harm, emotional distress, reputational damage, and other damages” he claims to have suffered.
The claims in detail
The lawsuit details several issues with management during Negranza’s employment on the brand ambassador team, with the plaintiff having four different supervisors within his first six months of employment.
After a successful first-year performance review, Negranza requested medical leave to begin in May 2024 following a diagnosis.
A manager allegedly accused him of being non-compliant for not informing a manager of his disability. Negranza argued he had disclosed his requirements to his supervisor; however, they allegedly failed to notify Campari America before departing for international travel.
The former brand ambassador took his medical leave on 4 May 2024 as requested, with no one in the business communicating that the leave was “unapproved, conditional, or non-compliant”.
He returned to work on 3 June 2024; however, he claims he did not receive any communication from the HR department for several weeks.
On 1 July 2024, HR allegedly contacted Negranza to inform him that his medical leave request had been denied on 5 June 2024 due to “incomplete or missing documentation” and that, therefore, his absence had been unapproved. As such, deductions were allegedly made from Negranza’s sick leave, personal time, vacation balances, and related employee benefits.
For the next month, Negranza claims to have repeatedly raised concerns about the administration of his medical leave and attempted to resolve the dispute.
Campari America terminated his employment on 2 August 2024, citing “performance issues and company policy concerns,” but without any specific infractions.
The case is now being handled in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, with judge Michael J Shultz assigned.
The first case management conference is scheduled for 6 October 2026.
The Spirits Business has reached out to Campari America for comment.
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