LOS ANGELES — A man is suing Southern California Edison, alleging he was wrongfully fired in 2022 because he spoke out about alleged workplace safety issues that caused him to suffer job-related injuries and take medical leave.

Jesus Rodriguez’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges whistleblower retaliation, discrimination, wrongful discharge and failure to prevent discrimination and retaliation. Rodriguez seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit filed Friday.

Gabriela Ornelas, an SCE spokesperson, issued a statement Sunday regarding the suit.

“Southern California Edison values the diversity of all its employees and does not tolerate discrimination or retaliation,” Ornelas said. “We are reviewing the legal action, however it would not be appropriate to publicly discuss ongoing legal action or personnel matters.”

Rodriguez worked for SCE for nearly a decade, but the suit does not state the position he held. From 2020 until his 2023 firing, the plaintiff suffered on-the-job injuries and he was forced to take medical leave, both of which he believes caused management to resent him.

One such injury occurred in March 2021 when Rodriguez and other employees experienced electrical burns that required surgeries, the suit states. In October of that same year, he reported alleged safety law violations and failures by supervisors that he believed cause his injuries as well as those of the other employees, causing more management disgruntlement with him, the suit states.

Rodriguez was hurt again in December 2022 when he came into contact with an electrical transformer and endured second-degree burns, which he believes was attributable to the same alleged lack of attention to workplace safety issues that had caused his previous harm in March 2021, the suit states.

Rodriguez believes SCE not only wanted to silence and prevent him from blowing the whistle once again, but also saw the second injuries “as an opportunity to retaliate against plaintiff for all of his past protected activities,” the suit states.

Rodriguez took a brief medical leave in January 2023, was placed on administrative leave when he returned and fired two months later, the suit states.

Rodriguez has suffered lost income and emotional distress because he lost his job, the suit states.