Employee Rights

OUR FIRM REPRESENTS EMPLOYEES IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES OF CASES OR VIOLATIONS:

IN BRIEF:

1. HARASSMENT based on:

Race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status

 

2. DISCRIMINATION based on:

Race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status

 

3. RETALIATION based on:

Race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status

 

4. RETALIATION

For having exercised a lawful act, such as filing a complaint about discrimination or harassment with your employer.

 

5. WHISTLE BLOWER

Form of retaliation based on reporting unlawful conduct of employer.

 

6. WRONGFUL TERMINATION

 

7. WAGE AND HOUR VIOLATIONS, such as:
8. Unpaid Wages
9. Misclassification
10. Meal Period Violation
11. Rest Break Violation
12. Wage Statement Violation
13. Waiting Time Penalties
14. Failure to Pay/Confer Benefits

 

8. ERISA

IN PARTICULAR:

If you have experienced sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, or have been stripped of your wage and benefits, including your disability insurance under ERISA, we are ready to help you in identifying the violations, documenting the supportive evidence, investigating the circumstances of the violations and filing and litigating a lawsuit.

California law requires, as to any claims of harassment, discrimination or retaliation, before filing a lawsuit, you must file a claim with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, barring minor exceptions. In most instances, it is preferred to file a right to sue claim with DFEH.

The Department of Fair Employment and Housing is the state agency charged with enforcing California’s civil rights laws. As codified in the applicable provisions of the California Government Code, the following are actionable instances of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliatory conduct:

• It is unlawful for an employer, because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status of any person, to refuse to hire or employ the person.
• It is unlawful for any person to discriminate against any person in the selection, termination, training, or other terms or treatment of that person in any apprenticeship training program, any other training program leading to employment, an unpaid internship, or another limited duration program to provide unpaid work experience for that person because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status of the person discriminated against.
• It is unlawful for any employer or employment agency to print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any publication, or to make any nonjob-related inquiry of an employee or applicant, either verbal or through use of an application form, that expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status, or any intent to make any such limitation, specification, or discrimination.
• It is unlawful for any employer or employment agency to require any medical or psychological examination of an applicant, to make any medical or psychological inquiry of an applicant, to make any inquiry whether an applicant has a mental disability or physical disability or medical condition, or to make any inquiry regarding the nature or severity of a physical disability, mental disability, or medical condition.
• It is unlawful for any employer or employment agency to require any medical or psychological examination of an employee, to make any medical or psychological inquiry of an employee, to make any inquiry whether an employee has a mental disability, physical disability, or medical condition, or to make any inquiry regarding the nature or severity of a physical disability, mental disability, or medical condition.
• It is unlawful for any employer, labor organization, or employment agency to harass, discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against any person because the person has made a report pursuant to Section 11161.8 of the Penal Code that prohibits retaliation against hospital employees who report suspected patient abuse by health facilities or community care facilities.
• It is unlawful for any employer, labor organization, employment agency, or person to discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against any person because the person has opposed any practices forbidden under this part or because the person has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding under this part.
• It is unlawful for an employer, labor organization, employment agency, apprenticeship training program or any training program leading to employment, or any other person, because of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status, to harass an employee, an applicant, an unpaid intern or volunteer, or a person providing services pursuant to a contract. An employee of an entity is personally liable for any harassment prohibited that is perpetrated by the employee, regardless of whether the employer or covered entity knows or should have known of the conduct and fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.
• It is unlawful for an employer or other entity to refuse to hire or employ a person or to refuse to select a person for a training program leading to employment or to bar or to discharge a person from employment or from a training program leading to employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of a conflict between the person’s religious belief or observance and any employment requirement, unless the employer or other entity covered by this part demonstrates that it has explored any available reasonable alternative means of accommodating the religious belief or observance, including the possibilities of excusing the person from those duties that conflict with his or her religious belief or observance or permitting those duties to be performed at another time or by another person, but is unable to reasonably accommodate the religious belief or observance without undue hardship.
• It is unlawful for an employer or other entity covered by this part to retaliate or otherwise discriminate against a person for requesting accommodation regardless of whether the request was granted.
• It is unlawful for an employer or other entity to fail to make reasonable accommodation for the known physical or mental disability of an applicant or employee.
• It is unlawful for an employer to retaliate or otherwise discriminate against a person for requesting accommodation regardless of whether the request was granted.
• It is unlawful for an employer to fail to engage in a timely, good faith, interactive process with the employee or applicant to determine effective reasonable accommodations, if any, in response to a request for reasonable accommodation by an employee or applicant with a known physical or mental disability or known medical condition.
• It is unlawful for an employer to subject, directly or indirectly, any employee, applicant, or other person to a test for the presence of a genetic characteristic.
• It is unlawful employment practice for an employer to adopt or enforce a policy that limits or prohibits the use of any language in any workplace, unless both of the following conditions exist: (1) The language restriction is justified by a business necessity, and (2) The employer has notified its employees of the circumstances and the time when the language restriction is required to be observed and of the consequences for violating the language restriction.

 

ERISA

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that protects employees who are members of a voluntarily established pension and health plan in private industry. ERISA requires plans to provide participants with information about the benefits, confers fiduciary responsibilities, and requires plans to establish a grievance and appeals process for its participants. For instance, if an employee is injured and files a disability claim, the plan may provide short and/or long-term disability benefits. In the event the benefits are denied and if the denial is disputed, having exhausted his/her administrative remedies, including the appeal process, the employee may file a lawsuit in the Federal Court – an ERISA action.

THE UNRUH CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

The Unruh Civil Rights Act is a piece of California legislation that outlaws discrimination based on sex, race, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, gays, lesbians, and sex based prices at bars. This law applies to all businesses such as motels, hotels, restaurants, theaters, hospitals, barber and beauty shops, housing accommodations, and retail establishments.