Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

California Disability Discrimination Alleged at Agricultural Employer

October 6, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

A California agricultural firm based on the U.S./Mexican border is accused of discriminating against workers on the basis of disability and genetic information – in stark contrast to the protections outlined by Title IV of the Civil Rights Act.

Our Costa Mesa disability discrimination attorneys understand that the company had a routine practice of requiring job applicants to undergo physical exams and questions about their medical conditions. Job hopefuls were also required to disclose what should have been confidential information about their family’s medical history (this is sometimes referred to as genetic information). Such inquiries were a condition of employment, and they are illegal under state law.

In at least one instance identified by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an applicant was rejected as a result of these against-the-law inquiries. In that case, the worker had been in a temporary post for a number of months when he applied for a permanent position as a dispatcher in El Centro. The applicant was told he would be placed into the applicant pool following a drug test and physical examination.

California Age Discrimination Lawsuit Filed by Former Reporter

October 3, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

In the field of visual journalism, there is no question that appearance matters and image is important.

But there was once a time when a reporter’s older age was viewed as a highly-valued trait, something that offered an air of credibility to the broadcast. Think Walter Cronkite or Helen Thomas.

However, a recent Southern California age discrimination lawsuit reveals that, unfortunately, that stance might well have shifted within the industry, or at least in portions of it.

HIV Discrimination Still Problematic in California, Nationwide

October 1, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

A fast food chain in Texas is the target of a recent federal lawsuit alleging violation of civil rights laws by a manager who refused to hire an applicant who was HIV-positive.

Our Costa Mesa employment discrimination attorneys know that at its core, this is a disability discrimination case.

It’s deeply unfortunate in this day and age that we are still battling to dispel the myths, fears and stereotypes that surround individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS. There was a time – not so long ago – that discrimination against those suffering from HIV was rampant.

California Discrimination Lawsuits Impacted by Wal-Mart v. Dukes Decision

September 28, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

It’s been little more than two years since the U.S. Supreme Court shot down a massive class action gender discrimination lawsuit on behalf of thousands of women who worked for retail giant Wal-Mart.

Since then, the Wal-Mart v. Dukes decision has been cited more than 1,200 times by state and federal courts handling similar types of complaints, some against retailers, such as Family Dollar Stores, others against government contractors, such as Lockheed Martin Corp. and even in the publishing industry, with one large case involving Hearst Corp.

It’s impossible to deny the impact this pro-business decision had on discrimination litigation. However, where it has primarily hit the hardest has been with regard to larger, class-action cases. That’s because the primary issue in the Dukes decision was not whether Wal-Mart had discriminated against women, as alleged. Rather, the court was charged with determining whether members of the class had enough in common to allow the case to move forward.

California Wage and Hour Lawsuit Nets $2.2 Million Settlement

September 25, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

It is one of the largest providers of elder care in the country.

Emeritus Senior Living facilities boast hundreds of locations across the country, thousands of workers and rake in millions in profits.

And yet, as our Costa Mesa wage and hour dispute attorneys understand, when it came time to providing adequate compensation to those trusted to care for our most vulnerable citizens, the for-profit health care provider did everything it could to skirt employment laws and boost its bottom line.

California Religious Discrimination Case Won By Muslim Plaintiff

September 16, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

A Muslim woman’s right to don her religious hair covering at work trumps a clothing store company’s effort to maintain an “All-American” image, a federal court in northern California recently ruled.

In Khan v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., Case No. 11-cv-03162-YGR, U.S. District Court of Northern California, a federal judge granted the plaintiff’s motion for a partial summary judgment in the case wherein religious discrimination had been alleged.

The plaintiff had been represented by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A separate hearing has been set to determine the exact amount of monetary damages to be awarded.

Costa Mesa Employment Lawyers: Firms Must Properly Classify Workers

September 14, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

A new survey released recently by Inc.com indicates that roughly 20 percent of small business owners are voicing preference for independent contractors over full-time employees.

Part of the reason reportedly has to do with employer requirements under the soon-to-be-enforced Affordable Healthcare Act, but our Costa Mesa wage and hour lawyers recognize that employers likely see other benefits too.

Among the pluses noted by employers:

Workplace Race Discrimination Continues to be a Problem

September 11, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

One would have dreamed that 50 years after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made his now-famous speech in D.C. that we would be a nation beyond racism in the workplace and beyond.

Sadly, our Costa Mesa race discrimination lawyers now that is simply not the case, as a series of recent court cases so clearly illustrate.

One of those involves financial advising giant Merrill Lynch, which is gearing up to pay out the third-largest racial discrimination settlement ever on record: $160 million. The settlement amount was negotiated after some 1,000 black investment brokers and trainers, employed at the company from 2001 to the present time, alleged that supervisors routinely steered more profitable business to white workers.

Another Age Discrimination Claim Settled by AT&T

September 8, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

Telecommunications giant AT&T has settled yet another age discrimination claim, this time for $250,000 following a series of incidents surrounding a Missouri employee.

Our Costa Mesa age discrimination lawyers applaud any action that holds employers accountable. However, given that this is a relatively paltry sum for such a large firm and that this is far from the first time such claims have been made against this company in particular, we wonder how effective such settlements ultimately are in terms of deterrence.

This is particularly true when you’re talking about a company that rakes in $125 billion annually.

Age Discrimination Scrutiny Befalls Mandatory Retirement Policies

September 5, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is coming down hard on professional services firm Price Waterhouse Coopers, insisting that the large company do away with its mandatory partner retirement age policies.

Our Costa Mesa age discrimination attorneys know it’s not the first time the government has taken aim at the firm for this practice, which would impact some 60 partners. The EEOC contends that such policy is discriminatory. However, it has not, even up to this point, taken any legal action to strong-arm the firm into compliance, though it has started to fire off similar warning shots to other large accounting firms, such as KPMG and Deloitte.

In response, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has warned the EEOC to back off, contending that the polices are legal because they are applicable only to partners, and not employees. However, the EEOC maintains those workers are in fact employees.