Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

Bill to Protect Older Americans from Age Discrimination Passed by House

July 2, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

Age discrimination is an ongoing problem in workplaces throughout California and the U.S. Recognizing this, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill aimed at protecting older Americans, potentially making it easier to file suit for violations.

The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act was introduced earlier this year as part of a bipartisan effort. The goal is to restore workplace protections for 40-and-older workers that were undercut in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc., a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. That ruling made it tougher to prove age discrimination.

In that case, the high court held that plaintiffs alleging disparate treatment under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 must prove that one’s older age was the “but-for” cause of the adverse employment action. In other words, as our Los Angeles age discrimination lawyers can explain, the burden doesn’t shift to the employer to prove the action would have been taken regardless of age – even if the worker produces evidence that age was one motivating factor. The court held that ADEA doesn’t authorize a so-called “mixed-motives age discrimination claim.” Rather, it states that claims may be brought when an employer took some adverse action “because of age” and that age was the “reason” the employer decided to act. Continue Reading ›

$2.5 Million Paid in California Disability, Age Discrimination Lawsuits

June 28, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

The City of Huntington Beach has paid $2.5 million total to settle claims of disability and age discrimination allegedly perpetrated in part by the city attorney. The payout comes after the city paid $1.5 million fighting the claims.

According to The Orange County Register, two former employees allege the city’s former and current senior deputy city attorneys made numerous efforts to force them and other older workers out of their employment roles.

The case had been pending for two years, and council members, who had to approve the legal fees, insist the case has always been without merit, which is why they pushed the outside lawyers to prepare for trial rather than try to settle. Ultimately, though, they chose to settle with one claimant for $1 million and another for $1.5 million. Continue Reading ›

California Sexual Harassment Statute of Limitations Weighed by State Supreme Court

June 22, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

A decision on a California sexual harassment statute of limitations case is expected to be released sometime in the next few months, after the state supreme court heard oral arguments last month. The case involves a Los Angeles California trucking and distribution center, which was successful in winning a summary judgment against two former employees alleging sexual harassment on the basis the statute of limitations for the claim had expired. The plaintiffs are asking the California Supreme Court to reverse.

According to court records, the complaint was filed in the fall of 2017, both plaintiffs alleging the trucking company denied them promotions due to racial discrimination and further that they’d both been victims of sexual harassment.

One of the plaintiffs had been hired at the firm by a staffing agency in the late 1990s. She alleged she was dating an executive VP of the firm, starting in 2014, and this turned into a quid pro quo sexual harassment case. When the VP wanted to advance the relationship, she ended it. After that, she said her her promotions at the firm were blocked, though she continued to work at the staffing agency through 2018. (It should be noted the trucking company was the staffing agency’s only client, so the staffing agency was ultimately dismissed as a defendant after the court found that the trucking company was the one with sole decision-making authority over the staffing agency’s employees.) Continue Reading ›

Officials Target California Wage Theft Among Low-Income Workers

June 16, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

Wage theft is a problem among all income tiers, but it’s especially pronounced in the low-earning brackets – particularly immigrant workers, many in industries deemed essential at the height of the pandemic. Now, elected officials in Southern California are working on a number of proposals that would aim to curb these workplace abuses.

Among the changes, subcontractors of San Diego County would be required to publicly disclose certain employment information, including whether they are providing workers’ compensation insurance as required to their employees.

The measures come in response to numerous complaints of employee exploitation that include workers alleging they have not been paid for all the hours they worked and being denied the opportunity to stay home on days when they were injured or sick. Workers have been reticent to report such violations, fearing it may get them fired or possibly even deported. Continue Reading ›

Equality Act Offers Greater LGBTQ Protections

June 7, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

Almost 50 years after the first federal law protecting against LGBTQ discrimination, lawmakers are again faced with a vote that could provide additional protections for the community. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld several protections for LGBTQ people, but as our Los Angeles LGBTQ employment attorneys recognize, federal laws are needed to protect those in a growing number of states passing statutes that restrict LGBTQ rights. As it stands, the current, more conservative, Supreme Court has indicated its desire to bolster protections for religious freedom over LGBTQ worker rights.

Currently up for consideration is the Equality Act, a wide-sweeping legislation that would bar discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. It has already passed the House of Representatives and if it clears the Senate, will make its way to the desk of President Joe Biden.

The measure is important because, unlike here in California, LGTBQ workers in many other states do not have federal protections against discrimination in employment, housing and public spaces (although an overwhelming percentage of Americans mistakenly believe they do).

But the question is whether the Equality Act has any chance of becoming law. Continue Reading ›

California Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Alleges Female Prison Workers Harassed, Undermined

June 4, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

A California gender discrimination lawsuit has been filed against the state corrections department, with a female maintenance worker alleging her previous employer repeatedly harassed and targeted her because of her gender. Plaintiff says her former manager not only discriminated against her, but jeopardized workers’ safety and wasted money in the process.

According to The Sacramento Bee, plaintiff was passed over for a promotion and endured emotional and psychological stress due to the manager’s treatment. She’s seeking damages for lost wages, benefits and emotional distress. Ultimately, she is hoping the litigation will draw attention to how women are treated in male-dominated professions, prisons in particular.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, approximately 28 percent of the staff are female. For decades, women only worked in facilities housing female prisoners. But despite their ranks growing significantly in all sectors since the 1970s, female employees at all prisons have routinely suffered abuse and harassment from inmates and guards. It doesn’t help that for years, there has been public criticism of these workers, alleging the work is simply too dangerous for women and urging them to simply leave. Continue Reading ›

California Sexual Harassment Alleged by Art Gallery Workers at Fundraisers

May 30, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

An online complaint of sexual harassment endured by workers at art gallery fundraisers that has garnered a groundswell of support, the San Diego Union-Tribune recently reported. Submitted to Change.org as a signature drive, a former attendant at the San Diego Museum of Art alleged the organization routinely hosts booze-fueled fundraisers wherein guests feel free to grope female workers. Rather than protecting their employees, the complaint alleges, officials at the museum blamed staff and refused to consider adoption of policies that would stop them from being subjected to sexual harassment and abuse on-the-job. It seemed the concerns of women of color in particular were outright dismissed.

The complainant reported that they should not have to feel unsafe coming to work as, “We are not nightclub workers.”

Of course, it’s the position of our Los Angeles sexual harassment attorneys that no worker should feel unsafe coming to work for fear of sexual harassment – whether that workplace is in a nightclub, restaurant, office, airplane, tomato field or art museum. Continue Reading ›

Workplace Racial Discrimination Alleged at Same Retailer Accused of Bias Against Black Customers

May 22, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

When it comes to employment discrimination, there is rarely a single incident by one person that can be pointed to as proof positive evidence of wrongdoing. More often than not, discriminatory actions are the result of a workplace culture where microaggressions, snarky comments or bigoted attitudes are excused – if not encouraged – time and again. This is also why there so often is more than one victim, even if they are affected in different ways.

Recently, the former “head coach” of a Nike store in Santa Monica accused of racially profiling Black shoppers is now also accused of harassing and discriminating against the store’s Black employees. That’s according to a Los Angeles employment discrimination lawsuit filed last month.

According to the filing, as published by Bloomberg Law, two former employees at the Southern California store say that Nike and its former store manager are legally liable for racial discrimination, harassment, retaliation and more. They say the manager created a work environment that was not only pervasively hostile, but abusive. Many employees of color felt they had no choice but to resign. Most of those employees who quit were soon after replaced with White female workers. Continue Reading ›

California Disability Discrimination, Retaliation Lawsuit Over Office Chair Settles for $2 Million

May 16, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

California taxpayers are on the hook for more than $2 million after supervisors at the state’s Employment Development Department failed to reasonably accommodate a worker with disabilities and then allegedly retaliated against her.

As our Los Angeles employment disability discrimination lawyers can explain, reasonable accommodations for disabled workers are required under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Employers with more than five workers must provide these accommodations for people to apply for and perform the essential functions of a job, unless doing so would cause the company undue hardship. A reasonable accommodation could be alternative duties, medical leave, altering work schedules, moving one’s work area or providing electrical or mechanical aids – or a special office chair.

It’s illegal in California for an employer to forego engaging in a good faith, timely and interactive process when it comes to reasonable accommodations. The whole point of the law, of course, is to remove the kinds of barriers that would prevent someone from performing a job they could otherwise do with some accommodations. Continue Reading ›

California Wage Theft Lawsuit Alleges Overtime Violations

May 8, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

A Riverside wage and hour lawsuit alleges an employer failed to properly calculate overtime or compensate him for time spent each shift undergoing mandatory temperature screenings.

In the case of Solis v. The Merchant of Tennis, plaintiff further alleges non-exempt employees weren’t given the opportunity to take duty-free rest breaks, which is required pursuant to Wage Order No. 7 of the California Labor Code. Lastly, plaintiff asserts the company failed to fully and promptly compensate him all due wages when his employment was terminated.

These violations, plaintiff alleges, also amounted to violations under the California Unfair Competition statute. Plaintiff is seeking class action or collective status.

As our Riverside employment attorneys can verify, wage and hour disputes aren’t uncommon. Labor law violations in California in fact occur with some regularity. The question is what we can prove and how many violators are held accountable. Continue Reading ›