Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

California Employee Retaliation Case Threatens to Slash Worker Protection Nationally

May 15, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

Los Angeles employment lawyers have been carefully watching developments in a California workplace retaliation lawsuit that raises new questions about the scope of protections afforded under federal labor laws. This could potentially endanger these protections – not only here in the Golden State, but across the country – if the National Labor Relations Board sides with the construction company employer in the dispute.

Many employment law attorneys and scholars agree that a core safety net in all labor statutes – state and federal – is the understanding that litigation is a protected activity. This principle forms the foundation of labor laws that prohibit employers from retaliating against employees for filing a lawsuit for things like unlawful discrimination or wage and hour violations.

Relying on New U.S. Supreme Court Precedent

More Gender Discrimination Claims Against Wal-Mart

May 14, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

This move comes after a legal technicality resulted in the dismissal of a gender inequality class action lawsuit brought by some 1,800 plaintiffs. Our Los Angeles gender discrimination lawyers know that it was not on merit that this case, filed in 2001, was dismissed in 2011.

But for many of those women, justice may never come. Some, including the primary plaintiff, are dead. Others have seen the statute of limitations run out on their claims. Some have been granted exception on those time limits since the case was reversed

The lead plaintiff lawyer in this case represented many of the others.

“We have unfinished business that we are determined to see to the end,” she told Law.com.

Workers Allege Felony Records Make Them a Target Racial Discrimination

May 13, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

When a warehouse in Illinois employing some 600 workers was bought out by a giant retailer, employees were informed they would get raises and a sizable boost in benefits. Instead, some 200 of them – all African Americans, all with criminal histories – were fired. Now, many are alleging racial discrimination by their new employer.

Some of these individuals had worked years at the facility, their felony backgrounds not having been an issue previously. They are suing for racial discrimination in employment.

Many of those with felony convictions are confused about their employment rights. Some applicants and employees assume that such action is allowed and part of their “punishment.” Although it is true that some adverse treatment against applicants in hiring or in reorganization. What is not lawful, per Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is disparate treatment or impact to individuals in a protected class using the felony conviction as a vehicle.

Invisible Disabilities and Workplace Discrimination in California

May 11, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

When it comes to disability discrimination in the workplace, many presume it is for the obvious or perceived disabilities – a genetic condition like Down syndrome or a traumatic injury that leaves one scarred or with lower physical capacity. Los Angeles disability discrimination lawyers, however, know that invisible disabilities can affect individuals too.

Workplace discrimination for these conditions usually comes in the form of assumptions of one’s ability based on stigma or the failure to understand why certain conditions require the treatment they do.

Some of the workplace disability cases our employment attorneys have taken on include:

Mild traumatic brain injuries
Attention hyperactivity disorder
Dyslexia
Fibromyalgia
Lupus
High-functioning autism
Multiple sclerosis
Heart problems

Workers with disabilities are protected against workplace discrimination by two primary federal laws: The Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In order to be covered by these protections, workers are required to disclose their disabilities, which we realize can be a tough decision. The truth of the matter is, discrimination often follows disclosure.

Invisible disability can impact both a person’s employment and financial future. Continue Reading ›

California Overtime Pay Lawsuit Accuses Chain of Wage Theft

May 8, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

California law requires workers be paid overtime provided they are non-exempt salaried workers and log more than 40 hours in a given week.

As noted by the California Department of Industrial Relations, the rate of overtime pay is 1.5 times one’s normal wages for every hour over 40, or all hours in excess of 8 in a given workday. Any hours in excess of 12 in a given workday must be paid at double the rate. With very few exceptions (based on the size of the company and traits of the industry) these are the rules.

California Wage Theft Alleged by Grocery Store Worker

Unfortunately, as our Orange County employment attorneys know, far too many employers skirt these rules. A wage and hour lawsuit recently filed against a grocery store chain in Berkley alleges the company systematically denied at least 50 of its workers fair overtime wages. The Daily Californian reports the worker has sought class action status for his claim, alleging numerous wage-and-hour law violations. Continue Reading ›

Employee Lawsuits Describe a Pattern of Pregnancy Discrimination at Amazon

May 6, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

Workers at Amazon fulfillment centers across the country – including right here in San Bernardino, CA – allege they were victims of pregnancy discrimination by their employer.

As reported by CNet.com, one worker said she was fired just two months after she reported her pregnancy to her bosses, who in the interim complained about her increased bathroom breaks and slowed pace over the course of subsequent 10-hour shifts.

Our pregnancy discrimination attorneys in San Bernardino have learned approximately half-a-dozen women are suing the technology giant, claiming pregnancy discrimination. Continue Reading ›

$7 Million Awarded in California Police Gender Discrimination Claim

May 1, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

A woman who served as chief of police in Baldwin Park, about 20 minutes outside of Los Angeles, has been awarded $7 million in a California race and gender discrimination employment lawsuit filed five years ago. The case was among the few gender discrimination claims in California to actually go to a jury trial.

Gender Discrimination in Police Departments

Federal law prohibits harassment on the basis of a person’s gender. This includes sexual harassment, of course, but also harassing a woman or making comments about females generally, as noted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Individuals of either gender can be either victim or harasser, and those involved can be supervisors, co-workers or clients/customers.

Although the law doesn’t bar “simple teasing,” isolated incidents of minimal seriousness and offhand comments, it’s illegal when it’s so severe or frequent that it creates an offensive and hostile work environment OR when the result is an adverse employment action, such as demotion or termination. Continue Reading ›

California Pregnancy Discrimination Alleged By Transit Agency Employer

April 29, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

Female bus drivers who say they were discriminated against for their pregnancies by their California employer the transit authority in California, are suing the agency, saying they were:

Exposed to carbon monoxide fumes;
Not given accommodation for lactation (forcing them to drive while they were uncomfortably engorged);
Refused reasonable modifications and arrangements that caused them physical stress, exhaustion and unplanned, unpaid leave that left them without health insurance coverage.

The four women say this treatment by the Northern California provider is in direct violation of the state’s fair employment housing act, which mandates reasonable accommodations for those enduring pregnancy-related disabilities – just as the companies would accommodate a worker with disabilities. The transit authority, they allege, made work life difficult for pregnant employees, and they are seeking to establish class action status.

What is Pregnancy Discrimination in California?

Older Workers Are Fastest-Growing Cohort – And Among Most Discriminated Against

April 26, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

Older workers are the fastest-growing group of Americans – and also some of the most vulnerable to adverse action on the basis of their age, which is a protected status under state and federal civil rights law. As age discrimination lawyers can explain, the law protects workers from age-based bias starting at age 40, but those over 65 are the most at-risk.

These individuals in decades past did not continue their careers much beyond this time, if at all, but that’s been changing. Reasons for this include:

Wage growth stagnation
Disappearing pensions
Delaying claims to Social Security benefits to maximize payouts
Longer lifespans
Not having much of a retirement to speak of or fearing it will run out way too soon

A survey conducted last year by Gallop found that more than 40 percent expect to work beyond age 65. That’s a sizable uptick since 2004, when 26 percent answered the same, and almost quadruple what it was in 1995. It’s likely to continue this upward trajectory. Continue Reading ›

California CROWN Act Would Combat Race Discrimination Based on Hairstyles

April 23, 2019 | by Nassiri Law

California lawmakers are mulling the possibility of a bill that would protect students and workers from discrimination based on the style of one’s natural hair, including braids, afros and twists. The CROWN Act (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) would add hairstyle and texture associate with race to anti-discrimination laws in the state.

The measure, which was passed by the state Senate, now faces challenge, will now be considered by the state Assembly. The sponsor of the bill was quoted as saying that dress codes effectively banning “kinky” hair penalize African Americans for their naturally-occurring hair texture. Many black individuals – women in particular – have spent a great deal of money on chemical treatments that are both harsh and damaging in order to fit prescribed Eurocentric standard for what “professional” hair looks like.

Los Angeles race discrimination attorneys know that people who are black – as both employees and applicants – have been denied employment and promotion and even fired for the way they chose to wear their hair. Black children in schools have been made to feel embarrassed and ashamed because their natural hair was considered “unruly” or some kind of a “distraction to others.” Continue Reading ›