Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

California Pregnancy Discrimination: What to Expect (At Work) When You’re Expecting

November 20, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

Discrimination of pregnant workers is unlawful in California workplaces – an important protection given that women make up half the workforce and 85 percent of working women will become mothers at some point in their careers. And yet, research shows that over the last decade, there have been more than 50,000 pregnancy discrimination claims filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That excludes strictly state-level claims as well as instances that occurred but were never reported.

Recent analysis of national census figures reveal women in the United States work longer during pregnancy and return to work much sooner post-childbirth than ever before. Yet employers too often fail to follow the law, which is to provide reasonable accommodations for women temporarily impaired by a pregnancy- or childbirth-related condition – just as they would any other employee with a disability.

As our Los Angeles employment lawyers can explain, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, which amends Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. It is applicable to individuals (employees and applicants) who are disparately treated in a way that’s unfavorable in any aspect of employment. That can include hiring, termination, salary, tasks and assignments, promotions and benefits, training opportunities, promotions, and other conditions or terms of employment.

What Does Pregnancy Discrimination Look Like?

Even knowing there are laws in place to protect pregnant workers, it’s not always easy to recognize when you’re the one being impacted.

Some examples of California pregnancy discrimination: Continue Reading ›

Employee Disability Discrimination Alleged By Workers Pressed to Return to In-Office

November 17, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred many employers to adapt by allowing work-from-home arrangements. Now, with the risk of COVID having largely receded with the availability of vaccines, companies have been pressing staffers to return to in-person work. However, some workers have alleged the roll-out of these return-to-office plans has resulted in employment discrimination.

One such high-profile incident recently garnered a lot of headlines. Twitter Inc.’s controversial new CEO Elon Musk as reportedly notified employees (those remaining following a mass layoff) that they should steel themselves to return to in-person work – and long hours at highly intensive paces.

In response, a new class action employment lawsuit alleges this push is discriminatory against employees with disabilities. A former engineer who kickstarted the case says he was fired shortly after informing his boss of his desire to continue working from home because he’s immunocompromised (a cancer survivor) and more vulnerable to contagious illness.

Musk’s demand for in-office work wasn’t a complete shock; He’d made his plans known shortly after buying the tech firm. Exceptions, he said, would be extremely rare.

The federal employment lawsuit asserts that work-from-home is a reasonable accommodation for disabled employees who can carry out essential job duties off-site. What’s more, demands for workers to put in long hours at an all-out pace is an unreasonable expectation for disabled workers. Continue Reading ›

Show Me The Money: California’s Pay Transparency Employment Law Takes Effect in 2023

November 10, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

California Senate Bill 1162, recently signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is a broad pay transparency law that requires employers to include pay ranges in all job ads as of Jan. 1, 2023 – a measure that is intended to close the pay gap and prevent unlawful employment discrimination.

Pay transparency employment law is a catching trend. In addition to California, other states like Nevada, Colorado, Washington, Connecticut, Maryland, and Rhode Island do as well. New York passed a similar measure too, but it’s awaiting the governor’s signature (though New York City has its own pay transparency law).

As our Los Angeles employment lawyers can explain, publication of pay for various jobs is supposed to reduce or eliminate discrepancies in pay. It’s effective in this because it brings to light information that employers have historically wished to keep under wraps. (If you encourage employees to stay hush-hush about their salaries because it’s “impolite” or “against company policy” or a “company trade secret,” there’s less chance of them learning if some groups are being unfairly discriminated against in their pay.) It can help employee plaintiffs more easily make their case when pay disparities are clearly spelled out in black-and-white. And by posting the salary upfront in job ads, employers may be less likely to engage in discrimination by low-balling a prospective employee in starting pay on the basis of their protected status (be that race, religion, gender identity, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, age, etc.).

It is against existing law for companies to communicate with other employees about wages – per the National Labor Relations Act and California Labor Code Sections 232(a) and (b). Continue Reading ›

California Layoffs Without Notice Can Lead to Legal Trouble

November 7, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

Social media giant Twitter is facing legal action over allegedly laying off more than 950 workers without providing proper notice, as required under the federal and California WARN Act. WARN stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

Per the California Department of Industrial Relations, relocations, terminations, and mass layoffs in this state are regulated in Labor Code sections 1400-1408. Generally speaking, most large employers aren’t allowed to order mass layoffs, relocations, or terminations unless the employer provides written notice to employees 60 days prior to the order taking effect. Employers are also required to notify the state’s Employment Development Department. As our Los Angeles employment lawyers can explain, failure to do this can trigger recompense for ex-employees for back pay, the value of any benefits workers may have been entitled to during that time. Companies can obtain an exemption from the law if certain conditions under Labor Code section 1402.5 are met, but that doesn’t appear to have been the case here with Twitter.

Musk’s Rocky Start at Twitter Helm

As it’s been widely-reported, Twitter was recently purchased by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The acquisition deal had been in the works for months, but was finally sealed Oct. 28th for a $44 billion price tag. At the time, he promised to keep employee benefits and compensation the same.

News soon began to spread that Twitter would begin mass layoffs the first week of November. In an effort to eliminate costs, Twitter axed 50 percent of its workforce, reducing staff by 3,700 positions.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, alleges the company initiated layoffs starting Nov. 1st, with several employees saying they were in the first wave of mass layoffs, despite not receiving proper written notice in accordance with state and federal employment law.

Of note: It’s not the first time Musk has been accused of violating WARN laws. Continue Reading ›

California Age Discrimination Increasingly Prevalent

October 28, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

Age discrimination against workers is nothing new. It’s not unique to California or even to America. Unfair treatment of older workers is a common thread in many societies, with ageism becoming more prevalent in economies that are advancing even as their workforce ages.It’s estimated that by 2030, one quarter of the world’s workforce will be over 55.

We’re likely to see a growing number of California age discrimination lawsuits as two of the largest generations – Baby Boomers and Millennials – cross the over-40 threshold. (Baby boomers are currently between 58 and 67, while the Millennials can be as young as 26, but as old as 41.)

What is Age Discrimination?

How to File an Orange County Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

October 22, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

Workplace sexual harassment is a serious problem plaguing employees in California and beyond. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports that between 2018 and 2021, it received nearly 28,000 complaints alleging sexual harassment.

As our Orange County sexual harassment lawyers can explain, such conduct is against the law. Employees impacted by sexual harassment deserve to be compensated for the harm they’ve suffered. Filing a California sexual harassment lawsuit is the way to do it.

What Exactly is Sexual Harassment?

It’s not unusual for folks to glean a narrow view of what precisely is sexual harassment.

Many people think of it as the stereotypical quid pro quo type of situation. Basically, a boss demands sex from an employee and, if employee refuses, they’ll be fired. And that is sexual harassment, but not the only form of it.

Both California and U.S. law define sexual harassment as behavior that involves:

Unwanted sexual advances.
Unwelcome physical, visual, or verbal conduct of a sexual nature.
Offensive conduct that is directed at or based on someone because of their sex, gender, sexual orientation, or pregnancy.

Harassment can involve a supervisor, but sometimes it involves co-workers or even customers. The defining factor is if endurance of this conduct effectively becomes a condition of employment. If you complain to your boss and nothing is done to correct the situation – or worse, you are retaliated against for complaining – that’s when sexual harassment is legally actionable. Continue Reading ›

Orange County Workplace National Origin Discrimination Prompts EEOC Lawsuit

October 15, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

Allegations of Orange County workplace national origin discrimination at a California-based construction company has led to litigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The federal lawsuit alleges that for at least the last three years, supervisors at the construction company subjected Latino workers to harassment based on their race and national origin. In some cases, the workers were threatened with sexual assault.

As our Orange county employment attorneys can explain, while racial discrimination and sexual harassment are pretty well understood, national origin discrimination is less so. It involves treating applicants for employment or employees unfavorably on the basis of their actual or perceived place of birth, country of origin, ancestry, native language, accent, or because they are perceived as looking or sounding “foreign.”

In this case, construction workers were reportedly subjected to ongoing harassment in which their co-workers and supervisors referred to them as “wetbacks” and mocked them for not speaking English, and told them to “go back to where you came from.” In the bathrooms, anti-Latino graffiti would cover the walls, including offensive imagery and abusive language.

The Latino workers were also allegedly sexually harassed by co-workers, referred to as derogatory slurs, regularly shown explicit pictures, and threatened with sexual assault. Continue Reading ›

Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodations is a Form of California Disability Discrimination

October 10, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

Workplaces that fail to accommodate a worker’s injury or disability may be rightly sued for California employment discrimination.

As explained by the California Department of General Services’ Office of Human Resources, reasonable accommodation refers to logical adjustments made to a job and/or the work environment that enables a person who is disabled to perform the essential functions of that job. Reasonable accommodations don’t change the essential job functions or create jobs that don’t exist. But they are provided when accommodation is necessary to allow a person who is disabled to perform the essential job functions.

Employers have a responsibility to engage in a timely, good faith, interactive process to determine effective reasonable accommodations for employees who are disabled. When they do not, workers can take legal action against them by filing a California employment lawsuit.

That’s what happened in a recent case at a poultry farm in Merced County, Central California. Continue Reading ›

Several New California Employment Rules Signed Into Law

October 5, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

A number of new California employment laws are aimed at imposing greater employer responsibility to prevent workplace bias, including explicitly barring discrimination for off-the-clock use of cannabis and being more transparent when it comes to employee pay.

As a Los Angeles employment attorney, I’m here to assist and advise individuals who have been subject to workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or wrongful termination. These new laws means there are higher compliance expectations for employers to ensure pay equity, reduce wage theft, and reduce retaliation.

Pay Transparency

California Wage & Hour Lawsuit Plaintiff Given Green Light for Damages Under Both UCL & Statutory Claims

September 30, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

In pursuing a California wage & hour lawsuit, there may be several local, state, and federal regulations and laws under which claims may be brought. It’s not uncommon for employer defendants to try to argue dismissal of as many of those claims as possible on whatever grounds they can. Holding them to full account for each violation requires hiring an Orange County employment lawyer with extensive knowledge of the law and precedent, as well as a lengthy track record of success in similar cases.

Recently, a California appellate case underscored how claims may be filed under overlapping laws, with legal remedies available under each.

The case, Ayala v. U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Inc., was a class action case filed by drivers for a transportation firm whose services included cross-country truckload shipping. The plaintiff drivers allege the business wasn’t in compliance with California wage and hour laws because it paid employees by the length of the trip, versus how much time it took to make each trip. The company focused more on the approximate distance of each delivery, versus the actual hours drivers worked.