Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

California Laws on Company Vacation Policies

December 22, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

The start of a new year is often a time when workers start new jobs or get promotions. For employees moving into a new position, moving up in their workplace, or simply putting in another year of service, new benefits may be provided including vacation time. California has strict laws on employer vacation policies and companies need to ensure that they follow the rules. Workers also need to know what they are entitled to, because if an employer fails to follow guidelines for the creation of a legal vacation policy, workers may be able to take legal action.

Sam’s CEO Faces Allegations of Racism After Comments About Diversity in the Workplace

December 18, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Wal-Mart has been sued multiple times over the years by employees alleging discrimination. As National Organization for Women explains, female workers are routinely paid less than male workers at Wal-Mart, with women in 2001 making as much as $5,200 less per year on average as compared with male workers. The history of discrimination led to the “largest class action gender discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history.”

With this history of legal trouble related to discriminatory actions, it should come as no surprise that Sam’s Club– which is a division of Wal-Mart– would be in trouble again for making statements considered discriminatory. What is surprising, however, is that this time the allegation is being made that the CEO is prejudiced not against women or minorities but against white men.

A statement made by the CEO of Sam’s Club has sparked arguments across the Internet and in print, and has prompted some to organize a boycott of the store because of comments that some view as discriminatory.

LA County Metro Aims to Hire more Female Workers

December 15, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news feature from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the Los Angeles Country Transportation Authority (Metro) is planning to do a lot of construction work in the near future, and they expect many of the new workers to be women.

Technically, Metro will not be doing any of the construction on the five new major rail projects, because they will be awarding bids to general contractors, and these contractors will then hire employees to do the actual work. However, Metro does control the contracting process, and the agreements all require general contractors to employ at least the minimum percentage of female workers as outlined in the agreement. They could, of course, hire more than the minimum number of female employees required, and that would be perfectly fine with Metro. Continue Reading ›

Employers Must Respond Promptly to Claims of Harassment to Reduce Liability Risks

December 14, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

When an employee makes a claim of harassment, the employer has an obligation to take action. Employers may become liable for the creation of a hostile work environment if the company does not have a mechanism in place for reporting problems and does not take allegations seriously. There is ample legal history demonstrating an employer’s failure to move forward with investigating claims of harassment can result in significant legal liability when employees are victimized.

One recent case out of a federal district court in Illinois, demonstrates just how important it is for employers to be serious about taking prompt action quickly after discrimination or harassment claims are made. While decisions made by Illinois district courts are not binding within California, California and federal laws apply to require prompt actions from companies within the state as well. This means California employers could be just as vulnerable to litigation and could face similar outcomes when they don’t take complaints seriously.

New Tech Jobs in Los Angeles Available

December 13, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

In the past few years, we have been hearing a lot about what is being called cyber terrorism. Whether it involves breaking into government computers and breaching personal data on hundreds of thousands of employees and their families, hacking a Department of Defense database, or hacking Sony’s computer network to prevent the release of a major motion picture, cyber terrorism is becoming a major concern.

To help address this problem, the tech firms in California, especially, are working on new services they refer to as technology information security systems, and that means there are a lot of jobs being created. According to a recent news report from CBS Los Angeles, many of these new jobs are being created right here in Los Angeles and Orange County. Continue Reading ›

Steve Sarkisian Sues USC For Employment Discrimination after Termination

December 12, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Earlier this fall, the University of Southern California made headlines when they fired highly successful head football coach Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian, while successful on the sidelines, was having serious problems in his life, which included his battle with alcoholism. He not only admitted to being an alcoholic, but it is the basis for his recently filed wrongful termination lawsuit after he lost his job as Trojans head coach.

According to a recent news article from the Pacific Standard, people started becoming concerned about the health and wellbeing of the head coach, and this only become worse when he allegedly missed a practice in October of this year. He was then alleged to have shown up to a team booster and preseason game clearly intoxicated. He was fired shortly after this incident. Continue Reading ›

Palacio v. Jan & Gail’s Care Homes: A right to Meal Breaks for CA Employees

December 11, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

In Palacio v. Jan & Gail’s Care Homes, plaintiff was employed at defendant’s 24-hour residential care facility for developmentally disabled individuals. Defendant owned and operated six of these facilities and employed just less than 50 workers at any given time. There are numerous shifts for workers, so the facility can remain open for 24 hours. The shifts range in length from four hours to ten hours, and some are for part-time workers and others are for full-time employees.

Healthcare regulations in California require these centers to have staff on duty 24 hours a day to provide immediate care to the patients, so they are protected from illness, injury, fire, and any other kind of emergency that may arise at any give time throughout the day or night. One of the ways in which this is accomplished is by the center requiring employees who have direct patient care to work during meal periods. They are told when they are hired that they will be required to each lunch with the residents, and they will be given a free meal that is the same food as provided to the residents. Continue Reading ›

Kingsaire, Inc. v. Melendez: Retaliatory Termination for Filing Workers’ Compensation Claim

December 10, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Many employees are injured on the job and choose not to report their injuries to their employers out of fear that the employer will fire them if they request workers’ compensation. This is especially true with respect to many of the immigrant laborers living and working in the greater Los Angeles area. Unfortunately, many employers will routinely mistreat employees, because they think it will increase production, and they are not worried about the employee reporting them for a breach of the labor code of laws.

In Kingsaire, Inc. v. Melendez, an appeal from the Supreme Court of Texas, plaintiff filed a lawsuit against defendant on grounds that, when he was terminated, it was in retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim. Defendant had family-owned heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) business and hired plaintiff to work as a helper tradesmen in 2004. Plaintiff was responsible for welding frames on refrigeration units. Continue Reading ›

Casey v. Dep’t of Defense: Wrongful Termination

December 8, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Casey v. Dep’t of Defense, a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, involved an employee filing what is known as a Bivens action. This term comes from the 1971 cased entitled Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents. In its holding, the United Stated Supreme Court ultimately ruled that there is an implied cause of action for persons whose Forth Amendment rights have been violated. Bivens was later expended through subsequent case holdings to incorporate more rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights.

In Casey, plaintiff was a contractor working for an agency under the United States Department of Defense. She was working in the capacity of a civil contractor and was not an employee on the Government Schedule (GS) or a member of the United States Military. Specifically, she was a nurse coordinator with the Civilian Health Promotion Services Program at an Air Force base in Massachusetts. Continue Reading ›

New Employment Laws Taking Effect in the New Year in California

December 5, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Over the course of 2015, California lawmakers added more than a dozen new laws affecting the employer/employee relationship. Many of the new regulations officially take effect on January 1, 2016. Employers will be expected to follow new regulations from their effective date, so reviewing all new rules and requirements before the new year is important so companies have time to implement required changes.

Employees get many new benefits and protections from the new labor laws passed over the course of 2015, but must be aware of what their new rights are so they can take action in case their employer fails to comply.