employment attorney in Orange County

Wrongful Termination Lawsuits in California

June 24, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news article from the Los Angeles Times, an employee who was fired from a prominent aerospace company filed a lawsuit against his employer claiming that his employer wrongfully terminated him. Unfortunately for this employee, a California jury did not agree with his claims, and a verdict was returned in favor of his former employer.

While California is an employment at will state, meaning that an employer can fire an employee for any reason and at any time without a showing of good cause, there are certain exceptions to this rule. One exception would be where the employee (possibly through a union collective bargaining agreement) has a contract that requires a showing of good cause to terminate the employee. Continue Reading ›

Ledbetter v. Good Samaritan Ministries – Employment Lawsuit “Loose Ends” Prevent Summary Judgment

February 21, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Plaintiff in Ledbetter v. Good Samaritan Ministries may have an uphill battle in proving his employment retaliation case, but there were too many “loose ends” for the trial court to have declared a summary judgment in favor of the defense, a federal appellate court recently ruled.

According to the decision handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the case stemmed from an original charge of racial discrimination and retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants in that case. But subsequently, plaintiff filed a separate action for retaliation, arguing he was being punished by his employer for filing the original claim.

While the district court again granted summary judgment to the employer, the federal appeals court reversed.

Bailey v. TitleMax – FLSA Not Undercut by Employee Underreporting Hours

February 15, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

When a company knows or should know a worker is under-reporting his or her hours, the firm can’t use the employee’s role to diminish its own responsibility under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

That was according to the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Bailey v. TitleMax. In its ruling, the federal appellate court reversed the summary judgment favoring the defendant company and remanded the case back to trial.

Had the court affirmed the earlier ruling, it would have allowed companies to wield superior bargaining power to pressure or even compel workers to under-report their hours, and then turn around and use that action as a defense if anyone complained. The Bailey ruling was an important one in furtherance of worker rights under the FLSA.