I represent labor. These days this work is even more dangerous with power tools

I represent labor. These days this work is even more dangerous with power tools, toxic machinery, and rollable ride-ons.
At the end of the day every job is hard work; some more physically or emotionally than others. As somebody who does hard labor in construction, difficult legal cases involving difficult personalities, and performs sketch comedy after writing it every week there's a lot I know about labor besides representing employees for 25 years.

#employeelawyer #labor #jobs #hardwork

Retaining wall in progress.

Retaining wall in progress. Heavy CMC (Concrete Masonry Unit), a danger if not lifted properly.

#retainingwalldesign #laborlawfirm

Carpet installers

Carpet installers are famous for developing knee problems. They are on their knees all the time, and often use their knees to pound which is a terrible idea due to bone fragments.
As a labor lawyer you develop a knowledge of the job hazards for multiple industries.

#workinjurylawyer #laborlawyer

Garbage day on Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills. My new iphone X takes terrible pictures. This is the best I got, but there was some pretty spectacular stuff there.

#CandyCaneLane #WoodlandHillslaborlawyer

If I told you this bridge was in Studio City would you believe me? Well, it is in Studio City. It connects Los Angeles River walks and is open to the public.

#StudioCity #LosAngelesRiver #StudioCitylaborlawyer

Sometimes I use my lawyer skills to help the community. Today I appeared at a public hearing about a terrible hillside development Harvard Westlake plans. They want to spend 30 months to remove dirt from the hillside, fill 28,000 giant trucks, put a bridge across Coldwater Canyon and build a 9 story retaining wall for a parking garage for 28-100 of their students. Talk about trying to dupe public officials! A lawyer would be disbarred for misleading the judge if they tried a stunt like this!
Who'd spend $50,000,000-$150,000,000 to build that kind of an eyesore just for parking for a few rich kids who refuse to carpool? It doesn't take a genius to see they want to establish themselves on the other side of Coldwater Canyon in the middle of a residential neighborhood in order to justify some big time expansion in a few years.
What was particularly creepy about this public hearing is these reject types who seemed to be living off of daddy's money 30 years later showed up unshaven to say they were from Zuma or Beverly Hills and they supported the project because they were trying to protect the high school they went to 30 years ago. This was mixed with all sorts of elderly residents talking about the probability of the dust storm causing Valley Fever, admitted warnings pregnant women and young children should not be in the area due to the construction, getting sick from something Harvard Westlake uses on their field which was a known poison and the school offering to buy their home, saying they would probably die in case of an emergency if traffic from the structure were diverted onto their street because the people in the structure might get out but they would not, and they would have a field light shined in their living room at night so they could not watch TV.

#StudioCitylaborlawyer #stopHarvardWestlake

Does this look fun? I think not. If you want to go to the Labor Board, the EEOC, the DFEH, or some other governmental agency to go about pursuing your employee rights on your own this is the sort of mess you will run into.
This is actually the DMV in Van Nuys. While the wait might be two hours you might be able to figure out your license situation on your own. An employment lawsuit handled by an employee; no such luck. And who is to say how long you will wait to be rejected in court.
Representing employees since 1993 with a high win and monetary dollar recovery rate - 1-877-525-0700 for the Employment Lawyers Group

#employeelawyer #EEOClawyer #Laborboardlawyer

This is a common sight in the Sherman Oaks area these days. Homes and multi-family residences are quickly fenced off after they are purchased by a developer who will quickly knock them down. These residences are typically late 1940s and 1950s construction, but some of them are older.
Oddly, I am not receiving telephone calls from the employees who work for these developers. Either they do not have employees, or they are following labor laws.

#laborattorneyShermanOaks #employeelawyer

In May I will have lived in the Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks/Studio City area for 40 years. My mother arrived in 1949. My grandfather bought this new Sherman Oaks home with a GI bill in 1949. Last Sunday on a bike ride I noticed the expansion of this $13,000 home (in 1949). I believe my grandfather sold it in the 60s in the 30s. Walking to Chandler Elementary my mother was harassed by a bull on Hazeltine in the 1950s. Boy has the Valley changed.

#ShermanOakslaborlawyer

Paris, London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles Valley College all cultural meccas of the civilized world. Like any other place of importance Los Angeles Valley College is undergoing massive construction. Hopefully the beautiful mid-century front awning will not go.

#Valleylaborlawyer #LosAngelesValleyCollege

The oil business is still alive in Van Nuys. A few years ago I deposed somebody who was working at this Shell site after leaving the oil outfit we were suing.

#oilfieldlaborlawyer #VanNuyslaborlawyer

The Sherman Oaks Street Fair Today. When the Fair started in the 1990s there were many more interesting sellers of handmade goods and artists. Instead of vendors most of the tables are hosted by professional and large businesses in the area giving out meaningless objects. Although there were plentiful food trucks there was not any coffee or hot beverages for sale. By Van Nuys Boulevard there were a handful of classic cars. How in the world could there be so few classic cars so close the entrance of former Van Nuys Boulevard Cruise Night? Instead of fun rides for kids there were a few inflatables hosted by a para-military organization (very nice kids volunteering). The only worthy thing were pet adoptions.
Whoever is in charge of the Sherman Oaks Street Fair needs to pass the torch.

#ShermanOaksStreetFair #laborlawyerShermanOaks

Tonight in North Hills we unloaded blue granite from a German shipping container that brought our shipment of granite from Brazil to the Port of Los Angeles. It took about three hours with our highly skilled crew.
We suspect we will have left over slabs on the blue fantasy to the left if anybody wants a deal on hard to obtain granite. We're using this stuff for the interior of our Oxnard office.

#bluegraniteforsale #NorthHillslaborlawyer

Modern buildings now occupy the Los Angeles Valley College landscape, but the story goes something like this... Thirty years ago, around this time of the year, I was 16 and in my first year of college. I visited the LAVC job board and found a job working for a plaintiff's lawyer. This September I can say I've been in the legal business, particularly the plaintiff's side, for thirty years!

#LAVC #LosAngelesValleyCollege #Valleylaborlawyer

Not Beverly Hills. Actually, Studio City about a mile from the Sherman Oaks office. My guess is these palm trees are over 75 years old.

#LosAngelesPalmTrees #StudioCitylaborlawyer

View westward from Van Nuys Boulevard with the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks War Memorial Park to the top left.

#VanNuysShermanOaks #laborlawyerinShermanOaks

If you come to the Sherman Oaks office there is a good chance you will be in a film shoot. On Friday they shot a TV show a block going North on Ventura and several residential blocks in back. A lot of the local businesses must have relationships with location managers. At least once a month this type of filming happens in the commercial neighborhood on Ventura Boulevard including the restaurant next to the office.

#ShermanOaksLaborLawyer #ShermanOaksfilmshoots

We're not knocking down our Sherman Oaks office! We're just getting a new air-conditioner. Most of this year I have, "Labored away" without a working air-conditioner that feeds my particular office. The only air-conditioner I have not replaced in my 17 year tenure in this building is now scrap metal.

#workattorneys #Laboringlawyers

Ok all you Valley people, tell me where these scenes are from this 1968 Doris Day movie. I believe some of this is on Riverside Drive. I am not sure if this is Burbank or the Toluca Lake side, or both. When they circle the driveway is that Toluca Lake, or is it the Longridge Estates area of Sherman Oaks?

#SanFernandoValleyMovieLocations #DorisDay #Burbanklaborlawyer #WithSixYouGetEggRoll

I have represented employees since 1993. I am licensed in California, Massachusetts, Texas, and Washington D.C. I have tried and arbitrated numerous cases under various disability acts.
The ADA and state employment laws were enacted to protect what was then referred to merely as, "Deaf." In many cases minimal assistive devices enable a hearing impaired worker to perform a job. Employers have a very difficult time proving it is an undue burden to accomodate a disabled employee who needs an assistive device that costs less than $500-$1,000. With modern technology there are many ways a hearing impaired employee can perform most jobs.
The problem, supervisors are too busy and sometimes disabled employees do not properly voice what it is they need to do their job given their limitations. Co-workers, even today, are a problem. They may claim communication difficulties, slow down of operations, or prefer not to work with a disabled employee who needs assistive devices.
The recent defenses I see employers make for hearing impaired include:
Safety risks to the worker and others. An employer hired a deaf worker to work on a loading dock. Because he could not hear forklifts or large trucks backing up they claimed he was a safety hazard
The need to communicate some how prevents hearing impaired employees from working
Some how it materially slows down the work operation for assistive devices to be used
Because I am dedicated to helping employees with disabilities, and live in a household with disability, I try my best to serve the labor needs of disabled workers. Additional, legally related articles I wrote can be found at:
https://employeelawca.com/los-angeles-disability-discrimination-lawyer/
https://employeelawca.com/california-employment-disability-discrimination-law/
https://joblawyer.net/disability-discrimination.shtml
Please consider these additional resources:
California Government Code Section 12940 is the Fair Employment and Housing Act. It governs disability discrimination in employment
42 U.S.C. 12000 onward is the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
In Washington D.C. they also have a Disability Office with a website:
https://odr.dc.gov/
In Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission may be of assistance with disability claims:
https://twc.state.tx.us/jobseekers/disability-discrimination
If your problems are not employment related, but public accomodation access related I am not a legal expert. However, there are many attorneys in most metropolitan areas who handle public access/ADA lawsuits. Often, the same government agency that handles employment discrimination claims will take claims for public accomodation violations.
A parting word of advice: do not be shy when communicating with your employer about your need for accomodation. The worst thing an employee can do is to be vague, or afraid to tell their employer. Employers will have an easy time saying they are not responsible for what they did not know.

#localdisabilitydiscriminationlawyer #ADAlawyer

Valley Village, formerly North Hollywood. This is the former site of Galaxy Car Wash where I used to get my car washed in college and maybe law school. Not even 50 years old and it got razed.
I wonder what the plan is for this large space. I'd rather see a shul or yeshiva here than a large condo, apartment building, or mixed use project with retail space nobody wants to rent.

#ValleyVillagelaborlawyer #Valleylaborlawyer

Before Sherman Oaks' sidewalks crumbled a movie theater graced the Southeast corner of Ventura Boulevard and Noble. Later when the office building replaced the movie theater I worked in the office building in 1989 while going to college.

#ShermanOakslaborlawyer #TheSherman

Famous liquor store marquee in the Encino area of Ventura Boulevard right before Tarzana.
A lot of mom and pop businesses that started in the earlier days of the Valley are going out of business and being replaced by corporate businesses; not this one though. Corporate takeovers of small leases usually lead to low wage workers, cut-throat corporate employment practices, and a different labor force than the old time mom and pops. Profits also generally leave the local area.

#VintageEncino #Valley #LaborLawyer

This seemingly meaningless picture has enormous significance to this Sherman Oaks employment lawyer. This was taken in roughly the spot where Barone's used to be; at one time the longest running restaurant on Ventura Boulevard. The reflection in the building across the street is of Sherman Oaks' first, "Mixed Use" project above Islands on Ventura Boulevard from which this picture was shot. A few doors down from this location is a tattoo parlour that at one time was a real estate office my parents used to buy the house in Sherman Oaks that moved me into the area in 1977.
Child labor, or a proud day? After six plus years watching me water the plants on the balcony of the Sherman Oaks office he was finally allowed to go out on his own (with lead counsel supervising) and do it. He did it just right. Now we will have to clean up all of the garbage and dirt on the on the balcony.
This is what you will find at the top of Dixie Canyon Place which runs in back of my Sherman Oaks office. This is a Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Preserve Warren Beatty paid to do something that caused a plaque with his name at the start of the climb.
The rock to the right is harder than shale. It may be limestone.

#ShermanOaks #hikingtrails

Sherman Oaks from Fulton to west of Van Nuys Boulevard and north past Victory Boulevard. My Sherman Oaks office is not far below this precipice, slightly to the left. I have been serving this end of the San Fernando Valley as a labor lawyer since my career began almost 21 years ago.

The 134 Freeway looking North, in Burbank less than 7 miles from my Sherman Oaks office. This is the road to my Sherman Oaks office from Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, and East towards San Bernardino. Hundreds of clients have travelled this path for superior employee representation. Thousands of defense witnesses have used this path come to my cross-examination hell.
Happy Halloween From the Studio City side of the Longridge Estates, just blocks from my Sherman Oaks office. The crowds were milder than in years past and so were the Halloween decorations. Notwithstanding I noted a few potential labor abuses: 1) domestic employees beyond their 45 hour in a week handing out candy without being paid overtime; 2) children under 12 directing other children to get candy from their homes.
Administrative hearings happen in the oddest places. This is a community room at the William Hart Park in Newhall, California. Today I appeared at an administrative hearing in this room. I prevailed in the administrative hearing in a manner that has a monetary value of more than $228,000 over the next 40 years, and another $85,500 if the interested party lives to 100.
The administrative agencies typically used in employment cases include the EDD for unemployment benefits, the DFEH and EEOC for discrimination, and the Labor Commission for various wage issues.

#EEOC #lawyer

I was one of the first lawyers to use Labor Code Section 2699. By 2005 I had tried a 2699 case, given two MCLE lectures on it, and published at least one article on California Labor Code Section 2699 which was not yet referred to as PAGA by every Tom, Dick, and Harry. By 2007 many were critical of 2699 and claimed it was too much trouble for a 25% recovery for clients. By 2007 I had arbitrated a 2699 case for 69 aggrieved employees and won, but did think it was a lot of trouble for around $300,000 in 269 penalties. I sent the DLSE a check and they acted like it was the first one they ever got. I had sent a few before.
With Iskanian there will be a rush of 2699 filings. Perhaps this will deter some employers from class action waivers which have become a real problem for wage and hour class actions. Within the last year two excellent potential class actions of mine have devolved into 5-8 employee arbitration actions. I doubt I am alone.
Karl Gerber, Lead Trial Counsel of Employment Lawyers Group https://employeelawca.com/los-angeles-class-action-lawyer

#Sherman #Oaks

Happy Halloween From the Studio City side of the Longridge Estates, just blocks from my Sherman Oaks office. The crowds were milder than in years past and so were the Halloween decorations. Notwithstanding I noted a few potential labor abuses: 1) domestic employees beyond their 45 hour in a week handing out candy without being paid overtime; 2) children under 12 directing other children to get candy from their homes.

Administrative hearings happen in the oddest places. This is a community room at the William Hart Park in Newhall, California. Today I appeared at an administrative hearing in this room. I prevailed in the administrative hearing in a manner that has a monetary value of more than $228,000 over the next 40 years, and another $85,500 if the interested party lives to 100.The administrative agencies typically used in employment cases include the EDD for unemployment benefits, the DFEH and EEOC for discrimination, and the Labor Commission for various wage issues.