Suing Employers

Employee Breach of Contract Cases include breaches of implied, oral, or written contracts. Sometimes the legal theory promissory estoppel or promissory fraud comes into play. Many employers cause employees to detrimentally rely such as getting them to quit a job and then never allowing them to work. We have succeeded on this fact pattern under promissory estoppel. We have also sued for fraud when the employer causes the employee to accept a job based upon false facts.

Discrimination in Employment includes age discrimination against employees over 40, disability discrimination, California Family Rights Act Leaves also referred to as FMLA leaves of absence or CFRA violations, national origin discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, race discrimination, and sex discrimination.

Workplace discrimination often occurs through harassment. Employees may be harassed about their disability, pregnancy, or sex. We have won many workplace harassment cases. Other discrimination cases involve an employer treating an employee differently due to a protected characteristic such as disability or sex.

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) cases involve employees whom qualify for CFRA/FMLA leaves of absence. To qualify the employee must have worked for the employer a minimum of 1,250 hours within the last year, and the employer must have 50 or more employees in a 75 mile radius. These workers are either denied a FMLA leave of absence, or retaliated against for taking the leave of absence from work. CFRA/FMLA leaves of absence are due to serious medical conditions of the employee, or their family members.

Sexual Harassment can be verbal, physical, or even in writing (text messages or letters). We represent employees who have been sexually harassed by bosses, customers, managers, supervisors, and the owners of the business. Retaliation is typical, but unfortunate, in sexual harassment cases. Retaliation may involve termination of employment, or creating adverse job consequences to the employee who is unhappy about a pattern of sexual harassment.

Unpaid Wage Cases involve violations of the California Labor Code, and sometimes the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which is the Federal Labor Code. Wage and hour issues we prosecute for employees include unpaid bonuses, commissions, double time, meal breaks, minimum wage violations, overtime, prevailing wages, and rest breaks. Some wage and hour issues are straight forward. Others involve an employer’s complex scheme to rip-off their employees and avoid paying wages due. Failing to pay employees for all hours worked, time shaving, and other actions designed to underpay workers are referred to as employee wage theft. Wages due include salaries, commissions, bonuses, and money promised through a contract. Wages also include hourly wages. Unpaid wage cases also occur when workers are not reimbursed for expenses they incur while working which benefit their employer.

Our employment lawyers handle class action lawsuits in which multiple employees were exposed to the same illegal labor conditions. Presently we are handling a class action involving the nonpayment of meal breaks for dispatchers, and also one for workers in the healthcare industry. Another one of our class action lawsuits involves the nonpayment of prevailing wages for construction workers. A fourth involves the nonpayment of minimum wages, overtime, not paying employees for all hours worked, and paystubs which fail to comply with the California Labor Code.

Whistle Blower Lawsuits occur when employees complain internally to their employer, or externally to a government agency that their employer is violating the law. The employee’s complaint the employer is violating the law does not have to be 100% legally accurate. If the employee reasonably believes the employer is engaged in suspicious or illegal conduct and complains they are whistleblowers. Some whistleblowers complain to the government. Other employee whistleblowers merely complain within the company to managers and high level employees or officers of the employer. If an employee is fired for blowing the whistle they can sue for wrongful termination.

Wrongful Termination occurs if there is whistleblowing. Wrongful termination also occurs if an employee is fired due to discrimination. Additionally, engaging in protected conduct at work such as complaining on behalf of others about a protected workplace right such as the right to be free from sexual harassment and then being fired leads to wrongful termination. In certain circumstances the employer intends to terminate the employee’s employment in an effort to avoid paying them wages. Firing an employee to avoid paying them any wage is wrongful termination.