Tenacious San Bernardino Employment Law Attorneys

Most employees have fewer resources and less power than their employers do. On top of that, it can be difficult for laypeople to understand just what the law says. For those reasons, it can be critical to retain a lawyer to put you on equal footing with your employer in the event that you have a dispute about wage and hour violations, discrimination, retaliation, or whistleblower retaliation. No matter which kind of dispute you have, call the experienced San Bernardino County employment lawyers to evaluate your case and help you choose the best course of action. If we represent you, we will use insights gathered over twenty years to fight for your rights.

The California Fair Employment Housing Act (FEHA) protects you against discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on personal traits so long as your employer has at least 5 employees. However, you are protected against sexual harassment even if you are your employer’s only employee. Adverse employment actions happen in a range of contexts including interviews, job applications, hirings, promotions, demotions, necessary training, or terminations. For example, if you are not given necessary training for your job after you come out as a trans woman, you may have a gender identity discrimination claim. Similarly, if you work in a warehouse and had been told you would be promoted into an office position, but because you are Mexican American, your new supervisor doesn’t think you can handle an office job and refused to promote you, you may have a claim for race or national origin discrimination.

California Labor Code section 1102.5 provides protection against whistleblower retaliation. Whistleblowers are employees who provide information that they reasonably believe are violations of state, federal, or local statutory or regulatory violations to the government or a law enforcement agency.

Furthermore, your employer is not allowed to adopt, enforce or even make a rule that could prevent you from whistleblowing. Your employer is not allowed to retaliate against you if you refuse to involve yourself in any illegal actions. What does this mean? It means that you can bring a lawsuit if you are the victim of whistleblower retaliation. For example, if your employer gives you an unfair performance review for reporting its Medicare fraud to the government, you may have grounds to bring a whistleblower lawsuit. Damages you may be able to recover include reinstatement, the restoration of benefits, the payment of lost wages, and even civil monetary penalties.

If you are a nonexempt employee, California labor law provides you with protections related to minimum wage, rest and meal breaks, overtime, uniforms, and equipment. Unfortunately, you are not protected if you are an independent contractor or exempt employee. However, you should be aware that some employers misclassify nonexempt employees as such in order to avoid providing mandatory protections. It’s important to consult a seasoned attorney if you think you may be due minimum wage, overtime, or another protection that you are not getting.

When the potential damages in a case are expected to be small, which is often the case with wage and hour violations, it may be difficult to find legal counsel to take your case. However, you may be able to join with similarly situated employees to bring a class action. For example, if your employer failed to pay you overtime for working through your lunch break, you and your coworkers who were treated the same way could bring a class action lawsuit. It’s important to consult the Calderone Law Firm, if you need to bring a class action, as these cases are complex, and we have the necessary experience.

Whether you’re worried about whistleblowing, harassment, retaliation, discrimination or wage and hour violations, call the seasoned San Bernardino County attorneys of Calderone Law Firm for a consultation and representation. Our founder, Vincent Calderone, has more than 20 years of experience representing employees in cities like San Bernardino, Victorville, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, and Fontana. Please contact us online or call us at (424) 348-8290.