Whittier

It can be extremely stressful to enter into a dispute with your employer. You may feel that your employer has an advantage—in many cases, employers have considerably more resources than do their employees. The seasoned Whittier employment lawyers of Calderone Law Firm can represent you whether your dispute involves discrimination, whistleblower retaliation, or wage and hour violations. Our years of experience give us insight into employment litigation, and we can put those insights to work for you.

Federal, state, and local laws prohibit workplace discrimination. Federal laws include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). They apply to midsize companies. In most cases, the strongest protection to workers is available under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), which applies to employers that have at least 5 employees. However, FEHA prohibits sexual harassment even when an employer has just one employee.

If your employer took an adverse employment action against you based on a trait that’s protected under FEHA or another anti-discrimination law like Title VII, you might be able to sue for discrimination. Adverse employment actions that may constitute discrimination include termination, failure to promote, firing, layoffs, disparate pay, or failure to hire.

Most employees are rightly nervous about reporting their employer for breaking the law, acting against public policy, or failing to follow regulations. Whistleblowers are those employees who report their employers’ legal violations and misconduct. It’s important to know that under California and federal laws, your employer is not permitted to retaliate against you for whistleblowing, as long as you reasonably believed that what you reported was a legal violation.

Retaliation is an adverse action taken by an employer because a whistleblower reported the employer. Adverse actions may include unfair write-ups or performance reviews, denial of training opportunities, failure to promote, demotion, or termination. Under California Labor Code 1102.5 you are protected against retaliation if you (1) reported the violation to someone with authority over you on the job or to a law enforcement agency or (2) you testified about the violation in front of a public body over the course of an investigation.

You should be paid fairly and in accord with the law. Federal, state, and local laws protect nonexempt employers with regard to a range of wage and hour issues such as minimum wage, overtime, meal and rest breaks, and uniforms. Gig workers and exempt employees are not protected under wage and hour laws; a nonexempt employee is typically one that has less control over how they perform their job tasks for the employer. Unfortunately, some employers misclassify their employees as exempt employees or independent contractors so that they can avoid adhering to wage and hour rules. The law, not your employer, determines whether you are a nonexempt employee who receives the protections of wage and hour laws, which is why it’s so important to consult an attorney if you are uncertain. When an individual employee would receive minimal damages for a wage and hour claim, it can be a good idea for multiple employees of the same employer who are in a similar situation with wage and hour violations to band together and file a class action lawsuit. It is important to choose knowledgeable class action lawyers like those at Calderone Law Firm to represent you and your coworkers in this challenging type of case.

Most often, employers are more powerful than those who work for them. Retaining experienced counsel can make a difference as to whether or not you’ll receive justice in your case against your employer. Call the experienced Whittier employment law attorneys of Calderone Law Firm to discuss your legal options. Our founder, Vincent Calderone, has more than 20 years of experience litigating employment lawsuits. Call us at (424) 348-8290 or contact us online.