Recent Blog Posts
How to File a Discrimination Claim in California
California is a state that has dedicated itself to rooting out and eliminating workplace discrimination. California has very strong anti-discrimination laws and an established process for bringing workplace discrimination claims. However, discrimination is still all-too-common; California’s state agency tasked with fielding discrimination complaints reported nearly 25,000 discrimination complaints filed by California workers in 2017… Read More »
Most Common Illegal Reasons to be Fired From Work in California
California law protects workers, dictating how, when, and under what circumstances an employee may legally be fired, laid off, let go, or otherwise terminated. Even with at-will employment, companies are not permitted to discriminate or retaliate against workers for improper reasons. Wrongful termination arises when an employer fires a worker in violation of a… Read More »
How to Know if You are in a Hostile Work Environment
Discrimination, retaliation, harassment, or other signs of a hostile work environment may not be as readily apparent as you might think. Most of us are conditioned to ignore confrontation and go with the flow, downplaying slights made against us. You may not realize that behavior that is actively harming your work life or your… Read More »
Amazon Faces Multiple Lawsuits Alleging Pregnancy Discrimination
Amazon is one of the largest employers in the U.S. and globally, tallying over 647,500 employees worldwide as of 2018. Regardless of its size, Amazon, like any other employer in the U.S., must comply with all labor and anti-discrimination laws nationally and within each state. A series of lawsuits alleges that Amazon’s U.S. warehouses… Read More »
What Kinds of Employee Benefits are Required in California?
California law requires employers to provide certain types of benefits to employees. Other benefits are not required by law but may have been guaranteed in the employment contract. Benefits are an important part of an employee’s overall compensation package, just like income and bonuses, and employers can be held accountable if they run afoul… Read More »
LGBT Police Officer Sues Claiming Discrimination
A former California Highway Patrol officer has brought a lawsuit against the CHP alleging that he suffered discrimination and felt unsafe at work as a result of his sexuality. The new lawsuit is one of a wave of lawsuits that have been brought against law-enforcement agencies across the U.S., at least 11 since 2016…. Read More »
New California Bill Seeks to Ban Hair Discrimination in Workplace
Workplace discrimination can take many forms, from the overtly discriminatory to the more subtle. One area that has been gaining attention recently is actual or perceived discriminatory behavior based on appearance. More specifically, workplaces that mandate certain hairstyles of their employees have been accused of using neutral-sounding appearance requirements that in reality prohibit the… Read More »
California’s New Expanded Workplace Harassment Protection Law
California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) has established a series of prohibitions on employer conduct, making discrimination and harassment unlawful in a variety of situations. Senate Bill 1300, signed into law by Governor Brown on September 30, 2018, expands the protections of FEHA. The law went into effect on January 1, 2019. Below… Read More »
Court Dismisses San Francisco Lawsuit Against DOJ for Rescinding Discrimination Guidance
The Trump administration rescinded several guidance documents that set standards for evaluating compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as well as claims of discrimination on the basis of national origin. The City and County of San Francisco sued the Department of Justice (DOJ), alleging that the agency did not follow proper procedure… Read More »
Transgender Discrimination is Still Banned in California, Despite Federal Efforts
The rights of transgender people under federal law are in flux. The Trump administration is working to roll back transgender protections, including by seeking a narrow federal definition of “gender.” This would effectively eliminate federal civil rights protections in, for example, the education and employment contexts for Title IX and Title VII purposes, respectively…. Read More »
