This is a very common question. At-will employment does not mean that the company can fire you for any reason they want. That is incorrect. In this video, employment attorney Branigan Robertson explains the at-will doctrine and how it actually works.
Category Archives: FEHA
New Video! The Ultimate Guide to Discrimination Law
I am pleased to release another whiteboard video! This video is all about discrimination law. It details the legal definition of discrimination, the statute of limitations, how much cases are worth, what to do if you are still employed, quit, or have been fired, and much more.
If you want to learn more about unlawful workplace discrimination in California, visit our main discrimination page here.
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Filed under Discrimination, FEHA, Uncategorized
New Video! How to Prove Discrimination at Work
I am pleased to release our latest whiteboard video! This video is all about how to prove to HR or management that you are a victim of discrimination. It also details how discrimination lawyers prove discrimination.
If you want to learn more about unlawful workplace discrimination in California, visit our main discrimination page here.
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Filed under Discrimination, FEHA
New Video! How Much Money are Discrimination Lawsuits Worth?
I am pleased to release our latest whiteboard video! This video is all about how much money discrimination lawsuits in California settle for. It focuses entirely on the monetary value of unlawful discrimination. It details how much cases are worth and why.
If you want to learn more about unlawful workplace discrimination in California, visit our main discrimination page here.
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Filed under Discrimination, FEHA, Settlements, Severance, Verdicts
When Does Favoritism Become Harassment at Work?
We all hear the typical workplace stories of the male supervisor being overly generous to the young and attractive female subordinate. But at one point does sexual favoritism become a hostile work environment, and therefore a violation of law? This is a tricky question with an answer that is not exactly clear cut.
Sexual Favoritism and CA Employment Law
Interestingly enough, it is not unlawful for a supervisor to favor a subordinate with whom he or she has a romantic relationship. However, it may be unlawful and create a hostile work environment if the favoritism is based upon the granting of sexual favors, it is widespread throughout the workplace, and employees witnessing the favoritism do not welcome such conduct. It does not matter if the employee claiming hostile work environment was the target of such conduct, they can merely be a witness to the conduct.
Under California law, an employee may establish a claim of sexual harassment by demonstrating that widespread sexual favoritism was so severe as to alter his or her working conditions and create a hostile work environment. What is severe as to alter the employee’s working conditions depends on the fact of the case.
Case Study: Salinda vs. DIRECTV Inc.
Salinda is a great example of widespread sexual favoritism in the workplace. Plaintiff was an employee of the Defendant for several years. After a few years of employment with Defendant, Plaintiff witnessed favoritism for young and attractive female employees by male managers and superiors. Further, these female employees would perform sexual favors for the male managers and superiors.
After she complained of this, certain managers and employees were fired. However, years after this first incident, sexual favoritism ensued again. She again complained about the widespread sexual favoritism. Around the same time, Plaintiff was diagnosed with disease of the eye. When she requested a reasonable accommodation, Defendant retaliated against Plaintiff by verbally reprimanding her on her job performance. Soon after, Ms. Salinda was fired.
Plaintiff argued that, among other things, she was retaliated against for her complaints regarding widespread sexual favoritism in the workplace. Defendant argued that Plaintiff was terminated for legitimate reasons having to do with poor job performance. The jury sided with the Plaintiff, and awarded the Plaintiff $1,178,341 in damages.
Sexual Favoritism is Unlawful in California
Sexual favoritism in the workplace is not an uncommon occurrence whether it is between a male and female, male and male, or female and female. Sadly, some larger companies give their star executives too much discretion in the workplace, and sometimes these executives will have employees engage in sexual favors to get ahead in the workplace. If you feel you are a victim of widespread sexual favoritism at your work, then contact an employment lawyer to see if the law was broken.
- More information about workplace harassment can be found here.
- More information about hostile work environments can be found here.
- More information on sexual harassment can be found here.
Filed under FEHA, Harassment
Reasonable Accommodation – California Employment Law
Employers have an affirmative duty to reasonably accommodate disabled employees. Our firm gets quite a bit of calls from potential clients who have a disability, yet their employers fail to accommodate them so they can perform their job duties. While not all disabilities are protected under the law, generally, employers are required to reasonably accommodate an employee’s known disabilities so that the employee can perform the essential functions of the job.
How Can an Employer Reasonably Accommodate a Disabled Employee?
How to reasonably accommodate an employee depends on the employee’s disability and what he or she can perform given his or her limitations. Therefore, there is no one specific way to accommodate an employee. Rather, there are many different ways an employer can reasonably accommodate an employee.
FEHA provides a list of just some of the ways in which an employee can be reasonable accommodated. This list includes some of the following.
- An employer can make the work facilities readily accessible to the disabled employee. An employer can do this by modifying furniture or equipment for use by the disabled employee, or reserving a parking place for the disabled employee so he can park closer to work.
- The employer can also modify the disabled employee’s work schedule. For example, if an employee is treated for cancer in the afternoons, then the employer can change the employee’s work schedule so he comes in earlier to work and leaves earlier for his cancer treatments so he gets a full day of work and completes his daily tasks.
- An employer can even reasonably accommodate a disabled employee by having the employee work from home.
This listed examples is not exhaustive, there are many more ways an employer can reasonably accommodate a disabled employee.
What About Assistive Animals?
Here is something very interesting related to reasonable accommodation. Under California law, an employer must allow for assistive animals in the workplace as a form of reasonable accommodation. Assistive animals include guide, support, or service dogs. This includes animals that provide emotional support to a disabled employee suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders and even depression.
Contact An Employer Lawyer if You Have Reasonably Accommodation Questions
Unfortunately, a lot of times employers can be lazy and do not want to work with the disabled employee. But there are often multiple ways an employer can reasonably accommodate a disabled employee. If you are a disabled employee and your employer is failing to provide reasonable accommodation, or has fired you because they do not want to provide a reasonable accommodation, then call an reasonable accommodation & disability employment lawyer for a free consultation.
Filed under Disability, FEHA
Unpaid Volunteers and Interns Are Accorded Some of the Same Protection as Paid Employees Under FEHA
This year the California Legislature enacted various new employment laws. Most likely, the typical employee is unaware of the new employment laws enacted by the Legislature, thus it may be good to review some of the new 2015 labor laws from time to time. One of the more interesting newly enacted labor laws passed by the Legislature includes expanding anti-discrimination and anti-harassment protections under California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) to unpaid interns and volunteers.
Prior to 2015, unpaid interns and volunteers were not protected from under the FEHA anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws. Rather, prior to 2015, the only unpaid workers who were protected by FEHA were those unpaid workers that were engaged in a program that would lead to a paid employee position.
Now, the 2015 law expands FEHA to protect unpaid interns and volunteers from discrimination and harassment based on, among other things, race, religion, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, age, or military and veteran status. Now, any discrimination or harassment based on a protected characteristic against an unpaid intern or volunteer is unlawful if it occurs at any time while the intern or volunteer is working for the employer. For example, it is now unlawful for an employer to sexually harass a volunteer or unpaid intern in the workplace.
At the end of the day, this is a win for Californians who are using a volunteer position or unpaid intern position to obtain a paid position. At a time when securing employment is rather difficult, it is important that those who are working unpaid with the hopes of securing a paid position are also protected from employer misconduct. If you are a volunteer or an unpaid intern, and your employer is discriminating against you or harassing you, then call a California employment lawyer immediately.
Filed under FEHA