Branigan Robertson is a employment attorney in Southern California. Employment lawyers like Mr. Robertson are also frequently called “labor lawyers” or “labor law attorneys.” Traditionally, a labor attorney was someone who primarily dealt with legal issues surrounding collective bargaining or unions.
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers’ compensation and rights.
But today, the terms “labor lawyer” and “employment lawyer” are used interchangeably by the general public. This page is dedicating to explaining what a modern labor lawyer does in today’s employment environment.
Labor Lawyers in Employment Cases
Mr. Robertson and his team exclusively represents employees across California in lawsuits against employers. He regularly represents employees with labor disputes regarding harassment and discrimination because of pregnancy, age, disability, sex, gender, or religion. If you believe you have suffered an unlawful company action, contact a labor law lawyer for a consultation. Most lawyers who practice modern labor law represent employees on a contingency fee, meaning you don’t pay any money to the lawyer unless he or she recovers money on your behalf.
This website details harassment (including sexual harassment) in detail on their respective pages. To help a victim, a labor lawyer will first prepare and file the complaint and fight off any early efforts by the employers labor attorney to dismiss the case. Then he or she will conduct discovery, which is the process of acquiring documents and testimony to assist the attorney in proving the case at trial. In most cases, these lawsuits settle beforehand, and your lawyer will negotiate on your behalf at mediation or by directly contacting the defense counsel. These cases, and any labor case for that matter, take a long time to settle.
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Wrongful Termination Labor Attorney
The most common type of employment case in California is a wrongful termination lawsuit. This occurs when a corporation fires an employee for a reason that violates CA’s public policy. In general, this means that the company fired the employee for a protected characteristic or activity. This includes race, religion, political activity, complaints about workplace safety, taking time off for jury duty or voting, or complaining about sexual harassment. The list is very long.
Read our main termination webpage to learn more about this type of case. If you’re looking for a labor law attorney, we highly recommend that you call right after your termination. You don’t want to wait several months as evidence and testimony tends to go stale. Plus, waiting runs the risk that the statute of limitations may expire. If that happens, you won’t have a case at all.
Retaliation Law & Retaliation Cases
One of the most heavily litigated areas in labor & employment law is retaliation when employees refuse to break a law or for reporting violations of law. Sadly, we get several calls regarding these issues each week. We regularly represent employees across all industries who complained about violations of law and were thereafter retaliated against. When an employee is unjustly terminated, they should call a California labor lawyer for a free consultation.
Whistleblower Cases & Labor Law
Whistleblower cases are very common in today’s employment environment. A whistleblower is someone who opposes unlawful actions and complains to a governmental agency about the conduct. When the employee is retaliated against for their complaints, they can bring suit for the damages that result from the termination. The hottest area in whistleblower cases in CA labor law is in the health care industry; when employees complain about patient safety and are then terminated as a result.
Wages, Overtime, Meal Breaks, Rest Breaks & Minimum Wage
Traditionally, unions dealt with employee wages. But as the number of unions across California has decreased, modern employment law has filled in the gap. This body of law is largely known in California as wage & hour law. Modern labor lawyers file lawsuits to attempt to recover unpaid overtime, wages, minimum wages, and commissions. They also try to collect penalties for meal & rest break violations.
When the employee’s wage issue is small, its difficult to hire a contingency lawyer because the amount in controversy is not work the attorney’s time. In such cases, labor law attorney’s like Mr. Robertson refer the employee to the Department of Labor. The Labor Board will pursue cases on behalf of the employee. This is a great alternative for employees who cannot find a private labor lawyer like Branigan Robertson to take their case.