March 6, 2015 · 2:38 pm

Health Care Whistle Blower Employment Lawyer

One of the types of whistleblowers employment lawyers protect are employees who report unsafe patient care and conditions. The California Legislature has passed some special whistleblower laws for medical professionals and medical staff. In California, it is public policy to encourage doctors and other health care workers to report suspected unsafe patient care and conditions. Ultimately, the California Legislature wants to protect patients.

Unfortunately, medical professionals and medical staff witness poor patient treatment in the workplace all the time. That is why CA Health & Safety Code 1278.5 was enacted. Basically, Health & Safety Code 1278.5 provides that no employer shall discriminate against an employee, member of the medical staff, or other health care worker of the employer for presenting a complaint or report to the employer, or medical staff, or other governmental entity.

Suing On Behalf of Doctors, Surgeons, & Nurses

In Pedowitz, M.D. v. The Regents of the University of California, et al., plaintiff was the Chair of UCLA’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. During the first year of employment, plaintiff reported conflicts of interest between UCLA medical professionals and outside medical third parties which plaintiff believed negatively affected patient care and safety. Less than a year into his position as Chair, he was asked to resign. Plaintiff hired an employment lawyer to sue his former employer.

Plaintiff claimed that his removal as Chair was directly due to his reports of various conflicts of interests between doctors and third party medical companies which had the potential to gravely affect patient care and safety. Defendant argued that plaintiff was asked to resign due to his poor leadership skills and his poor communication with colleagues.

The trial lasted two long months. Although there was no jury verdict, there was a $10,000,000 settlement which occurred at trial immediately before closing arguments. The fact that the defendants settled for such a high amount right before closing arguments implies that the case was not boding well for the employer. Defendants must have feared a potential hefty verdict against them in favor of the plaintiff.

Employment Lawyer Against Hospitals and Medical Executives

It never looks good to a jury or any outside observers when an employee is fired for reporting unsafe patient care and conditions, and Pedowitz, M.D. v. The Regents of the University of California, et al. is a testament to that. If you have reported unsafe patient care conditions or care, and believe that your employer has retaliated against you, call an employment attorney immediately.

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March 3, 2015 · 11:17 am

Employment Law Attorneys

California is an at-will state. Thus, employers often believe that they can fire an at-will employee at any time for any reason. This is false. Under California law, an employer can fire an employee for any reason except for a reason that violates public policy. Generally, being terminated for a reason that violates public policy overrides the at-will employment doctrine. However, the question comes down to what constitutes a violation of public policy? This is a good question for an employment law attorney to answer.

Wrongful Termination Verdict

In Macdonald v. Ascent Media Group, Inc., et al, the plaintiff was hired as a creative director for defendant, a Hollywood visual effects company. The plaintiff complained to a senior executive at the company that his supervisor was using cocaine at work. The very next day the plaintiff was terminated. Fortunately, plaintiff retained employment law attorneys and sued company for wrongful termination.

At trial, the plaintiff argued that he was wrongfully terminated in violation of public policy for reporting his supervisor’s drug use, and that the plaintiff was fired in order to protect the reputation of the company and the supervisor. The defendant argued that the plaintiff was fired because the company was concerned about protecting the privacy of its employees. The jury found that plaintiff was wrongfully terminated in violation of public policy and subsequently awarded the plaintiff $450,000.

Employment Law Attorneys Can Help You

Other examples of reasons for termination that violate public policy include gender discrimination, race discrimination, family or medical leave discrimination, political activity, whistle-blowing, refusing to sign a non-compete agreement, and testifying at a hearing. This is not an exclusive list of reasons for termination that violate public policy. There are many more reasons that qualify as wrongful termination. If you feel you have been wrongfully terminated, and you would like to know whether your employer has in fact wrongfully terminated you, contact an employment law attorney immediately.

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March 2, 2015 · 3:37 pm

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

It never ceases to amaze us at some of the poor and reckless decisions made by employers. Sometimes, employers’ decisions have a potential to greatly harm an employee. That harm can be caused by intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”). IIED is defined as one who intentionally or recklessly causes severe emotional distress to another by extreme and outrageous conduct. Intentional infliction of emotional distress in the workplace is just one of the many areas handled by labor law attorneys.

IIED Case Example

In Lee v. West Kern Water District, one of the more bizarre employment cases to go to verdict in 2014, plaintiff was a cashier at the water district’s office. Unbeknownst to the plaintiff, four supervisors decided to stage an armed robbery to test how well the employees handled a life-threatening situation. The supervisors purposely kept the staged armed robbery a secret from the employees.

As planned, a man in a ski mask entered the office carrying a paper bag and a note that read, “I have a gun. Put your money in the bag” The man in the ski mask approached plaintiff in an aggressive manner and indicated he was armed. The man in the ski mask pounded on the counter numerous times and continued to point at the note. Plaintiff began filling the bag with money. Afterwards, the man in the ski man left. Immediately after, managers entered the office and informed plaintiff that it was staged and not real. Plaintiff immediately broke down and cried. Plaintiff sought out help from labor law attorneys and sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Attorneys Can Fight for Emotional Distress Damages

Defendants tried to argue that plaintiff was barred from suing for IIED by workers’ compensation. However, workers’ compensation is an exclusive remedy to intentional infliction of emotional distress only when it occurs in the normal part of an employment relationship. Examples of employment activities in the normal course of an employment relationship include termination, demotions, criticism of work practices, etc. Yet, defendants’ conduct here was so far beyond the normal part of an employment relationship and thus plaintiff was not barred from suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff awarding her emotional distress damages totaling $360,000.

A lot of times, employees may feel that they are restricted from seeking help from an attorney if they are either still working for the employer, or employees may even feel that their situation is not serious enough to seek help. However, there is nothing wrong with contacting an employment attorney to evaluate and advise you on any potential claims. If you feel your employer’s conduct has gone far beyond the normal part of a typical employment relationship and such conduct has caused your emotional distress, act now and contact a labor law attorney.

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February 23, 2015 · 10:54 am

Maternity Leave Lawyers

In today’s economy, women work as hard or harder than men. Even still, priority number one for many working women is having a family. Luckily, the US and California legislature’s have enacted laws that protect women who choose to have children and work. The law requires most employers to grant CA women maternity leave. Sadly, employers sometimes disregard the law and terminate the female soon after they find out she’s pregnant. If this has happened to you, you need to hire a maternity leave lawyer.

Maternity Leave Lawyers Know CA’s Employment Laws

A maternity leave lawyer is an employment lawyer who know’s a lot about California’s leave of absence laws that apply to maternity leave. These include the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Leave (PDL) laws. They are also very familiar with the federal laws on point, the Family Medical Rights Act (FMLA). There are many more laws that apply.

In a nutshell, a maternity leave attorney will be able to review your situation and let you know whether or not your employer has violated the law. If you need a reasonable accommodation because your doctor put you on bedrest, and your employer refused to provide you with accommodation, you might have a case. If you were fired shortly after you told your boss that you were pregnant, then you might have a case.

Typical Violations of the Pregnancy Discrimination Laws

Is it rare in today’s world when an employer blatantly fires an employee because she is pregnant. Discrimination is far more subtle in today’s world. Here are a few typical pregnancy discrimination scenarios that we see frequently:

  1. The employee finds out that she is pregnant and informs her boss a few months into the pregnancy. But then complications arise, and the employee is put on bedrest or her doctor instructs her to sit for 95% of the day. When the employee requests these accommodations, the employee is either fired, or gets a bad performance review and then is fired. Often, the employer will claim that the termination is for “tardiness” or some other made-up reason.
  2. The employee is pregnant and goes on maternity leave. Shortly after the employee returns, she is fired for performance related issues that allegedly occurred when she was pregnant. We often find that these bogus reasons are related to the days she left for prenatal visits or are correlated with her transition in preparing for her maternity leave.
  3. The employee tells the employer that she is pregnant and is suddenly fired for things that she allegedly did wrong before she told the employer that she was pregnant. If the lawyer can prove that these are not genuine reasons for her termination, the employer could be in a lot of legal trouble.

There are many more variations, but we see these all the time. But at the end of the day, whether or not you have a good case is determined on a case by case basis. If you want to know more, give our employment law firm a call. We always offer free consultations.

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February 18, 2015 · 2:21 pm

California Law Protects Perceived Whistleblowers

Whistleblowing occurs when a company employee reports violations of law, safety violations, or even refuses to violate a law. If an employee “blows the whistle,” an employer is prohibited under California law from retaliating against the employee. But is an employer prohibited from retaliating against an employee if the employer mistakenly believes that an employee is a whistleblower? The court in Diego v. Pilgrim United Church of Christ directly confronted this issue.

In Diego v. Pilgrim United Church of Christ, Plaintiff sued her former employer for wrongful termination in violation of public policy. Plaintiff’s supervisor believed that Plaintiff made an anonymous complaint to social services regarding poor health conditions of the classrooms and playground. Plaintiff was terminated after only two days of the supervisor believing that Plaintiff reported the conditions to social services. Employer argue that Plaintiff was terminated for insubordination when in fact Plaintiff was terminated based on the employer’s mistaken belief that she filed a complaint with a government agency.

The trial court entered judgment for the employer, and Plaintiff appealed. The appellate court reversed, and found that the employer was prohibited from terminating the Plaintiff. The court held that perceived whistleblowers or employees that are mistakenly believed to be whistleblowers are protected from retaliation. The court stated that it is public policy to encourage employees to report violations of law in the workplace without fear of retaliation. The court reasoned that to allow termination of a perceived or suspected whistleblower would be counter to public policy and actually discourage employees from reporting violations in the workplace.

At the end of the day, California law protects perceived and suspected whistleblowers from retaliation by their employer. With that said, an employer cannot wrongfully terminate an employee if he believes the employee reported a violation of law, even if the employer’s belief is mistaken and the employee never even reported the violation of law. If you think you were fired as a suspected or perceived whistleblower, contact our employment attorney for a free consultation.

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February 17, 2015 · 7:54 pm

Los Angeles CA Employment Lawyer

Branigan Robertson is a employee rights attorney in Southern California. The firm exclusively represents employees across the state in lawsuits against employers. If you need a Los Angeles CA employment lawyer contact us for a free consultation. Mr. Robertson takes cases throughout California.

Wrongful Termination – Harassment – Retaliation

Los Angeles has 3.8 million people in it. If you count the surrounding areas, there are millions more. According to LA County’s own website there are 244,000 businesses operating daily. Unfortunately, thousands of people need a Los Angeles CA employment lawyer because their company broke the law when they fired them. Sadly, only a small percentage of these individuals have the courage to reach out and contact a lawyer.

Wrongful termination, harassment, and retaliation should be a thing of the past in Los Angeles. These unlawful acts will never disappear unless people stand up and fight for their legal rights. Despite California’s many challenges, Los Angeles is one of the most progressive cities in the world. But employment law and equality will never prevail unless people simply have the courage to call a lawyer.

A Different Kind of Los Angeles CA Employment Lawyer

There are thousands and thousands of lawyers in Southern California. How do you decide who to call? There is no right answer, as some lawyers are more suited for certain types of cases. But generally, the best lawyer for your case is someone who has the time and energy to fully devote to your case. A great lawyer will do a bad job on your case if he or she does not devote enough time or energy to it.

Mr. Robertson prides himself on his business model. His largest key to success has been picking honest clients! Mr. Robertson refuses to work with anyone who appears to have the wrong motivation or who is simply trying to win a bunch of money a trial.

Mr. Robertson takes very few cases each year so he can devote as much time as possible to each case. Mr. Robertson also co-counsel’s with other lawyers if he feels their expertise will add significant value to the case. This does not increase the contingency fee that the client pays for his legal counsel. Mr. Robertson also prides himself on giving each client fantastic personal service. Clients receive frequent phone calls an emails personally from Mr. Robertson. Mr. Robertson also returns emails and phone calls from clients within 24 hours.

Unpaid Overtime – Whistleblowers – Harassment

To our constant amazement, some unscrupulous employers still fail to pay overtime properly, and then wrongfully terminate an employee when the employee requests that they be paid according to the law. Unfortunately, Los Angeles CA employment lawyers frequently see companies retaliate and terminate whistleblowers. This is especially prevalent in the health care industry when nurses or other medical professionals complain about patient safety. Finally, we get calls every week about sexual harassment that creates a hostile work environment.

Contact Us

If you feel that you are a victim of any of the above acts, contact our office today. Don’t wait to retain a Los Angeles CA employment lawyer. If you wait too long your claim might expire. Here is our main LA page. The sooner you contact an attorney the better. We offer free consultations with no obligation. More importantly, you don’t pay us any money up front. We are a contingency firm and we only get paid when you win. Call today.

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February 16, 2015 · 3:33 pm

Wrongful Termination Lawyer

There are many lawyers across California. There are approximately 1500 or so who would classify themselves exclusively as a wrongful termination lawyer. A wrongful termination lawyer is someone who exclusively represents employees alleging that they were wrongfully terminated from their job. Usually, these lawyers work on a contingency fee which means they only get paid if they are successful in recovering a sum of money for the client.

Who is the Best Wrongful Termination Lawyer?

There are lots of fantastic wrongful termination lawyers in California. However, the best lawyer on the planet will do a terrible job on your case if he or she does not have the time or energy to dedicate to it. There are numerous public accounts of great attorney’s who simply became too busy that they failed to file someone’s case on time or who neglected the case and it got dismissed for failure to prosecute.

There are many different types and sizes of wrongful discharge cases, and it would be wise to hire the attorney who seems best suited for your case. That could be a “big-name” attorney in a highrise, or it might be your cousin’s friend who just started practicing employment law six months ago and doesn’t even have an office yet.

Therefore, the best attorney for your case isn’t necessarily the guy who recently got a multimillion dollar verdict. It is more likely the attorney who believes in your case and is willing to invest his time, money, and efforts to ensure its success. Therefore, we feel it is extremely important that you feel comfortable that your lawyer is going to give your case the effort that is necessary. Some cases require more, some less. It all depends.

Branigan Robertson – A Different Kind of Wrongful Termination Lawyer

Mr. Robertson takes his job seriously, and he only takes cases where the employer has committed a serious wrong which damaged the employee in a significant way. The results he has obtained so far in his career prove that his litigation and negotiation strategy work extremely well. Mr. Robertson is also picky – only taking cases in which he is 100% confident that his client is telling the truth and nothing but the truth.

Mr. Robertson only takes a few cases each year and puts a lot of effort into each one. Some lawyers have the mentality that “more cases means I’ll make more money.” Rarely that proves to be true. Therefore, if you believe that you have a case, we urge you to call our office to see if Mr. Robertson is interested. Even if he doesn’t take your case, he will likely refer to you someone he believes will have the time and energy to throw themselves behind your employment case.

Learn about types of wrongful discharge cases by visiting our wrongful termination page and then call to receive a free consultation.

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