The most significant immediate measure and employer may and should take in response to sexual harassment or another kind of harassment allegation by one employee against the other or against his or her supervisor is to launch a prompt and fair investigation to determine whether the complaint is justified. The…
Once an employer becomes aware of the need for accommodation for a qualifying disabled employee, that employer has a mandatory obligation under the law to engage in an interactive process with the employee to identify and implement appropriate reasonable accommodations. An appropriate reasonable accommodation must be effective in enabling the…
Alameda county is one of the most ethnically diverse areas, which brings lots diversity into workplace. With all wonderful benefits of having a variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures at workplace, this sometimes inevitably leads to animosity and conflicts between different racial groups and claims of race discrimination,…
The California Supreme Court held that high blood pressure (hypertension) may be a protected disability at workplace within the meaning of Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) in American National Insurance Co. v. Fair Employment and Housing Commission 32 Cal.3d 603 (1982). In that case, an insurance company terminated a…
The second district made an important distinction between disability discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodations in Jensen v. Wells Fargo Bank 85 Cal.App.4th 245 (2000). In that decision, the court noted that the elements of a failure to accommodate claim are similar to the elements of disability discrimination under…
California statutes prohibiting retaliation bar termination of (or other adverse employment action against) employees asserting their legally protected rights, exercising political affiliations, opposing unlawful discrimination at workplace, or seeking statutory redress (such as investigation of discrimination, harassment, etc.) To show retaliation under California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), an…
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides a non-exhaustive list of possible accommodations that an employer may consider to accommodate a qualified disability or medical condition of an employee. These typical reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to: • Making facilities accessible to and usable by disabled…
California workplace operates under the basic presumption that in the absence of agreement otherwise, a worker is an at-will employee. This means that an employee can be terminated for any reason, arbitrary reason, or no reason, but not for illegal reason such as discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. This presumption is…
Numerous California laws protect employees against retaliation by their employers. Most of the anti-retaliation statutes protect employees from adverse employment actions ( i.e. demotion, transfer to a less desirable workplace, suspension, administrative leave or termination) for exercising their rights under Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Occupational Safety and Health…
Different companies and employers have a very different approach to handling disciplinary actions against their employees. While some company simple don’t have any formal policy regarding write ups, warnings and other disciplinary actions against employees, other employer have a clear policy of progressive discipline that generally shall be followed by…