One of the common challenges in proving violation of disability rights in a wrongful termination case is showing that the employer knew that the employee had a qualifying condition or suffered an injury shortly before being terminated, and thus his or her termination was discriminatory or retaliatory. In the absence…
Many workers don’t realize that the performance reviews that they receive from their management and their content for the most part are not regulated by law. Employers have sound discretion in determining how to review their employees’ performance, how often to do it, in what format, and whether or not…
Although there are sometimes strategic advantages to waiting for the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) or EEOC to complete its investigation of a charge of discrimination instead of filing a lawsuit right away, in many cases, waiting for that might not be the best strategic move, especially if…
Switching jobs and employers when you have signed a non-compete agreement with your former or present employer may present unique challenges that require careful consideration in light of the specific circumstances of your industry, the company you are working for and the company you are planning to switch to. Even…
Getting FMLA leave approved can be a frustrating process, especially at a large company or governmental agency where every decision, even a relatively small one, has to be run by and approved by a number of supervisors. It’s possible that when you request medical leave, you will have to do…
One of the challenges of proving retaliation at workplace in cases where an employee was fired shortly after submitting a harassment/discrimination/safety violation complaint against his/her supervisor or co-workers is showing that the employer knew about the complaint before making the decision to terminate an employee. After all, if the employer…
Many large companies have “no fault” attendance policies, where an employee gets a point or half a point for every absence or for being late regardless of the reason for that. Often these kinds of attendance policies are part of the negotiated bargaining agreement between the union and the employer.…
Requesting a reasonable accommodation to your disability is an important step to protecting your rights at workplace. Whether your disability or medical condition has developed over time (such as carpal tunnel syndrome) or resulted from an industrial accident, it’s important to keep several important things in mind to avoid the…
Having been prosecuting discrimination and retaliation claims for a while now, I am naturally curious to get into the minds of those managers who retaliate or discriminate against employees who are disabled or who suffered an on-the-job injury (and filed a workers compensation claim). Recently, during a conversation with an…
I get at least a few calls a week where an employee complains to me about being treated unfairly at workplace. these complaints range from being given more challenging and time consuming tasks than co-workers to being yelled at by the manager to being micromanaged and written up for every…