California Labor Department statistics suggests that workplace retaliation claims are on the rise more than other employment related claims, such as discrimination and harassment and hostile work environment related lawsuits. This is not surprising as I believe that besides the common reasons for these violations, such as lack of knowledge…
Under the avoidable consequences doctrine, as recognized in California, a person injured by another’s wrongful conduct will not be compensated for those damages that the injured person could have avoided by reasonable effort. Thus, this doctrine gave rise to the duty to mitigate damages in employment cases – the duty…
California Civil Code sections 45 and 46 define libel and slander (written and oral statements which may constitute defamation). It has been consistently held in California over 60 years ago that libel includes, with certain limitations, almost any language, which, upon its face, has a natural tendency to injure a…
Proving any kind of employment discrimination is not easy. The core of any legitimate claim of discrimination is proving that the reason for the adverse employment action taken against the worker (demotion, transfer, termination, suspension, etc.) is the fact that he/she belongs to one or more of the protected classes,…
Under California law, an employee is presumed to be “at-will” employee unless agreed otherwise. Cal. Labor Code section 2922. “At will” means that an employee can be terminated for any reason, no reason, or arbitrary reason, as long as it’s not an unlawful reason (such as discriminatory or retaliatory discharge,…
Employers often argue that because a worker’s health condition is temporary and passing, the condition can’t possibly be considered a disability under California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The assume, relying mostly on intuition, that the concept of disability necessarily entails some kind of permanent impairment. The courts, however,…
The FMLA provides that employee are eligible for FMLA leave if they have worked at least 12 months for an employer, worked 1,250 hours during the 12 months immediately prior to requesting leave, and work at a location that has 50 employees within 75 miles. This requirement, however, creates uncertainty…
An employee’s personnel file contains some of the most valuable information to a claim for discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wrongful termination. One of the powerful ways in which the personnel file can be used is when the employer argues that the worker was terminated for poor performance. If that worker’s…
Having been working on sexual harassment and discrimination claims for a while now, I am puzzled as to why these kinds of violations still take place, considering the amount of training, warnings and other kinds of “cover up” that most if not all companies are concerned about creating. Thus, I…
The California Pregnancy Disability Leave LAW (PDLL) is part of California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). It requires employers to provide an employee up to four months of leave for disability due to an employee’s pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition. PDLL v. CFRA and FMLA FMLA (Family Medical…