California Employment Lawyer

You may be able to recover damages for employment discrimination if an employer takes an adverse employment action against you based on your membership in a protected class. Under federal and state laws, it is illegal to discriminate against an employee based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, and other characteristics. Federal laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to companies with at least 15 employees. California law provides greater protections than does federal law, and it applies even to smaller companies with at least five employees. It is unlawful for your employer to retaliate against you for exercising your rights under these anti-discrimination laws. That does not mean that your employer will not retaliate against you for complaining in good faith about sexual harassment or filing a charge with the EEOC, which enforces many of the federal employment laws, but it does mean that you have legal recourse if they do. You should consult an employment attorney in the El Segundo area to find out about your next steps.

Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibit workplace sexual harassment. Under FEHA, sexual harassment can include actions of a sexual nature or unwanted sexual advances. For example, if your supervisor threatens reprisal for not submitting to sexual advances, this is quid pro quo sexual harassment. Quid pro quo harassment often involves a threat of an adverse employment decision if sexual advances or conduct are rejected. For another example, if your coworker keeps touching you inappropriately and sending sexually explicit emails, and you complain to HR, but they tell you to just put up with it, this is likely hostile work environment harassment. It is important to let HR know about the coworker sexual harassment, or follow any other grievance procedure outlined in your employment manual.

Under Title VII and FEHA, race discrimination is prohibited in the workplace. Discrimination occurs when an employer makes an important employment decision about the terms and conditions of employment based on your race. Important employment decisions can include failure to hire, refusal to promote, termination, or paying different wages to employees based on their race. An El Segundo employment attorney also can bring a disparate impact claim under Title VII if the employer sets a policy that seems neutral but has a disproportionately negative impact on people of a certain race. Racial harassment is another form of racial discrimination.

Sex discrimination occurs if an employer makes an important employment decision based on an employee’s sex. It can occur with regard to either sex. For example, if your employer does not promote you to a senior management position because you are a woman, even though you are most qualified among those up for the promotion, this would likely be sex discrimination. Similarly, if your employer pays you less than male workers doing the same job, that would also be sex discrimination. Both FEHA and Title VII prohibit sex discrimination, and sexual harassment is considered a form of sex discrimination. FEHA explicitly covers not only discrimination based on sex but also sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity or expression discrimination.

Disability discrimination is prohibited under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and FEHA. You are physically disabled under FEHA if you have a physiological condition that affects a certain bodily system or restricts a major life activity. A major life activity is broadly defined under FEHA and includes social and physical activities like walking, standing, sitting, sleeping, or concentrating. FEHA defines a mental disability as one in which a person has any mental or psychological disorder or condition, including emotional or mental illnesses. An employment lawyer in El Segundo can help you ask your employer for a reasonable accommodation for a known disability.

You are protected against workplace age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and FEHA, as long as you are 40 or older. Your employer is not allowed to take an adverse step against you due to your being an older worker. Adverse steps could involve termination, failure to promote, layoffs, compensation adjustments, training, job assignments, apprenticeships, or failure to hire. For example, if you are fired because you are close to retirement age, you would likely have an age discrimination claim. Unlike some of the other federal anti-discrimination laws, the ADEA only applies to employers with a minimum of 20 employees.