Los Angeles is a city located in Southern California, and the second largest city in the country. It has the 19th most competitive financial center in the world, but it is known, in particular, for its creative industries. The unemployment rate for the city was 6.4 as of December 2021. Major employers in Los Angeles County include All Nations Church, California State University Northridge, Cedars-Sinai Health System, Live Nation, Kaiser Permanent, Six Flags, Walt Disney Co., University of California Los Angeles, National Institutes of Health, Space Exploration Tech Corp. The average weekly wage in Los Angeles County is $1,395. Fear of retaliation in a workplace in or around the city can stifle employees’ freedom to assert their rights in good faith under wage and hour, discrimination, or whistleblower laws. If you believe your prospective, current, or former employer is retaliating against you for exercising a protected right in the workplace, you should call the Los Angeles employment law attorneys of the Calderone Law Firm.
RetaliationMany state and federal employment laws include an anti-retaliation provision meant to prohibit employers from deterring employees’ good faith efforts to report legal violations. If you are an employee, job applicant, or former employee who has been retaliated against in violation of a California law, you may be able to file a retaliation complaint. Retaliation complaints related to wage and hour laws can be filed with the Labor Commissioner’s Office. Complaints are supposed to be filed within 1 year of the retaliatory conduct with certain exceptions.
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits workplace discrimination based on color, race, ancestry, national origin, age 40 and over, religion, medical condition, disability, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, and military and veteran status. Under FEHA, retaliation complaints in connection with your workplace discrimination complaint must be filed with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). For example, if you have a pregnancy discrimination complaint and when you take it up with HR, you’re terminated, our seasoned retaliation lawyers serving Los Angeles may be able to pursue both of your claims. Similarly, if you are sexually harassed by your supervisor and then file a complaint with DFEH and in response, your employer terminated you, you may be able to sue for damages for retaliation and sexual harassment.
Retaliation under FEHAWorkplace retaliation occurs when an employer treats you negatively for engaging in a protected activity such as complaining about discrimination, whether to HR or a government agency. Retaliation does not always involve termination. It can include less extreme employment actions like docking pay, providing less desirable work assignments, or making the work environment unendurable on a daily basis through harassment.
You may be able to sue for damages if your employer took an adverse action against you for opposing workplace discrimination or harassment; requesting pregnancy or family leave; or asking for a reasonable accommodation for a religious practice or disability. Likewise, you may have a claim if your employer treated you adversely for testifying or helping in any proceeding under FEHA. For example, you may have grounds to sue if you were fired for cooperating with an agency investigator in connection with your coworker’s racial harassment claim.
In order to establish your right to damages for retaliation under FEHA, our Los Angeles retaliation attorneys would need show: (1) you engaged in a protected activity (2) your employer terminated, constructively terminated, demoted, or otherwise took an adverse employment action against you, (3) your protected activity was a substantial motivating reason for the adverse employment action, and (4) the adverse employment action was a substantial factor in causing your harm.
Consult an Experienced Los Angeles Retaliation LawyerWorkplace retaliation threatens employees’ ability to engage in acts protected under the law. If you suspect you’ve been retaliated against under FEHA or wage and hour law or another state or federal law, you should consult experienced retaliation lawyers based in Los Angeles. Vincent Calderone, who has more than 20 years of experience litigating these cases, is the principal of Calderone Law Firm. Please contact us online or call us at (424) 348-8290.