Garden Grove

Located in northern Orange County, Garden Grove is a city of around 171,949. These people make up around 46,037 households. The city has a median household income of $59,988.

Around 15.5% of the population lived below the federal poverty line at the time of the last census. Larger industries in the city include manufacturing, retail, the service industry, and tourism and hospitality, which includes businesses like the Grove District-Anaheim Resort. If you are facing discrimination, harassment, or whistleblowing on the job, or your employer is paying you less than you are entitled to under the law, you may want to pursue justice, but rightfully fear retaliation for openly pursuing your rights. It’s important to talk to a dedicated Garden Grove employment law attorney about your options. Our firm has successfully represented workers for many years.

The California government encourages people to blow the whistle on their employer’s misconduct and illegal actions, partly by enforcing protections for good faith whistleblowers. If you witness misconduct or learn of legal violations on the job, you may be protected against workplace retaliation if you notify the appropriate law enforcement agency, governmental agency, or an authority figure that is able to investigate, discover or correct the misconduct or legal violation. For this protection to apply, you must have reasonable cause to believe that the information you provide discloses a state or federal statutory violation; a violation of noncompliance with a federal, state, or local regulation; or that there are unsafe working conditions or work practices in the workplace or the employee’s employment. You may be protected, as well, if you refuse to participate in an illegal activity or not comply with a federal, state, or local law.

In a broad sense, discrimination occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against you as an employee or job applicant. Discrimination, harassment, and retaliation for reporting them may be actionable under federal, state, or local laws. In most cases, the greatest protection California employees enjoy against discrimination is provided under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, which applies to those companies and businesses that have at least 5 employees; workplace sexual harassment is illegal even if an employer has only one employee. It would be unlawful under FEHA, for instance, if you were terminated because you reported sexual harassment. Similarly, if you were passed over for a promotion because you are a Black Muslim, you may have a claim for race and religious discrimination under FEHA.

Wage and hour laws apply to nonexempt employees. However, some employers misclassify workers as exempt employees or independent contractors, whether due to misunderstanding the law or intentionally, to avoid paying minimum wage and following other employee protection laws. As a nonexempt employee, you should be paid minimum wage, which at the time of this writing is $16 per hour, for all hours you work. Your employer cannot ask you to work off the clock or not punch in for all your hours. An employer must also pay you overtime, in the form of 1.5 times your regular rate of pay when you work more than 8 hours in a day or double your regular rate of pay when you work more than 12 hours per day. Sometimes the damages in wage and hour claims are fairly small; in such cases, it may be worth it to band together with your fellow employees that are similarly situated and retain a seasoned class action attorney to pursue damages collectively.

If your employment has been threatened by discrimination, labor law violations, whistleblower retaliation, or harassment, you should give the trustworthy Garden Grove attorneys of Calderone Law Firm a call. Our firm works toward the best possible legal outcomes for our clients’ cases. For a free initial consultation, complete our online form or call us at (424) 348-8290.