Lancaster

Lancaster is a charter city in the Antelope Valley of the Mojave Desert in southern California. Its population is 173,516 over 94.5 square miles. The city is home to major defense contractors that have assembled large projects there. These employers include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, and the governmental agency, the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. The city is also the site of the War Eagle Field and the Polaris Flight Academy. Numerous teachers work in public, private, and charter schools in the city. These schools include Bethel Christian School, Desert Christian School, Desert Montessori Academy, Antelope Valley Adventist School, and Antelope Valley College. Whether you’ve found yourself the victim of sexual harassment or you were not paid overtime, you should call the trusted Lancaster employment lawyers of the Calderone Law Firm to determine whether you have a claim. Our principal Vincent Calderone has decades of experience providing excellent legal representation to workers against their employers.

We represent clients who have been treated unfairly by their employers. Lawsuits we handle involve all types of job discrimination, workplace harassment, retaliation, family leave, whistleblower issues, and wage and hour issues. Your case may involve federal, state or local laws, or a combination of these, and it is crucial to have seasoned attorneys on your side who understand what laws protect your rights and can advocate for you.

A critical issue we’ll look at when determining what laws may protect you is your classification as a worker. Generally, nonexempt employees receive the most protection under the law. They are protected under wage and hour laws, including those involving minimum wage, overtime, and meal and rest breaks. Independent workers, however, are not protected with regard to either wage and hour or discrimination. Your classification is a legal question, and our attorneys can look at past case law to determine to what degree the law protects you.

You may have a claim for workplace discrimination if your employer took adverse employment actions against you based on a trait you possess that is protected under federal or state law. Federal laws protect traits such as age, disability, race, color, religion, national origin, and sex. These laws tend to apply to midsize companies, or larger ones.

You likely have more protection under the California Fair Employment Housing Act (FEHA), which covers a wider range of traits and is more liberally applied. You may be protected against discrimination under FEHA if your company has at least 5 employees. Even companies with just one employee are required to protect employees against sexual harassment. Under state law, discrimination is prohibited in connection with job advertisements, applications, screening, interviews, hiring, transferring, promotions, terminations, compensation, work conditions, and ability to participate in a training or apprenticeship program or employee organization.

FEHA protects 17 different characteristics:

• race,
• religious creed,
• color,
• national origin,
• ancestry,
• physical disability,
• mental disability,
• genetic information
• medical condition,
• sex,
• gender
• sexual orientation,
• marital status,
• gender identity,
• gender expression,
• and military and veteran status.

Wage and hour laws protect you if you are a nonexempt employee. However, some companies misclassify their workers, either intentionally, to avoid paying overtime and providing rest breaks, or inadvertently because they don’t know what the law is. You may be unsure whether you are protected under these laws. If you come to see us for a consultation, we can advise you as to whether you have a claim, and can represent you in an individual lawsuit, or when appropriate, a class action.

In most cases, companies have substantially more resources than their employees do. It can be intimidating to register a complaint, even when it seems clear your rights have been violated. Legal representation can help. Contact the effective Lancaster attorneys of Calderone Law Firm by completing our online form or calling us at (424) 348-8290.