Long Beach

Located in Los Angeles County, Long Beach is the seventh most populated city in the state. It covers 51.437 square miles. The median household income between 2009-2013 was $52,711. Historically, the economic base of the city was oil extraction, and the town was later dominated by a naval base. The city has also been known as home to companies in the aerospace industry. Boeing, for instance, remains one of the largest private employers in the city. Other major employers include Pioneer Electronics, SCAN Health Plan, and Epson America, Inc. Roughly $140 billion in trade passes through the seaport of Long Beach, which is the second busiest seaport in the country. If you were harmed by employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, or other legal disputes in your workplace, you need the experienced Long Beach employment law attorneys of Calderone Law Firm on your side. In most cases, employers have significantly more resources than their employees, and can retain aggressive counsel that may drag out the employees’ claims. You should be represented by an equally experienced lawyer who understands the other side’s tactics.

While many federal and state law protect workers in Southern California, not all employers follow them. In some cases, companies simply don’t know all of the rules that apply and have not consulted a lawyer to ensure their own compliance, while in other cases, bosses intentionally violate their workers’ rights to protect profits or with other motivations.

Among your rights as an employee is to work in a setting that is free from discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Many of the federal anti-discrimination laws apply to midsize or larger companies and are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The state anti-discrimination law that applies to California companies is the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

FEHA applies to those employers that have a minimum of five employees. It protects a broader number of traits than do federal laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under FEHA, your employer is forbidden from discriminating against you (treating you adversely in an employment decision) based on your sex, ancestry, race, color, gender identity, sexual orientation, age over 40, religion, marital status, national origin, or veteran status, among other traits. FEHA also prohibits harassment or unwelcome conduct based on an employee’s protected trait.

While there are clearcut cases of discrimination, some claims are more challenging because they involve overlapping protected traits. For example, if your employer refuses to promote you because you are Asian American, it may not be completely clear whether you were discriminated against because of your race, ancestry, national origin, or color. You might have a claim for sex, sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination under FEHA if you were terminated because you are lesbian and trans and your employer didn’t think clients would feel comfortable working with you while you were transitioning.

Another common type of employment law matter involves sexual harassment, or unwelcome conduct based on your sex. You might have a harassment claim if you were insulted, called slurs, subject to rude comments, treated violently, or sexually assaulted because you are a man or a woman. For example, if you were touched inappropriately by your supervisor in a Long Beach office, you could sue the employer for sexual harassment.

You may be concerned about retaliation. However, retaliation is prohibited under the laws that prohibit sexual harassment and discrimination; your employer should not punish you or otherwise take a negative action against you because you engaged in a protected activity. In California, all employers are covered by the anti-sexual harassment law.

Our firm handles wage and hour matters such as those involving minimum wage, overtime, and rest and meal breaks.

If you believe your rights have been violated by your employer, you should call the trustworthy Long Beach employment law attorneys of the Calderone Law Firm. It is helpful to have an advocate who understands the nuances of federal, state, and local laws, and can fight for your interests. Vincent Calderone, the firm’s founder, has more than 25 years of experience. Contact us online or call (424) 348-8290.