Oakland

With more than 50 neighborhoods and a population of 440,646, Oakland is the most populous city in Alameda County. As of 2012, the city is in the top 20 of American cities with a median household income of $51,863. The Port of Oakland is busy, dealing with 99% of containerized goods that come through Northern California and consequently, there are almost 200,000 jobs involving marine cargo transport in and around the city. Other corporations with homes in the city include Clorox, Kaiser Permanente, Dreyer’s, and various tech and green energy companies. Unfortunately, not all employers adhere to the many laws that govern employment; it’s important to retain legal representation if you have a dispute with your employer. The seasoned Oakland employment lawyers of Calderone Law Firm may be able to help you if you’ve been subject to employer misconduct or legal violations with regard to wage and hour, employment discrimination, and whistleblowing matters.

Among the laws that employer must follow, or face penalties are wage and hour laws. Workers are classified differently, and subject to different legal protections with regard to compensation, depending on what they do and how much control they exert over their work. Wage and hour laws apply to protect those who are nonexempt; these are typically workers paid hourly rather than according to a salary and who don’t have much control over their jobs.

The Calderone Law Firm has experience handling class action lawsuits. This can prove important when individual damages are small; a group of employees who were treated the same way with regard to wage and hour issues can band together to bring a class action. For instance, if you are a secretary who wasn’t given appropriate meal breaks or paid overtime, and your fellow secretaries at the job experienced the same problems with compensation, it could be worthwhile to join forces to sue for damages. The process of certifying a class so that a class action lawsuit can go forward is a difficult one, and defense attorneys typically fight this certification.

Several federal antidiscrimination laws and state laws prohibit workplace discrimination. Roughly, discrimination occurs when an employer takes an adverse employment action against an employee. Adverse employment actions may include firing, layoffs, failure to hire, failure to promote, disparate pay, and failure to provide equal opportunities; the key thing is that the adverse action must be taken because of a trait that’s protected under law. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) is the state anti-discrimination law, and it applies to workplaces with at least 5 employees.

Protected traits under FEHA include race, color, religion, sex and gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, ancestry, disability, genetic information, request for family care leave, request for leave due to an employee’s serious health condition or pregnancy disability, age over 40, and retaliation for reporting patient abuse in a tax supported institution,

It can be extremely challenging to report your employer for legal violations or fraud. However, whistleblowers, or people who report an employer’s misconduct receive certain protections under federal and state law, depending on the circumstances involved, and it can be important to consult an attorney if you are thinking about reporting your employer or if you have already done so. In some cases, whistleblowers are able to bring a qui tam lawsuit for damages

If you and your employer have a disagreement about overtime, minimum wage, whistleblowing, discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, consult the trustworthy Oakland lawyers of Calderone Law Firm about whether you have a claim. With years of litigation experience, we are armed with the ability to seek the best possible outcome in your case against an employer. Complete our online form or call us at (424) 348-8290 for a free initial consultation.