Palmdale

Palmdale is a Southern California charter city located in the Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County. As of 2020, its population was 169,450, making it California’s 32^nd most populous city. The city, which is regarded as the fifth most stressful city in the state, is home to a significant aerospace industry and a number of manufacturing firms. Notable employers include Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Antelope Valley Mall, Boeing, Los Angeles County, and CarMax. The most common ancestries of the city’s residents are German and Mexican, and there has been an influx of Black Americans from Los Angeles neighborhoods into Palmdale in recent years. Whether you’re worried about wage and hour violations or sexual harassment or racial discrimination, you should call our seasoned Palmdale employment law attorneys. The Calderone Law Firm provides knowledgeable and tenacious legal representation to workers. Our principal Vincent Calderone has decades of experience.

Our firm represents clients in a broad spectrum of employment lawsuits in both federal and state courts. We represent plaintiffs in employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, and wage and hour claims. In many cases, employees receive strong protection under the law, while independent contractors and gig workers do not. However, many employers misclassify employees in order to avoid providing protections. The classification is not up to your employer’s whims and preferences; rather the law sets forth criteria by which your classification should be determined, and our lawyers can apply that law to figure out the strongest protections and remedies to which you’re entitled.

Workplace discrimination occurs when an employer takes an adverse action against an employee or job applicant based on his or her membership in a protected class. The protected classes vary under federal and state laws. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides protection for a greater range of characteristics than federal laws do, but every case is different, which is why it is critical to consult a lawyer about the relief available to you after what you believe was discriminatory conduct by your employer.

FEHA protects you against discrimination so long as you work for a company with at least 5 employees. It also protects you from sexual harassment no matter the size of the company for which you work. Discrimination can include negative treatment with regard to job applications, job advertisements, interviews, hiring and firing, transfers, promotions, firing, pay, harassment, failure to adequately address harassment, and training. For example, if you were passed over for a promotion because you were transitioning, and your employer expressed bias against trans employees, you may have a claim for gender identity discrimination. For another example, if you were pregnant and a prospective employer withdrew a job offer as a result, you may have a claim for pregnancy discrimination.

Unfortunately, despite laws put into place to make sure workers receive an adequate wage, employers do try to evade those laws, whether through misclassification, or by failing to pay minimum wage or overtime. Some employers try to make their employees pay for uniforms or work off the clock through their rest breaks. Other employers pay workers inappropriately out of ignorance. If you believe you are being paid unfairly under the law, it’s important to call our firm and seek a consultation, even if your claim seems fairly small. In some cases, it makes sense to bring the smaller claims of many employees against a company in a class action, and we are well-positioned to do that when appropriate.

Often companies are far more powerful than their employees. You may be worried about filing a claim, particularly if you believe you’ll be retaliated against. It is important to level the playing field by retaining a lawyer who can navigate the legal system for you and who will pursue the strongest remedies available. Contact the effective Palmdale attorneys of Calderone Law Firm by filling out our online form or calling us at (424) 348-8290.