Palos Verdes

Located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Rancho Palos Verdes is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is a coastal city, one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country. Its population as of 2010 was 41,530. Notable employers in the city are Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, Los Verdes Gold Course, Green Hills Memorial Park, City of Rancho Palos Verdes, Ralphs, Trump National Golf Club, Marymount California University, Canterbury, and Belmont Village of Rancho. If you believe you were harmed by an employer’s violation of the law, you should give the experienced Palos Verdes employment law attorneys of the Calderone Law Firm. We are dedicated and experienced advocates for employees’ wage and hour and employment discrimination lawsuits.

Both state and federal laws govern the conduct of Palos Verdes employers. They must pay nonexempt employees minimum wage, overtime, and provide all meal and rest breaks required under the applicable laws. Employment actions should be taken without regard to an employee’s protected characteristics. When employers fail to adhere to these rules, it may be appropriate to pursue relief by filing a lawsuit.

Our lawyers handle all employment law matters including workplace discrimination and harassment, meal and rest period claims, Family Medical and Leave Act lawsuits, defamation, class action and wage claims, retaliation, wrongful termination, and whistleblower claims. In most cases, employers have substantially more resources their employees, and so it is critical when you go up against your employer for failing to honor its legal obligations to you, that you consult an employment lawyer.

Discrimination in the hiring process happens when a job applicant is mistreated or treated unequally because of membership in a protected class. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), along with multiple federal laws enforced by the federal Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission (EEOC), prohibit discrimination in the workplace. FEHA covers employers in California when they have at least 5 employees.

Protected characteristics under FEHA include color, race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, national origin, physical and mental disabilities, medical condition, HIV/AIDS status, age, status of a domestic violence victim, genetic information, age if you’re 40 or older, denial of family and medical care leave, military status, and denial of pregnancy disability leave.

Employers aren’t permitted to refuse to hire you because you have a protected characteristic. For example, if you are denied a job once a prospective employer realizes you are Middle Eastern, you may have a claim for national origin discrimination Employers are not allowed to discriminate in their screenings, applications, job advertisements, job interviews, or compensation. Similarly, you should not be fired or demoted or not promoted because of your FEHA-protected characteristic. You might have a claim, for example, if you were fired because you requested a reasonable accommodation for your disability.

California employers must abide by wage and hour laws, including rules related to minimum wage, overtime, and meal and rest breaks. Generally, if you are a nonexempt worker who works for more than 8 hours in a workday, you should be paid time and a half for any hours of work beyond those 8. If you work more than 12 hours in a single workday, you may be able to collect double time. When you work for a 7th day in a row in a workweek, you should also be paid time and a half.

If you suspect your Palos Verdes employer failed to follow wage and hour laws when paying you, or perpetrated employment discrimination, you should call our experienced employment law attorneys. The Calderone Law Firm is a pre-eminent Southern California employment law firms. Our founder Vincent Calderone has more than 20 years of experience fighting for workers whose rights have been violated by their employers. Contact us online or call us at (424) 348-8290.