How to Cope With Wrongful Termination

July 10, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Being terminated from your job can be a devastating experience, and it is normal to feel wronged if you were let go for no discernible fault of yours. While you might think that you have no other option than to accept the situation and move on, you may have certain rights as an employee protected by the employment laws in California. To find out for sure, it is essential that you look up wrongful termination lawyers in Los Angeles and contact a reputable, experienced one to discuss your situation.

Understanding reasons for wrongful termination

As per the employment law in California, employment in the state is “at-will” basis. That means your employer can legally fire you from your job for any reason, and you too can leave your employment without giving your employer any particular reason. Even so, under certain circumstances, you might have grounds to take legal action against your employer for wrongful termination.

One of these is just-cause employment. In it, the employer will offer a work guarantee that the employee will not be fired from their job unless there is a good reason, such as for violating company policy. It may be oral, part of the employment contract, or included in the employee handbook.

Other circumstances in which an employee’s termination could be deemed as wrongful termination are:

Discrimination: Your employer has terminated you from your job due to your age, race, gender, religion, disability, pregnancy, and so on. Since these are protected classes under the California employment law, it is illegal for your employer to fire you for these reasons.

Retaliation: Your employer has fired you because you reported them for engaging in illegal work activities. As per the law, you are protected from retaliation by your employer for reporting workplace violations. They cannot use it as a reason to fire you.

Breach of good faith: Your employer has terminated your employment for a fabricated or fraudulent reason.

Public policy violation: Your employer has fired you from your position because of your political views, political participation, or support of a political party that your employer opposes.

Taking medical leave: Your employer has fired you from your position because you took an extended medical leave to get treatment yourself or take care of an ailing family member. The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protects employees who need to take such a leave. As per the FMLA, your employer is legally obliged to allow it on an unpaid basis and let you return to work later.

Your employer can also not force you to leave your job by purposely making work conditions difficult for you. For instance, they cannot harass you, demote you, or cut your salary. However, your employer can fire you if they need to downsize the company, close down your department, or move to a new location where they cannot transfer you.

Coping with wrongful termination

The first thing to do after your job termination is to remain calm and consider your options. You can do the following:

Contact the HR department: It is advisable to contact the company human resources department and find out about the administrative remedies available to you.

Contact the EEOC: You can file a claim against your employer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) if the HR department fails to resolve the issue of your termination. To file a claim, you will need work documents, salary slips, witness statements, and other essential evidence to prove that your employer acted illegally. The EEOC will investigate the matter and decide if your job termination is wrongful.

Contact a lawyer: If the EEOC cannot resolve the situation, you will need to look up wrongful termination lawyers in Los Angeles. Many lawyers offer an initial free consultation in which they will assess your case and let you know if it has legal merit. Depending on their advice regarding your specific case, you can consider filing a civil lawsuit against your employer.

If you win the case, you could be reinstated in your job if you choose to return or get a job transfer, promotion, or a salary increase. You may also win appropriate compensation, including for any missed bonuses and your attorney’s fees.

Filed Under: Wrongful Termination

How Do I Find a Local Lawyer?

June 30, 2021 by Leave a Comment

You have finally arrived at this decision that you are going to need a lawyer to get a solution for your problem. And now your next process begins where the search for attorney is going to take place which is undoubtedly is one of the most difficult tasks. You will find tons of lawyers out there offering services, but what is important to you is search for attorney who has a specific experience that you are looking for in your case.

Therefore, before you begin your search for a local lawyer, you must know that there are different types of lawyers ranging from criminal to sexual harassment ones. Now it is up to your what is your case and which lawyer you are searching for. You must only focus on the search for that attorney that has ample experience to which your case is related. Thus, here are a few tips that you must follow while finding a local lawyer for your case.

Ask in your circle

One of the best ways to search for attorney is to ask around your network of friends, family, and co-workers and for sure you will get a few contacts from them. When you get such references, you can consider those as reliable ones and go ahead with the choice. If you already know a lawyer but who doesn’t practice in the field in which you are looking for, you can even ask him and he can surely refer you to a few of his contacts among the lawyer circle. This should be the first step you must take while looking for a local lawyer.

Ask in Local Bar Association

This is another great way to find a lawyer by asking in the Local Bar Association. Many counties have their Bar Associations where you can get lawyer referrals directly and can get in touch with the desired ones. If not, then you can also look into the database of the American Bar Association and get assistance from them regarding the type of case you have and what lawyer you must seek for legal advice.

Search on the internet

There are many websites such as legalmatch.com, lawyers.com, attorneyfind.com, etc where you can find a list of lawyers according to your preference, and then you can take a look at their work through their websites and reviews posted by the clients.

Do a background check

Once you shortlist a few local lawyers, you must ensure doing a background check before arriving at a final decision. You can get in touch with the lawyer disciplinary agency of your state and get a confirmation regarding their identity and whether the lawyer stands as a loyal member of the Bar Association. Apart from that, you can also visit their websites and check for the reviews posted by the clients and see what they are talking about the functioning of that lawyer. Along with this, do not forget to check the peer reviews for that lawyer. With peer reviews, you will get to know the professional and ethical ability of the lawyer and where does he stand professionally.

Ask a set of questions before hiring a local lawyer

With a few options for the attorney in your hand, before you arrive at any decision, it is time to ask a few questions to lawyers. So here’s the common questions that you must ask an attorney before you hire them:

• How much experience you have in this specific field of law?

• Do you offer a free consultation session and what are your charges per session?

• How many cases have you handled like mine before and what was the verdict for those cases?

• Are you going to personally attend me from hereon or your associate will be in touch with me?

• What is your fee and how should I be paying it?

In the end, it is going to be your decision as to which lawyer you want to go with. Also, remember that it is in the scope of your rights to ask the lawyer to provide you with references of the present and past client so that you can crosscheck the information. You must be able to feel confident and comfortable with the lawyer that you are choosing. You are going to confide in that lawyer for everything related to your case, therefore that person needs to be trustworthy. Thus, follow the abovementioned tips and trust your gut while making the final decision.

Filed Under: Tips

When to Hire an Age Discrimination Lawyer

June 2, 2021 by Leave a Comment

There are many instances when elderly or young employees fall into the trap of age discrimination and suffer a lot in the workplace. It is the moral duty of the employer to never look at the age number when it comes to hiring, firing, or promoting an employee. Though at times it might get confusing what are the motives of the employer behind a move if you feel that your employer has sidelined you because of your age, you can immediately take the assistance of an age discrimination lawyer Los Angeles to ensure that your rights are protected.

And even if you have faced age discrimination, you must try to think about how you can prove it, what all defense mechanism your employer is going to use, and lastly what damages and remedies you can look and ask for from the employer. But before you do that, let’s get into the basics so that the concepts are cleared.

What is Age Discrimination?

In simple words, age discrimination in the workplace is treating employees as less important because of their age. Also, you must know that the law against age discrimination charges based on your location, the size of the company, and the sector. But at the federal level under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), there are protections for the employees. It ensures to protect the employees and job applicants over the age of 40 years. The law is only applicable to private employers with 20 or more employees, labor organizations, employment agencies, local government agencies, federal and state agencies.

There are various provisions present in the ADEA that forbids employment discrimination specifically based on age in many different ways. The employer has no right to refuse a job applicant just because he is old or cannot fire anyone based on age reasons. So basically, the law protects the employees from any kind of age-based harassment if happened in the workplace.

When to hire an age discrimination lawyer?

Refusal during the job interview

If you have applied for a job in your area and after the complete interview rounds, the employer tells you that he cannot offer this job to you because you are too young or too old for it, then this kind of act is called age discrimination. Based on this reason, you can file a lawsuit in court stating that you were not given the job because of your age.

Refused promotion and other benefits

If your employer refuses to give you the promotion that you deserve just because you are older than other employees, then know that the employer has violated the ADEA and you are eligible to hire an age discrimination lawyer Los Angeles and talk your way through the further steps.

Filing a claim with EEOC

If you have been a victim of age discrimination at your workplace, the very first thing that you can do is file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Though it is difficult to prove the matters of age discrimination at the workplace as it is not always the case to have proofs as to why you were denied a promotion or why you were not selected for the job because of your age factor. But the good news if that, when you hire an experienced age discrimination lawyer, you surely get different options that can help support your case.

Being an employee, you must always know that you should not tolerate any kind of discrimination at the workplace that is against the law. When you talk to a good lawyer, you will know that there are numerous remedies for age discrimination matters as well. Right from compelled employment, reinstatement, attorney fee, and costs, promotion, Double recovery in liquidated damages for willful violations and many other things can happen when you hire the right lawyer for the case.

All you need to do is follow all the right procedures that are according to the state law and making sure that you are filing the complaint with EEOC within 180 days of the age discrimination incident. Once you do that, take a deep breath and trust your age discrimination lawyer and chalk out a plan for further process.

Filed Under: Age Discrimination

Disability Discrimination Issues and Resolving Conflict at Work

March 12, 2021 by Leave a Comment

If you are employed in California and have a disability, your workplace rights are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is a federal law, and also by the Fair Employment and Housing Act, which is a California state law.

The Americans with Disabilities Act will apply to you if you happen to have a mental or physical disability that limits the number and extent of the life activities that you can undertake. The disability can be a temporary one or permanent. The Act prohibits employers from treating you differently or discriminating against you on account of your disability.

The Fair Employment and Housing Act is geared towards employers with five or more employees and applies to people with permanent or temporary physical or mental disabilities.

In case you are experiencing discrimination in your workplace due to your disability, it will help to search online for “disability discrimination lawyer near me” and seek legal counsel.

The legal employment obligations of employers

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Employment and Housing Act, employers in California cannot do the following:

• They cannot treat you differently during the job application and interviewing process.

• They cannot refuse to hire you on account of your disability, especially if you are qualified for the job and can do it.

• They cannot harass and belittle you on account of your disability.

• They cannot allow other employees to harass and bully you on account of your disability.

• They cannot treat you as if you are incapable of performing well in your job role.

• They cannot use the disability as a pretext to demote you from your position.

• They cannot stop you from availing of training opportunities due to the disability.

• They cannot terminate you from employment on account of the disability.

• They cannot refuse to accommodate your disability in the workplace.

They must make reasonable accommodations for your disability. These can include the following:

• Restructuring your job to make it more convenient for you to do the work.

• Offering you the opportunity to work part-time or to a more flexible work schedule.

• Allowing you to take frequent work breaks and leaves of absence.

• Allowing you to work from home.

• Offering you another less demanding work position.

Please keep in mind, though, that that doesn’t mean acquiescing to every demand you make. The employer is not legally obliged to accede to your accommodation requests if they are unreasonable and are likely to cause unwarranted difficulties to their business operations.

Resolving disability-related conflicts in the workplace

The following tips may help you to resolve disability-related conflicts in the workplace:

Discuss the matter with the offender

Often, people may not be aware that you are offended by their behavior and actions towards you and that it is causing you emotional distress. It will help to broach the matter and calmly explain that you would like your future interactions to be more mutually respectful. In many cases, people will apologize and change the way they behave towards you. Even if someone is a bully, they may alter their behavior if they see that you are willing to stand up for yourself.

Ask your work supervisor to mediate in the matter

If you are not confident about approaching the person yourself or if talking to them does not have the desired effect, ask your supervisor to step in and mediate in the matter. They may issue them a warning and that may stop them from bothering you.

Report the matter to your company’s human resources department

If the person persists in creating conflict, you or your supervisor should report the situation to the company’s human resources department. Most companies have employee handbooks and company policy statements that prohibit workplace harassment and bullying. They will enforce the company policy by taking appropriate action against the offender.

Get legal advice from a competent employment lawyer

Some companies may drag their feet about dealing with the matter or they may not treat it with sufficient seriousness. In that case, you can search online for “Disability Discrimination Lawyer Near Me” and hire one to file a workplace discrimination claim.

Filed Under: Tips

Step by Step Guide to Consulting a Personal Injury Attorney

September 15, 2020 by

Accidents are unpredictable and can sometimes be so fatal that it can affect your whole life. You do not just suffer physically, but the huge pile of medical bills takes every inch of your savings. In such cases when you know that the accident was someone else’s fault, you must consult a personal injury attorney right away. Being a plaintiff, if you want to begin a lawsuit against the defendant then initially, you must file a complaint where you will demand the compensation for the damages that have occurred to you because of the defendant.

All the personal injury cases are different and that is why it is always suggested to consult a personal injury attorney in order to know how to proceed with the case. It is also important for you to know the basic rights in accident cases and how such legal issues can impact your rights. Since the law changes from state to state, your attorney must be able to help you out with your type of case with his expertise.

So, if you have recently met with an accident and looking for a personal injury attorney, here’s a step by step guide on how you can consult the apt attorney.

#1 Research and references

In these critical cases, you just cannot make a decision right away. For instance, if you have met with a car accident, then you must find an attorney who has expertise in car cases. Therefore, do your research, search on the internet, and ask your friends and family if they know any personal injury attorney who specializes in car accident cases. Ask them about their experience working with that attorney. Once you get the references, you can visit their website and read about their work.

#2 Shortlisting

Once you have a list of personal injury attorneys, it is time for you to shortlist three to four so that you can reach your final decision. Look for their work apart from the cases in society. See if they have any published articles on renowned platforms like the National Lawyers Guild to name a few. Through their such type of work, you will be able to know about their reputation. Once you research all of it, shortlist the personal injury attorneys and be ready to take the next steps.

#3 Scheduling interview

Once you know where to go, pick up that phone and call up to make the appointment with the shortlisted personal injury attorneys. Usually, the attorneys provide a free consultation during the first meeting, so you do not have to worry about the expenses.

#4 Collecting the evidence

Before you pay your first visit to the attorney, it is important to collect all the evidence where the accident took place. This evidence could be helpful in determining whose fault it was during the accident. If possible, take the pictures of the accident scene and make sure to document everything that you remember during that accident. This will really help the attorney to understand your case. If you have any witnesses, get their contact details and names.

#5 File complaint and get police report copy

You cannot visit the attorney empty-handed; therefore, the homework is necessary. Make a police complaint right after you have met with an accident and collect the copy for yourself so that you can present it to the attorney during your first meet. With such reports, the date, time, location, and other things get specified that took place during the accident.

#6 Consult personal injury attorney

Once you have everything with you, it is time to pay the visit to the attorney. The attorney will help you understand your rights and case. Tell everything that happened during the accident and make sure to clear out how much claim you are expecting since you have suffered huge monetary losses. Your attorney will help you out with the insurance, medical reports, negotiation with the defendant party, and representing on your behalf in the court.

It is advisable in cases on accidents to immediately seek legal help. This one-stop guide will help you make your decision on consulting personal injury attorney.

Filed Under: Personal Injury

How Employment Lawyers Can Help You Deal with Abusive Bosses?

August 25, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Abusive behavior by bosses is fairly common. Most employees just let such behavior slide for fear of losing their jobs or retribution in any other form. But if the abusive behavior is in excess or if the situation gets too toxic for you in the workplace, it is time to take action. A toxic workplace isn’t good for anyone. You can hire an employment lawyer to represent you and help you in this situation.

Here’s how an employment lawyer can help you deal with an abusive boss.

Counsel

Abusive behavior by a boss can be in any form – bullying, extortion, physical violence, insults, harassment, or discrimination. If any form of abuse is occurring due to your age, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, or nationality then there can be serious legal consequences for your boss as such discrimination comes under ‘protected categories’.

Employment law differs from state to state. Depending on your state’s laws, you may be able to take legal action against an abusive boss. For this reason, it is important to consult with lawyers practicing in your city or town.

You can find good lawyers via online searches. Simply use the keywords with your location; such as Glendale employment lawyer to find various law firms’ websites in your area. You can find more information on the lawyers by checking their websites. Choose a lawyer with adequate experience in handling all kinds of employment law-related cases.

Depending on your specific situation and state’ laws, an employment lawyer will provide you with the right legal counsel.

Documenting Abuse

Before you file the claim, your lawyer may ask you to start documenting the abuse. You may want to record any conversations between you and your boss. You may want to save any emails or documents that can point towards the abuse. Jotting down instances of abuse can also help you when preparing your claim. If you have medical bills for treatment of any physical abuse meted out to you by your boss then it is important that you preserve it. Your lawyer will guide you about documenting the abuse.

In case, for any reason, you decide to not file the claim (for now); the records of abuse can come in handy at a later date. Guidance about documenting instances of abuse can also be useful when you change jobs. Access to information can empower employees.

Legal Action

If the abusive behavior of the boss goes out of hand, it is time to take legal action. If abusive or offensive behavior is excessive, it can hinder your ability to work. It can also cause your mental and emotional trauma. If for some reason, you are not able to find new employment, it is imperative you take action to protect yourself from the abusive behavior of your boss. If you can afford to get in the nitty-gritty of the legal matters, then taking legal action (even if you can change jobs) will be the right thing to do. It will be the right payback for the abusive boss.

Your lawyer will provide you information on filing a claim. Once you are clear on the claim process, you will need to decide if you wish to go ahead with it. Once you file a lawsuit, there is not getting back from it. Your boss will know about it and even if you withdraw it; there is no guarantee that the situation at your workplace will improve for you. In fact, it might get worse.

In serious cases of abuse and when claim negotiations fail, you may have the option to go to trial. If the workplace abuse caused you severe psychological trauma, injuries, or impacted your ability to work productively; going to trial may be the right thing to do.

The trial will include collecting evidence to support your case. Your lawyer will try to convince as many witnesses to testify on your behalf. Powerful employers may try to interfere with the case, harm your reputation, or play foul to win the trial. But a good lawyer will protect you from such misuse of power and try to get you justice.

Filed Under: Tips
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