Los Angeles California Employment Law Blog

Managing your health or the well-being of your family can be unpredictable. You could be completely healthy and manage to contract a virus or you could be living with a chronic or autoimmune disease. Pregnancy, adoption and an ill parent or child might take you away from your job.

California is one of five states that has additional legislation regarding sick leave. Along with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), California has the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). Both require employers to offer certain amounts of time off to qualifying employees for various reasons. They encompass pregnancy leave, serious medical issues, and leave for taking care of a sick immediate family member.

Those inspired by the #metoo movement often fight back using Title VII. This federal law written in 1964 addresses employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender or other aspects of one's identity. However, women and others in California who have been harassed or discriminated against would be wise to look at the protections of the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), which provides broader coverage and interpretations when it comes to equal pay, harassment or discriminatory conduct as well as retaliation in the workplace for California workers. For example, damages are unlimited under FEHA, whereas under Title VII, there is a cap at $300,000.00. FEHA also requires employers to prevent harassment, discrimination, and retaliation from occurring through effective preventative measures.  This includes having anti-harassment policies, training, and promptly investigating, in good faith and in an unbiased manner, all reports of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in the workplace.  FEHA provides protections to employees who work for smaller employers with 5 or more employees (employers of 1 or more employees are covered for harassment claims), whereas Title VII covers employers of 15 or more employees.  In addition to protecting employees, FEHA's harassment provisions protect unpaid interns, volunteers, and independent contractors.  FEHA also protects harassment conducted by non-employees.  An example would be a customer who sexually harasses a waitress or restaurant employee.  If the employer is aware of the harassment by a non-employee like a customer, and fails to take action to protect its employees, the employer may be held liable under FEHA. ID: 2959319Primary Target URL: http://www.jaramilla.com/blogDue Date: Jun 6 2018Post Type: Client Requested: NoTitle: FEHA offers better harassment and discrimination protectionThose inspired by the #metoo movement often fight back using Title VII. This federal law written in 1964 addresses employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender or other aspects of one's identity. However, women and others in California who have been harassed or discriminated against would be wise to look at the protections of the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), which provides broader coverage and interpretations when it comes to equal pay, harassment or discriminatory conduct as well as retaliation in the workplace for California workers. For example, damages are unlimited under FEHA, whereas under Title VII, there is a cap at $300,000.00. FEHA also requires employers to prevent harassment, discrimination, and retaliation from occurring through effective preventative measures.  This includes having anti-harassment policies, training, and promptly investigating, in good faith and in an unbiased manner, all reports of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in the workplace.  FEHA provides protections to employees who work for smaller employers with 5 or more employees (employers of 1 or more employees are covered for harassment claims), whereas Title VII covers employers of 15 or more employees.  In addition to protecting employees, FEHA's harassment provisions protect unpaid interns, volunteers, and independent contractors.  FEHA also protects harassment conducted by non-employees.  An example would be a customer who sexually harasses a waitress or restaurant employee.  If the employer is aware of the harassment by a non-employee like a customer, and fails to take action to protect its employees, the employer may be held liable under FEHA.

For any worker, being patronized, stereotyped, maligned and mistreated can be crushing, demeaning and hurtful. Such feelings are compounded when you are an older worker. Age discrimination is alive and well in the American workplace, but not enough has been done to combat something so destructive to a person’s soul or his or her livelihood.

Age discrimination is illegal and can surface in a number of ways. You’ve been asked to vacate your office to work in an open space or cube. You now must share a computer with others, or you’ve been demoted to a position with no sick pay or benefits. Or you’re called age-related epithets.

Wrongful termination laws are in place for a reason: to protect workers who have been illegally fired. Most people on the job are considered "at will" employees, and can be fired for any reason as long as it is not illegal. However, employees or contractors cannot be terminated for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons.

In a recent case near Oakland, a California appeals court upheld a lower court's decision to award $1.3 million to a female self-storage employee wrongfully terminated because she was pregnant. This is a prime example of wrongful termination as it was a discriminatory and illegal for her former employer to fire her.