Reverse Discrimination in the Workplace

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibit the firing of “any individual” because of such individual’s race. The racial discrimination laws are not limited to discrimination against members of any particular race. Rather than the federal employment laws and California labor laws being limited to discrimination against members of a particular race, the laws are extended to prohibit racial discrimination in private employment against white persons upon same standards as racial discrimination against nonwhites. 

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CAUCASIANS IN THE WORKPLACE

In one employment discrimination laws, white employees who were fired alleged racial discrimination based on the employer’s failure to discharge African American employees who had engaged in similar ,misconduct. The Court found that the white employees met their burden under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by alleging that the union did not satisfy its duty properly to represent the white employees. Instead of adequately representing the employees reverse discrimination interests, the employees alleged that the union joined in on the employer’s alleged racial discrimination against them.

REVERSE DISCRIMINATION LAWYERS IN SAN DIEGO AND SAN FRANCISCO

If you think that you may have been wrongfully terminated or denied a job opening based on reverse discrimination, contact an employment lawyer at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik. Our reverse discrimination lawyers know how to aggressively represent victims of discrimination in the workplace. We offer employees free consultations about their employee rights and take qualified reverse discrimination lawsuits on a contingency fee basis, meaning employees don’t pay our labor lawyers unless we recover money for them.

California Employment Lawyer

Our California employment lawyers understand that companies violate employee rights and leave workers feeling like they have no where to turn for help. Employees throughout the state of California - from Los Angeles to San Francisco - have been relying on our employment law firm for over 30 years in lawsuits involving illegal employment law practices such as wrongful termination laws, discrimination laws, retaliation laws, overtime pay laws and many other types of Labor Code violations.

In the process of helping employees fight back against illegal employer practices, our California employment attorneys have obtained over $1.3 billion in settlements and judgements for workers throughout the state. Our employment lawyers take cases for employees only and work on a contingency fee basis, meaning employees never pay our attorneys a dollar unless we win money for you. Most importantly, we have helped millions of workers throughout California get back on their feet through individual and class action lawsuits.

3 Secrets About Hiring California Employment Lawyers

There are three important things that employees must consider before hiring a California employment attorney. First, the employee needs to understand how the law firm makes its money. On the one hand, an employee with resources and money may want to hire an hourly employment lawyer. On the other hand, an employee who lacks resources and wants to sue a big company for employment law violations may want to hire a contingency fee lawyer. The benefit of hiring a contingency fee employment lawyer is that the lawyers don’t make money unless the employee makes money and the attorneys are motivated to spend time and effort on the lawsuit.

The second important factor involves location. For example, employees may want to make sure that the California employment law firm they are hiring has a specific attorney in the same city as the employee who will be the lead attorney in the lawsuit. This allows employees to visit with the California employment lawyer in person for a free consultation and for the actual process of the litigation. While most matters can usually be handled over the phone, sometimes employees prefer to actually have a sit down meeting with their employment law attorneys.

The third important thing that employees must consider before hiring an employer lawyer in California is whether or not the firm has a good reputation. In litigation, there are never any guarantees of course. However, as a general rule, history tends to repeat itself and there is no special exception when it comes to hiring California employment lawyers. Employees may therefore want to review the employment law firms record of settlements and judgments to see if the firm has won any big cases. An employee may also want to read reviews about the California employment lawyers to assess whether the firm is known for providing its clients with excellent customer care.

California Lawyers for Advice About Union Activity

Union Organizing & Collective Bargaining

The rate of membership in labor unions has never been lower in the private sector workforce than it is today, but employees throughout California are showing renewed interest in labor organizing in order to realize the benefits of collective bargaining and union grievance processes. While state and federal law provide valuable tools for protecting workplace rights, a union contract usually represents even more powerful protection against low pay, long hours and unfair treatment on the job.

Call 800-568-8020 for Legal Advice About Your Right to Form or Join a Union

If you need legal advice about your right to organize a union, the fair conduct of labor campaigns and elections, or the ways to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices on the part of your company, contact the California labor attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.

We advise clients throughout the state who need advice about union organizing and activity. Some of the services we offer include:

• Helping you and your fellow employees negotiate better schedules, work hours, and working conditions
• Defining a collective bargaining unit, or the employee group the union will represent
• Identifying unfair or unlawful employer opposition tactics
• Union election campaigns
• Protection from employer retaliation for union organizing activity
• Protection from unfair labor practices or union-busting tactics

Our lawyers can advise individuals or employee groups at any stage of the union organization or formation process anywhere in California, including Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Silicon Valley, the Central Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire or San Diego.

For some purposes, you don’t even need a functioning union to have collective workplace rights. For example, if the employer proposes a shift to a 10-hour, four-day week, the employees have the right to vote on it whether or not you’re represented by the union. Companies cannot impose an alternative workweek schedule without a two-thirds majority vote, properly conducted, of the employees who will be affected.

To find out more about the scope of our practice on behalf of employee groups throughout the state, contact a California labor lawyer at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik in La Jolla.

Employee Access to Employment Files

Having Trouble With Access to Your Employment Records in California?

You have the right to inspect your employer’s personnel record under California law, as long as the inspecting relates to your performance or a grievance. When employees in California cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, or San Francisco, make a request to inspect their employment file, employers have three responsibilities:

• The employer must keep a copy of the employee’s personnel records;
• The employer must make those records available to the employee within a reasonable time; and
• The employer must permit the employee to inspect those records without punishing or retaliating against the employee for doing so.

Former employees may also be entitled to inspect their employment file. While this is not as clear as the current employee rule, it is still a right that former employees are usually granted.

Call 800-568-8020 in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County or Sacramento

The California employment law attorneys of Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik have significant experience in employment litigation in the areas of law that affect employee rights, such as union organization and activities, severance agreements, and employment contracts.
We focus on protecting employee rights in counties throughout the state, such as San Diego County, Orange County, Santa Clara County, Alameda County and San Francisco County.

Making a Freedom of Information Act Request in California Public Employment

State employees can also make a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Justice. Employees should send their requests directly to the Department of Justice. In the request, employees are allowed to identify the exact documents requested as well as the format in which those documents are to be produced. Although there are certain exemptions under which the Department of Justice does not have to produce documents, as long as the documents are limited to your employment records you should be able to obtain them using this method. At Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik, our California employment law attorneys can assist you with obtaining your employment records. Contact us for additional information.

Severance and Release Agreements

Don’t Sign Anything Until You Have Talked to Us

If you are leaving a company and have an option to sign an employment contract such as a severance or release agreement, we have strong advice: don’t do it without consulting a lawyer first. Businesses use severance agreements to protect themselves in a variety of ways. The truth is they really don’t care that much about protecting the rights or futures of their employees. Often, release contracts are loaded with illegal and one-sided provisions designed to restrict employees’ rights on the job market, while paying employees as little as possible to ensure business interests are protected. In fact, many of these agreements are in violation of wage-and-hour laws.

Free Consultation ▪ Extensive Experience ▪ Maximum Compensation

The attorneys of Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik in La Jolla, California, have been representing employees in class action litigation against their former employers since 1999. We have an excellent record of protecting our clients’ rights and financial interests in matters relating to severance packages, release agreements and employment contracts.

Talk to one of our experienced employment law attorneys before you sign. Contact us today. We can help you understand what is included in the employment contract you’re signing and how it will affect your future. With our vast knowledge of employment laws and labor laws, your matter will be handled professionally and with great care.

We will examine your agreement and explain:

• Your capacity to seek work in your chosen profession
• Your final severance payout
• Tax consequences
• Independent contractor status
• Language about your performance on the job
• Your independent use of trademarks, copyrights and intellectual property

Can You Be Part of a Class Action Lawsuit?

In many cases, companies that ask employees to sign and accept illegal severance packages and separation agreements are following illegal policies. If you are the first plaintiff to step forward and start a class action lawsuit against your employer, you may be eligible to receive other compensation in addition to a settlement or jury award.

Don’t sign an employment contract or accept anything without knowing how it will affect your long-term prospects. Contact us to discuss the severance package you’ve been offered. Our lawyers represent employees in class action lawsuits against employers in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, San Francisco and Santa Clara, and throughout California.

Employees Should Know About the Economics Behind Hiring an Employment Lawyer in California

Employers throughout the state of Califoria continue to violate employee rights by committing violations relating to wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, overtime pay, working off the clock and employee benefits such as vacation pay. When an employer violates the law, employees usually start looking for an employment law attorney to help them recover from the company’s illegal practices. 

The thing that employees often most overlook is that the merits of the case are not the only important thing that employment law firms are looking into. Most employees search for a contingency, no win no fee employment law attorney in California. Contingency fee law firms take cases that are economically viable; if they did not, the labor law firm would likely be out of business. 

Therefore, the most important thing that the employment lawyers look into before deciding to take a case is how much the case is worth. After all, the labor lawyers don’t win a dollar unless the employee wins and they only win a percent of the employees total settlement or trial verdict. The more the case settles for, the more money the attorneys stand to make. 

Suppose you applied for a job that was goign to pay you $100,000 as a marketing director. You were up against one caucasion person for the job and the CEO of the company sent you an email stating, “Although you are highly qualified, we want to hire someone who is white.” This is clearly smoking gun evidence of discrimination, but this is just the start of what employment lawyers look into. 

The main inquiry is always, how has the employee been damaged. Based on the example above, suppose the employee was able to get another, higher paying job the next week. The attorneys would be skeptical to take the case even though it is a flawless discrimination claim because the damages are not that big. 

Suppose on the other hand that the employee can never get another job after this incident of discrimination in the workplace. Then, in this scenario, even though the merits are the same, contingency fee attorneys would likely be jumping all over this one as opposed to the first example because the damages are a lot greater. The employee could potentially win lost future wages for years. 

The point is that if employees want to find a good employment law firm, they should focus on how they have been damaged during the first free initial consultation rather than the merits of the case. Of course, the merits are ultimately the determinative factor, as a meritless case will not stand in court and the attorneys will not even file it if they discover it is meritless. However, by talking about the damages, employees can get the attention of the law firm. Once an employee has the law firm’s attentionl, he or she will have the opportunity to go over all of the merits of the case. 

Attention Grabbing Inquiry:

I was fired from a company with a lot of money and I think it was because of my race. I made $100,000/year and have not been able to get another job since I was fired. What are my options?

vs.

Likely not to get a response:

I was fired and I know it was discrimination because my boss told my supervisor that I had stolen from my coworker when in fact it was my coworker who stole from me.  I can prove that I was not the one who stole the item in question. I have all the documents to prove that I am being framed by my supervisor, who does not like me because she thinks I am trying to take over her position. 

Overtime Pay: Calculating Bonuses into the Regular Rate

Under California labor laws, if you are an hourly employee bonuses and other compensation must be included in your regular rate of pay for purposes of calculating your overtime rate. For example, suppose you are working as a property manager and as part of the job you receive a unit to live in that costs $900/month. The $900 must then be divided by 160 hours (4 weeks at 40 hours a week) and then must be added to your regular rate of pay BEFORE overtime is calculated. 

Under this example, $900 / 160 hours = $5 

Suppose you are paid $15 per hour of work. When the employer calculates your overtime rate of pay, the employer takes the $15 and multiplies it by 1.5x, which California overtime laws set as the overtime rate. Therefore, your overtime rate of pay is $22.5. However, this would be considered a violation of Californiaq labor laws in that the regular rate of pay should have included an additional $5 of pay.

Therefore, your hourly rate of pay should have been $15/hour + $5= $20 hourly rate of pay

The overtime rate should have been 1.5 times the regular rate of $20, which would be $30/hour vs. the $22.5/hour that the employer is paying you. 

This is $7.5 you are losing per hour of overtime you work. Suppose you work 20 hours a week, that would be an additional $150 for you to spend per week. Per year, that little mistake by your employer would cost you $150 a week times 52 weeks = $7,800 year. 

The statute of limitations in these types of overtime cases can extend back four years so your potential claim could be valued at $31,200 which does not include damages, such as waiting time penalties other penalties and interest. 

Finally, these types of cases are great for class action lawsuits because it is usually very systematic when employers fail to include bonuses in the regular rate of pay for purposes of calculating your overtime rate. 

Contact one of our employment law attorneys for more information about your legal rights.