Category: employment law

I’m very sorry to hear that your employer is harassing you. Being in a difficult job situation can affect all aspects of your life. If your boss is harassing you and you believe the conduct is illegal, you may wish to speak with an attorney about your legal rights.

No boss is legally required to be a nice person. Bosses can be rude jerks who mistreat their employees. However, some forms of harassment are considered illegal. Harassment can be considered as a form of employment discrimination that violates federal employment laws.
Under federal law, harassment is any unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age (if over 40), disability, and genetic information. In California, it is also illegal to harass employees based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and military or veteran status. Harassment becomes illegal if the conduct becomes severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment that a reasonable person could consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive. Harassment is also illegal if enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment.

Some examples of offensive conduct include offensive jokes or slurs, name calling, intimidation, insults, offensive objects or pictures, and physical assaults or threats. Isolated incidents or minor slights do not rise to the level of being considered illegal. The harasser does not have to be the employee’s supervisor – he or she may be a supervisor in another area, a coworker, or even a non-employee of the business.

If you believe that are being illegally harassed in the workplace, you should take steps to prevent and correct the behavior. Communicate to your employees that the conduct will not be tolerated. If the behavior is not corrected, or if you are disciplined for mentioning the harassment, you should speak to an attorney. If you are in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, California employment attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

I’m sorry to hear about your termination. No, under both federal and state law, it is not legal to fire someone because they engaged in a legally protected activity, such as complaining about discrimination. You should speak with a California employment attorney who can help determine how best to pursue your claim.

As an employee, you have certain legal rights. Among those legal rights is the right to not be discriminated against or harassed because of your age, sex, race, religion, disability, national origin, and other factors. If you are ever discriminated against or harassed based on those factors, you may choose to file a complaint with a state or federal agency, or call an attorney. As you can imagine, employers normally are not happy when they learn that they are being investigated for violations of state or federal law, or receive a phone call from an employment law attorney.

However, it is illegal for an employer to file you because of your complaint. In addition, your employer cannot punish you in any other way, such as by reducing your salary or benefits, changing your position, taking disciplinary actions against you, or changing your job shift. In many cases, it can be difficult to tell if an employer is retaliating against you because you made a complaint. Legally, you must look at all the surrounding circumstances of the situation in order to determine whether the employer retaliated, and whether or not that retaliation has an effect on your employment.

If you believe that you have been the victim of workplace retaliation after making a complaint about a boss, you should speak to either the supervisor or someone in human resources. You may also wish to speak with an attorney. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles employment law attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

Yes, you may be able to sue your employer if you are discriminated against at work because of your sexual orientation. As a whole, American society has taken huge steps in recognizing legal rights of gay and lesbian individuals. However, discrimination still occurs, and often happens at work.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on certain characteristics, including age, race, sex, religion, and more. Title VII does not explicitly forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, in 2011 and 2012 the EEOC ruled that job discrimination against lesbians, gays, and transgendered individuals was discrimination based on sex and is therefore illegal. In addition, California law also forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace.

Sexual orientation discrimination occurs when someone is treated differently based on his or her sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. Some examples include being denied a promotion because of perceived or actual sexual orientation, being treated differently at work after coworkers find out about your sexual orientation, or being asked not to bring your partner to work events. In all of those situations, you may have a valid claim for sexual orientation discrimination.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against at work because of your sexual orientation, you should speak with an attorney. If you are in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles workplace discrimination attorney at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more.

Many workplaces are miserable. It would be nice if all work environments were pleasant and the employees were supportive of each other, but that is not reality. Many employees are subject to terrible conditions, including harassment. They may feel that they cannot leave their jobs for various reasons and may have to endure the harassment.

There is no law requiring workplaces to be friendly and supportive. However, in some cases workplace harassment can be a form of discrimination that can violate both state and federal law. If a person is the victim of unwelcome physical or verbal conduct on the basis of religion, race, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or other similar characteristics, that can constitute workplace harassment and is a violation of federal and state law.

In order for workplace conduct to be considered harassment, several factors must be present. The employee must be a member of a protected class. The victim must have suffered unwelcome physical or verbal conduct as a result of being in the protected class. Finally, the harassing behavior must have been serious enough to create a hostile work environment. Simple teasing or casual offhand comments are not illegal, nor are incidents that occur very rarely.

If you are harassed at work and you believe that your workplace is a hostile work environment, you should report the behavior to your manager. Hopefully, it will stop and you can continue working there. However, in some cases you must take legal action. In that event, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles employment rights attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

I’m sorry to hear about the layoff. The loss of a job can be very stressful, and normally leaves the former employee with a lot of issues to consider, such as obtaining a new job and health insurance. In many cases, your former employer will provide you with a severance package and will pay you for your unused vacation days. You may also qualify for unemployment compensation which can help with you financially for a period of time.

However, some employers refuse to compensate employees for their unused vacation days when they are laid off or fired. Under federal and California law, vacation pay is not required. If an employer does provide you with vacation days, they are not legally required to compensate you. Many employers do offer paid vacation days to employees as part of their employment package. Normally, the employer offers a set number of days per year, or bases the days off on the number of hours or days worked.

Under California law, if your employer has agreed to pay you for vacation time, it is illegal to refuse to pay it. When you leave a job, either because you have quit or are laid off or fired, you must be fairly compensated for your time spent on the job, which includes all the vacation benefits to which you are entitled. Legally, vacation benefits are considered a part of your compensation, and employers are not allowed to take away time that you have earned, or refuse to pay it out.

If you have been laid off or fired in California, and your former employer is refusing to pay your unused vacation time, it may be time to speak with an attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles employment law attorney, at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule your free consultation.

No, your coworkers are not allowed to make jokes about you because of your country of origin. However, in order to be actionable, the jokes must be frequent and severe – simple teasing on occasion is not illegal.  By law, it’s illegal for an employer or another person in the workplace to harass or to take any negative actions against an employee because of that person’s national origin. National origin generally includes a person’s cultural characteristics, language characteristics, birthplace, or ancestry.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against at work because of your national origin, you can file a complaint with a state or federal agency or sue for discrimination. There are federal laws that make national origin discrimination illegal, including the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. In California, the Fair Employment and Housing Act makes national origin discrimination in the workplace illegal.

Those laws make it illegal for employers to make decisions about hiring and firing, promotions, raises, benefits, or other terms and conditions of employment based on national origin. The laws also make harassment based on national origin illegal. Harassment can include offensive jokes or ethnic slurs. However, the harassment must be so frequent or severe that it affects the working environment. Also, the harassment can be done by anyone, including an employer, a supervisor, a co-worker, or even a customer.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against in the workplace in Los Angeles based on your national origin, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles national origin discrimination attorney at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

Unfortunately, your concerns are not uncommon. Although it would be wonderful if every workplace had employees who were supportive of each other and employers who were concerned about their employees’ best interests, that is not reality. Many employees work in terrible environments, and may feel that they are not able to leave because of a financial situation.

Whether or not you can sue your employer depends on the circumstances. If your coworkers and supervisors are simply nasty people, that is not illegal. However, if you are being harassed in the workplace based on your race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, national origin, or another similar reason, that conduct is a violation of state and federal law. Under federal law, this conduct is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In California, the conduct violates the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

In order for the conduct to be considered harassment, several elements must be met. First, the victim of the harassment must be a member of a protected class. The victim must have been subjected to unwelcome physical or verbal conduct as a result of being in the protected class. Also, the behavior must have been severe enough to create a hostile work environment. By law, anyone in an office can behave in a way to make the office a hostile work environment – it does not have to be a supervisor. Some examples of conduct that could create a hostile work environment include using racial slurs, telling crude sexual jokes, mocking a person’s religion, and similar acts. If the behavior is simple teasing, and does not occur regularly, it may not be illegal.

If you believe that you work in a hostile work environment, you should speak to an employment attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles employment attorney, at 310-385-0567. My team may be able to help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Sexual harassment in the workplace has been a very hot topic this fall, after Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexually harassing dozens of women in the entertainment industry. Other women have accused him of rape. After those allegations were made public, the floodgates opened with many other men in positions of power in the entertainment industry facing accusations of harassment and assault.

The entertainment industry is not the only industry that faces sexual harassment issues in the workplace. However, most victims do not have a public platform that allows them to speak out on the issue. Fortunately, there are both state and federal laws in place that make sexual harassment in the workplace illegal, and which allow for victims to obtain compensation for their damages. If you are facing sexual harassment at work, you should speak to an attorney about your legal options.

By law, sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual conduct, requests for sexual favors, and unwelcome advances. In order to be illegal under law, the sexual harassment must either negatively affect a person’s job (such as the employee being fired), or it must be so severe and frequent that it creates a hostile work environment. The harasser can be a supervisor, coworker, or even a customer.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual conduct, unwelcome advances, and requests for sexual favors. To be actionable, the sexual harassment must either negatively affect your job (such as you getting fired or demoted), or it must be so severe and frequent that it creates a hostile work environment. One common misperception about sexual harassment is that the perpetrator must be a supervisor – in fact, harassment can be committed by a supervisor, a coworker, a subcontractor, or even a customer.

Sexual harassment can be very difficult to prove. Normally, the accuser must prove that he or she did not welcome the conduct, and that the conduct was severe. If you are in the position of being sexually harassed at work, you should tell the harasser to stop. If that doesn’t put an end to it, you should complain within the company.

If you want to speak with an attorney, and you are in the Los Angeles area, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles employment attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

If you are discriminated against in the workplace because you are HIV positive, you may be able to sue your employer for damages, depending on the circumstances. By law, HIV and AIDS qualify as disabilities, even if the employee does not have any symptoms. Therefore, disability discrimination laws prevent employers from discriminating against employees because of the diagnosis.

The applicable federal laws cover all public employers, and private employers with 15 or more employees. The laws prohibit employers from discriminating against employees in all employment practices such as hiring, firing, job assignments, benefits, wages, training, promotion, layoffs, and more.

If the employee is able to perform the essential functions of the job, but may need reasonable accommodation, the employer is required to provide that accommodation. A reasonable accommodation is any modification that would not be significantly difficult or expensive in relation to the size of the employer. For example, if an HIV positive employee needs to schedule his or her work around doctor’s appointments, the employer would probably be required to allow that. Some employers may claim that they do not want to hire a person with HIV, because of the risk to the health and safety of their other employees and to their customers. However, HIV transmission only rarely is considered a direct threat to safety.

Employers are legally prohibited from asking employees or potential employees about their HIV status. If an employer does learn that an employee is HIV positive, federal law requires that the employer keep that information confidential.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against in the workplace because you are HIV positive or have AIDS, you should speak with an employment attorney. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles employment attorney at 310-385-0567. My legal team with provide you with a free consultation. Call today to learn more.