Your Rights. Our Fight.

Fired for speaking up, taking protected leave, reporting unlawful conduct, or refusing to violate the law? We help employees determine whether a termination was unlawful. California employees are protected from being fired for discriminatory reasons, in retaliation for exercising workplace rights, or in violation of public policy. If you believe your termination was unjust, you may have a legal claim for lost wages, emotional distress, and other damages.

California employees are protected from discrimination based on race, sex, disability, pregnancy, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other protected traits. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides broad protections against discriminatory treatment in hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, and other terms of employment. If you have been treated unfairly because of who you are, you may have a valid claim.

No employee should have to endure sexual harassment, offensive conduct, threats, intimidation, or a workplace that feels unsafe or abusive. Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. A hostile work environment based on sex, gender, or other protected characteristics is also unlawful. Both the harasser and the employer may be held liable.

Employers cannot punish employees for exercising workplace rights, reporting illegal conduct, requesting accommodations, filing complaints, or opposing discrimination or harassment. Retaliation can take many forms — termination, demotion, reduced hours, schedule changes, or a hostile work environment. California law provides strong protections against retaliation, and employees who experience it may be entitled to significant compensation.

We handle claims involving unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, minimum wage violations, off-the-clock work, improper deductions, inaccurate pay statements, and employee misclassification. California requires 1.5x pay for daily overtime (over 8 hours) and weekly overtime (over 40 hours), and double time for hours over 12 in a day. Wage theft is among the most common violations California workers face.

California law provides important break protections for many nonexempt employees. Employees are entitled to a 30-minute unpaid meal period for shifts over 5 hours, and a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked. If your employer failed to provide these breaks, you may be entitled to one additional hour of pay for each violation. These penalties can add up significantly over time.

Employees may have rights to protected time off for serious health conditions, pregnancy-related disability, bonding with a new child, caring for family members, paid sick leave, and other qualifying reasons. California provides some of the most comprehensive leave protections in the country through CFRA, FMLA, PDL, and paid sick leave laws. Employers who deny, interfere with, or retaliate against employees for taking protected leave may be liable.

Employees with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodations and an interactive process with their employer. Under California's FEHA, employers with five or more employees must engage in a good-faith interactive process to determine appropriate accommodations. Failing to accommodate a disability, refusing to engage in the interactive process, or retaliating against an employee for requesting accommodations may give rise to legal claims.

Workers who report unlawful conduct, safety concerns, wage violations, fraud, or other misconduct may be protected from retaliation under California and federal whistleblower laws. These protections apply whether you reported internally to a supervisor or externally to a government agency. If your employer took adverse action against you for reporting wrongdoing, you may have a whistleblower retaliation claim.

We review severance agreements, employment contracts, arbitration agreements, releases, and restrictive covenants so employees understand what they are being asked to sign. Signing a severance agreement typically waives important legal rights. Before you sign anything, it is important to understand what claims you may be releasing, whether the severance amount is fair, and whether any restrictions on future employment are enforceable.