California Employment Lawyer Blog

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 1 in 4 American women has been sexually harassed in the workplace, Forbes.com reports.

This is a sad statistic, but not all that surprising.

As the article correctly points out, many women are shy about reporting sexual harassment because they are worried that their male bosses could shun them for promotions, training and other perks at work. All of that is also unlawful.

Sexual harassment in Fullerton happens every day and it happens to both men and women. Facing sexual harassment -- including getting unwelcome looks and comments, receiving sexually based e-mails or being asked for sexual favors for work -- can be intimidating.

Many people feel this intimidation and don't report the harassment, which can continue. Garden Grove sexual harassment lawyers have seen the frustration and tough work environment this culture of harassment can create.

The article states that in 1992, 88 percent of Americans believed that sexual harassment was a major on-the-job problem. That number has dropped to 64 percent now. Perhaps that's because in the 1990s, there was a revolution of sexual harassment claims as more women felt empowered to report such abuse.

In 1997, there were nearly 16,000 claims of sexual harassment, with claims staying above 15,000 until 2001, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported.

Since then, claims have dropped steadily to 11,717 in 2010. Still, the amount of money paid out for these claims has remained between $47 and $50 million in recent years.

While the attitude of women in the workplace has change, the more common attitude in recent years, the Forbes article points out, is that women are less likely to report sexual harassment because they feel that not reporting it would hurt their career chances. It could also hurt the efforts of female co-workers, who sometimes pressure them into not reporting.

Another common thinking is that women believe they are "strong enough" to handle dealing with a little sexual harassment and that reporting it is a sign of weakness. They should be able to take a joke, some might say.

But sexual harassment in Irvine isn't a joke. It's a power play by bosses, who like to throw their weight around at work. It is pure intimidation and it can't be stopped unless someone reports it. The longer this environment continues, the longer it takes.

And the more times it goes unreported, the more engrained it becomes in a culture. Think about your workplace. There are most likely patterns that occur that have been the same for years, maybe decades. People settle into a routine and do somethings the same way they always have.

Sexual harassment, in some companies, is one of those everyday occurrences. If it continues to go unreported, it will continue to happen. If you have been sexually harassed in Southern California, don't sit back and let it happen.

Continue reading " 1 in 4 Women Have Faced Sexual Harassment at Work in Newport Beach, Poll Finds " »

A case out of Puerto Rico recently shows the challenge that persons with disabilities have at work as well as trying to show they have faced discrimination in the workplace.

In Ramos-Echevarria v. Pichis Inc., a worker who suffers from epilepsy claimed that his employer discriminated against him because he was denied a full-time position. He claims it was because of his disability, but two courts have ruled against him.

There are both state and federal protections for people with disabilities in California. Under disability discrimination laws in Newport Beach, workers who are otherwise qualified for a job but who suffer from a physical or mental disability can't be denied employment simply because of the impairment.

And California residents also have federal protection from disability discrimination as well. Private employers, state and local governments, and others aren't allowed to discriminate against the disabled, including hiring, firing, compensation, advancement, training and other areas of employment.

In this difficult economy, our Irvine employment lawyers feel for those who are rejected for jobs based on their disability. We will stand by their side and demand justice.

In this case, Ramos-Echevarria suffers from epilepsy, and according to court documents has nine to 16 "episodes" a week where he will see an "aura" before his body convulses for eight to 15 seconds. After that, his cognitive abilities are impaired and sometimes for a period after.

He was a part-time kitchen assistant since 1999, assisting with food preparation. He had a similar position since 2002 with another restaurant. Between three and six times a year his seizures cause him to leave work, but most of the time he stabilizes himself until they pass.

When he was first hired -- he told the company about his illness on his application -- his boss fired him after his first episode. He was told to bring in a doctor's note stating that he can work despite the illness and he got one and was re-hired. Since then, he has never been denied medical assistance.

He claimed in his lawsuit that he has asked for full-time work but was told that he couldn't get full-time work because of his condition. Others were hired after him and got full-time work while he still was stuck in a part-time role, despite his reviews being favorable.

The appeals court ruled that he failed to show that he has a disability within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act and therefore his claim should be dismissed. They agreed with the lower court ruling and dismissed his case.

Employment law is a complex area that must be handled by an experienced lawyer. While these laws provide protection for workers, there are specific elements that must be met in order to show that a person has faced discrimination for a disability. A Santa Ana employment lawyer can help.

Continue reading " Ramos-Echevarria v. Pichis Highlights Challenges of Disability Law in California " »

A recent case out of Illinois highlights just how critical it is to make sure your rights as an employee are upheld when you take medical leave.

In Makowski v. SmithAmundsen LLC, a law firm marketing director took time off from work under the Family Medical Leave Act in order to give birth to her child and recover afterward.

When she was on leave, her bosses told her that her position had been eliminated as part of a restructuring. She sued, alleging that she was the victim of discrimination and for retaliation. After a lower court ruled in favor of her former employer, an appeals court reversed.

In our now ultra-competitive work environment, companies are often scrambling to get or stay ahead as they compete. But they simply aren't allowed to show favoritism toward employees simply because another is pregnant. Pregnancy discrimination in Fullerton is considered a special class that is protected.

Women who are pregnant must be treated like anyone else. That means they can't simply be dismissed or fired because they are with child. And like any other full-time employee, they have a right to time off for medical reasons.

The federal Family Medical Leave Act is designed to allow employees to take unpaid leave for a certain period of time while enjoying the protection of their job. Under federal guidelines, to qualify for FMLA, a worker must have been employed for at least a year and must have worked at least 1,250 hours in the past year. The company must also have 5 or more employees over a 20-week period.

California also has a family leave law that was in place two years before the feds created their own in 1993. The two sets of laws are close in language and protections to pregnant employees.

In this case, sadly, the woman was treated poorly while on maternity leave with a bogus reason of "restructuring" as why they let her go. But as the appeals court noted in a 15-page ruling, verbal statements by a human resources director speaking with the employee upon being fired should have been admitted. Those statements showed a connection between the woman taking leave and her termination and were discriminatory in nature.

When the woman came to work to pick up her belongings after being fired over the phone, the human resources director told her she was fired because she was pregnant and took medical leave. She also told her that others who were pregnant had been discriminated against, and that she should consult with a lawyer to pursue a possible class action lawsuit.

After reviewing a lower court's ruling, the appeals court reversed and admitted the H.R. director's comments into evidence and allowed them to be used at trial.

While the term "smoking gun" is usually reserved for criminal cases, this would be the "smoking gun" in a pregnancy discrimination case. For an H.R. director, responsible for firing and upholding employment laws, to tell a fired employee that there is widespread discrimination would be a very important thing for jurors to hear at trial. It's a good thing the appeals court took another look at this case.

Continue reading " Makowski v. SmithAmundsen LLC Highlights Pregnancy Discrimination Can Happen in Orange County Too " »

As head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, two women accused Herman Cain, now running for president, of inappropriate behavior after complaining to colleagues and officials and leading to a settlement, Politico reported recently.

As the Los Angeles Times points out, Cain's defense on the matter has varied. During his first media interview following the story breaking, Cain said he didn't know if the case was settled. Later that day, he said he was falsely accused and allowed the trade group to handle the situation. In two other interviews that day, Cain said one woman may have gotten two or three months' salary as part of a settlement and then said he didn't act inappropriately, "but as you would imagine, it's in the eye of the person who thinks that maybe I crossed the line."

Other than the fact that the person allegedly involved is a presidential candidate, we know of many incidents like this, including charges of sexual harassment in Huntington Beach. Most commonly, sexual harassment charges stem from incidents or alleged incidents in the workplace. A co-worker or a boss sends out an inappropriate e-mail with sexual connotations that makes a person feel uncomfortable. Or maybe during the course of a typical work day, a manager or business owner makes a sexually offensive joke or touches someone in a manner that many would consider inappropriate.

These are all issues that must be taken up with an experienced Huntington Beach sexual harassment lawyer. Voicing one's opinions and asking that the behavior stop may be one way to address the matter, but that can also open up the person to potential retaliation if the accused doesn't take kindly to their words. A lawyer will ensure your rights are upheld.

Details of the situation with Cain aren't clear. Politico reports that they chose not to include the identities of the two restaurant association employees citing privacy concerns. The news report states that the women received separation packages reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Politico reports that the allegations stem from conversations filled with innuendo or sexually suggestive questions during conferences and at hotels on association business. The allegations also include physical gestures that weren't sexual, but made women uncomfortable and they considered them improper.

Cain has tried to play off the allegations as false, but the association clearly didn't want any part of it and decided to settle with the victims instead. This sort of thing happens in corporate America, when high-ranking officials believe they can say or do anything without getting caught.

But the time of sexual harassment in the workplace needs to come to an end. No longer should people with power use their influence or position to make the lives of their subordinates frustrating and uncomfortable.

The landscape is changing, but it is still old-school in some places. They need to change and get with the times, but it often takes an example to make that happen. If the culture in a workplace isn't right, it won't change overnight. It takes time, but it has to start someplace.

Continue reading " Herman Cain Hammered With Sexual Harassment Claims " »

CNN is reporting that tens of thousands of farmers who faced racial discrimination from the U.S. Agriculture Department in the 1980s and 1990s could start to get $1.25 billion in compensation after a recent federal settlement.

While not usually on this grand a scale, racial discrimination in Irvine and elsewhere happens every day. Employees are fired or not hired not based on their skills, but based on their skin color. Sadly, Orange County employment lawyers have seen many Americans whose lives have been disrupted because of discrimination in the workplace.

Race is a characteristic that is part of a protected class where discrimination cannot be tolerated and the class includes disability, religion, age and sexual orientation, to name a few. In 2010, there were nearly 36,000 race-based claims of discrimination in the United States, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That was up from nearly 34,000 in 2009 and 29,000 in 2000.

In this case, as many as 68,000 African-American farmers could receive either $50,000 or $250,000, depending on the circumstances of their case. In the class-action lawsuit, a judge ruled that the settlement is fair in helping black farmers who can prove they were discriminated against in the department's support and programs.

"Historical discrimination cannot be undone," the judge wrote, citing a basis to establish payments, "for the broken promise to those African-American farmers and their descendants."

A review panel of retired judges and neutral parties will look at each case to determine the amount of aid the farmers can get. This will no doubt go a long way toward helping farmers whose livelihoods were shattered because of discrimination.

Many who faced discrimination lost their farms when they were not given equal opportunity to get aid from the government-backed department. When competitors, who were not black, got the needed support, they were able to put black farmers out of business.

Our country runs on farmers who are able to create produce, meat and other animal products that feed our families and keep the grocery business competitive. But if they aren't able to thrive because of racial bias, the entire system struggles.

On a smaller scale, discrimination in the workplace can be equally disruptive. When bosses make decisions of hiring, firing, promotions and training not based on a person's skills, experience or abilities, but rather on the color of their skin, that is a major inequality.

Many examples of outright racial discrimination in Irvine workplaces require the help of a whistle-blower -- a person who is willing to stand up to what is wrong. In many racial discrimination situations, an insider can help change the culture of a business that has for years operated in the wrong.

Sometimes, however, the culture is such that bosses are open about their discrimination and use their power to influence others to stay quiet. The threat of losing a job, especially in this difficult economy can be an intimidating force.

Continue reading " USDA’s Civil Rights Infractions is Reminder to Fight Racial Discrimination in Irvine and Elsewhere " »