Employment Law

Wrongful termination occurs when an employer illegally fires an employee in violation of federal or state law. This can happen for various unlawful reasons, including discrimination based on race, gender, age, disability, or other protected characteristics; retaliation for reporting illegal activities or workplace safety violations; or breach of employment contracts.

Recognizing wrongful termination is crucial for protecting your rights and ensuring that you receive fair treatment. If you believe you have been wrongfully terminated, it’s important to seek legal advice to understand your options and take appropriate action.

Discrimination in the workplace can take many forms and is prohibited based on various protected characteristics. These include, but are not limited to:

• Disability: Discrimination against individuals with disabilities, including failure to provide reasonable accommodations.
• Race: Treating employees unfavorably because of their race or skin color.
• Gender and Sex: Discrimination based on gender, including unequal pay, promotion denial, or harassment.
• Age: Age discrimination involves treating employees less favorably because of their age, particularly those over 40.
• Religion: Treating employees unfavorably due to their religious beliefs or practices.
• National Origin: Discrimination based on an individual’s nationality, ethnicity, or accent.
• Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Unfair treatment or harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Pregnancy: Discrimination against women because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

Workplace harassment can include any comments, behavior, or unwelcome conduct based on sex, race, gender, age, disability, pregnancy, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics that creates a hostile or abusive work environment. This conduct can come from supervisors, coworkers, or even non-employees such as clients or customers. Harassment can take many forms, including verbal, physical, and visual actions.

Examples of Workplace Harassment:

• Verbal Harassment: Offensive jokes, slurs, epithets, or name-calling; unwelcome comments about a person's appearance, body, or personal life; and threats or intimidation.
• Physical Harassment: Unwanted touching, assault, or any form of physical interference with an individual's normal work or movement.
• Visual Harassment: Displaying or sharing offensive objects, pictures, emails, or other visual material.
• Sexual Harassment: Unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. This includes quid pro quo harassment, where job benefits are contingent on sexual favors, and creating a hostile work environment through pervasive sexual conduct.

Wage and hour disputes arise from issues such as unpaid wages, overtime pay, and minimum wage violations. Understanding wage laws is essential to ensure you receive fair compensation for your work. These disputes can include:

• Unpaid Wages: Failure to pay for hours worked, including regular hours and overtime.
• Overtime Pay: Not compensating employees at the required rate for hours worked beyond an 8-hour workday or 40-hour workweek.
• Minimum Wage Violations: Paying employees less than the legally mandated minimum wage.
• Misclassification: Incorrectly classifying employees as exempt from overtime or as independent contractors.
• Meal & Rest Breaks: Employees must typically be provided one paid and off duty 10 minute rest break for every four hours worked. Employees must also be typically provided with an uninterrupted and off duty 30 minute meal break within the first 5 hours of their work day.
• Reimbursement of Expenses: Employees typically must be reimbursed for any incurred employment related expenses.

Retaliation occurs when an employer takes adverse action against an employee for engaging in legally protected activities. These protected activities can include filing a complaint about workplace discrimination or harassment, participating in an investigation or lawsuit, reporting safety violations, or blowing the whistle on illegal activities within the company.

Examples of Retaliatory Actions:

• Demotion: Lowering an employee’s rank or reducing their responsibilities as punishment for engaging in protected activities.
• Termination: Firing an employee as retribution for filing complaints or participating in investigations.
• Pay Reduction: Decreasing an employee's salary or withholding raises or bonuses as a form of punishment.
• Negative Evaluations: Giving unjustified poor performance reviews to discourage or penalize the employee.
• Reassignment: Transferring the employee to less favorable or more difficult job duties or locations.
• Harassment: Increasing scrutiny, creating a hostile work environment, or otherwise making the employee’s work life difficult.
• Threats and Intimidation: Using verbal or physical threats to discourage employees from exercising their rights.

Class actions involve representing a group of employees in a collective legal action against their employer. These cases often address widespread issues that affect many employees, such as wage disputes, denial of breaks, and reimbursement of work-related expenses. By joining together, employees can more effectively challenge systemic problems and seek justice on a larger scale.

Class actions can provide a powerful means of addressing common grievances, ensuring that employees' rights are upheld and that employers are held accountable for their actions.