Lowry Law Firm

Age Discrimination

California law prohibits employers with five or more employees from discriminating against employees who are 40 or older. Such discrimination is often very subtle or disguised. For example, an employer seeking to hire may post a job advertisement advising that the company seeks to fille a job opening with a "recent graduate." Another employer may claim it needs to cut payroll and expenses, as a result of which it lays off multiple workers who are earning six figures. If those laid-off workers are mostly 40 or older, then the employer may be discriminating based on age. Further, some employers will promptly refill those positions with younger employees, even after claiming the positions would be eliminated.

Disability Discrimination

California employers with five or more employees are prohibited from discriminating against employees and job applicants with known physical or mental disabilities. Further, if an employee with a disability requests an accommodation, the employer has a duty to engage in a good-faith, interactive process with the employee to determine what accommodations may be made.  

Race Discrimination

California employers with five or more employees are prohibited from discriminating against employees and job applicants based on their race, which also includes skin color and characteristics associated with race, such as facial hair, hair styles, and hair textures.   

Sexual Harassment

In California, quid pro quo sexual harassment is illegal. Such harassment typically occurs when a supervisor or manager demands sexual favors from an applicant or employee in exchange for employment, continued employment, raises, promotions, or work-related benefits. Another type of sexual harassment, called hostile work environment sexual harassment, is also illegal in California. This type of harassment occurs when an employee subjects a co-worker to unwanted comments or conduct of a sexual nature. A few comments here and there may not be sufficient to state a claim, though there is no magic number that needs to be met. Judges and lawyers typically "know sexual harassment when they see it." But if the sexual misconduct is severe, such as a rape or other sexual battery, even a single instance of such misconduct can be enough to state a claim.  

Sexual Orientation and Gender Harassment

It is illegal in California to harassment a co-worker based on the co-worker's gender or sexual orientation. In California, gender means not only a person's biological gender, but also means a person's gender identity and gender expression. A person's sexual orientation refers to whether the person is heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. As with sexual harassment, harassment based on gender or sexual orientation must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to state a claim.   

Wrongful Termination and Other Retaliation

California employees have many legal rights: the right to be free from discrimination and harassment in the workplace; the right to take family and medical leave if certain conditions are met; the right to complain to their employer or to a government agency about violations of law; the right to be properly paid; and many others. California employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who are exercising their legal rights, or who are complaining, in good faith, that their rights have been violated. Some examples of retaliation include, but are not limited to: termination; demotion; refusal to promote; reduction in pay; reduction in hours scheduled; transfer to an undesirable shift or work location; and more.