Let Our Pasadena Employment Lawyer Be Your Legal Advocate in the Workplace!
California employees enjoy some of the most robust labor protections in the country. Unfortunately, the law alone isnโt enough to prevent employers and other wrongful actors from violating Californiansโs basic rights to make a living.
Under California law, employees who face harassment, unpaid wages, and dangerous working conditions can hold perpetrators accountable and potentially recover financial compensation for the harm theyโve suffered.
If you feel unsafe or mistreated at work, itโs best to contact a Pasadena employment lawyer for help. The legal team at Starpoint Law has spent years providing quality legal support to California employees facing workplace legal disputes large and small.
If youโre concerned about misconduct at your job, our employment attorney in Pasadena can help you understand your rights and options for getting justice.
Cases Our Employment Lawyer in Pasadena Can Assist With
Federal and state employment laws protect employees in California. These laws include:
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA),
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA),
- Occupational Health and Safety Act,
- California Family Rights Act (CFRA), and
- Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
Federal laws like the FLSA and FMLA are the basis for many fundamental employee rights and safety standards. However, the California Labor Code and other statewide employment laws grant employees additional protections. When you face illegal misconduct at work, you have the legal right to hold employers accountable under the relevant state or federal employment laws.
Our Pasadena employment lawyers see many different types of employment law violations every year. Those range from wage and hour violations to discrimination, wrongful termination, and more.
Wage and Hour Violations
This is one of the most common reasons you may be looking for an employment lawyer in Pasadena. Employees have the right to timely and accurate payment of wages for all the hours they work.
So if your employer withholds your compensation or other promised benefits, they could be committing wage theft. Other ways that employers violate Californiaโs wage and hour laws include:
- Denying required meal and rest breaks,
- Paying employees who work over 40 hours a week the regular instead of overtime rate,
- Rejecting requests for qualified sick leave or promised vacation,
- Taking deductions from employee paychecks without consent, and
- Refusing time off for employees to serve on jury duty or vote.
These are all examples of an employer taking advantage of you, and you should get in touch with a wage and hour lawyer in Pasadena. This is a specialized type of Pasadena employment attorney, and we can help you here at Starpoint Law.
Wrongful Termination
California law prohibits employers from firing employees in certain situations. When an employee is fired for illegal reasons, itโs called wrongful termination. Wrongfully terminated employees can take legal action against their employer for unlawful dismissal.
Your termination could be illegal if based on your:
- Race, religion, nationality, or other protected characteristic,
- Complaint about sexual or other harassment at work,
- Request for family or medical leave,
- Report of hazardous working conditions,
- Participation or testimony in an investigation into illegal activity, and
- Application for workersโ compensation.
Wrongful termination can also happen when your dismissal breaks the terms of an employment contract. If this is something youโre dealing with, youโre in luck - we have a great track record in winning these cases as an employment attorney in Pasadena.
Disability Discrimination
California protects employees from discrimination based on physical or mental disability through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and FEHA. These laws prohibit employers from using an employeeโs physical or mental disability as a factor in job decisions, including:
- Hiring and firing,
- Wage rate or salary,
- Opportunities for advancement or training,
- Discipline, and
- Access to employee health benefits.
California anti-discrimination law broadly defines disability as any physical or mental impairment that limits a major life activity. These are often invisible, which is why employers fail to account for them. It doesnโt excuse their actions, though, and a Pasadena employment lawyer can help.
Under the law, employers must provide reasonable accommodations to the work environment to allow disabled employees to perform their essential job functions. Otherwise, you can let a disability discrimination lawyer in Pasadena help you claim damages.
Gender Discrimination
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and FEHA ban employment discrimination based on gender. Employers must accommodate and treat employees of any sex, gender identity, and gender expression equally. Itโs illegal to:
- Assign work roles based on gender stereotypes;
- Exclude employees of one gender identity or expression from informal networks;
- Prioritize employees of a specific gender for promotions or management roles;
- Offer higher salaries or better benefits to employees based on gender;
- Prevent employees from using the bathrooms that align with their gender identity; and
- Withhold gender non-conforming employees from public-facing roles.
FEHA provides employees with greater protection than Title VII when it comes to gender discrimination. Employees who experience gender discrimination at work may have better results pursuing claims under California rather than federal law. So, contact a Pasadena employment attorney today.
Pregnancy Discrimination
Itโs illegal under state and federal law to discriminate against employees who are pregnant or considering having children. The law prohibits employers from using pregnancy status as a basis for making decisions about hiring, layoffs, bonuses, or advancement.
If youโre a pregnant employee, you can receive reasonable accommodations that let you do your job safely while expecting. Reasonable accommodations can include:
- Additional bathroom or rest breaks,
- Time off for medical appointments,
- Job modifications to avoid heavy lifting,
- Access to a chair or reduced standing time,ย
- Schedule alterations, and
- Unpaid, job-protected leave.
Employers who refuse to make reasonable adjustments to allow employees to work could be engaging in pregnancy discrimination. Pregnancy discrimination can happen before youโre hired. Itโs illegal to ask job applicants about their pregnancy status or plans to grow their family.
If you believe youโve been discriminated against based on pregnancy, our pregnancy discrimination attorney in Pasadena can help you set the record straight and seek compensation.
Sexual Harassment
Sex-based harassment is one of the most pervasive forms of discrimination California employees face, regardless of industry or job role. Sexual harassment can take many forms, some of which are more challenging to identify than others.
When your boss or supervisor asks you to perform sexual favors in exchange for a promotion or raise, thatโs a relatively straightforward instance of sexual harassment. However, you could also have a legal claim of sexual harassment caused by a consistently offensive and disruptive work environment. Hostile work environment sexual harassment includes:
- Offensive jokes and explicit stories,
- Pornographic images or videos,
- Inappropriate comments about your appearance, and
- Unwanted physical contact.
California employers have a legal duty to protect employees from harassment based on sex. If your boss doesnโt immediately address the harassment youโre facing at work, you can hold them legally responsible.
Whistleblower Retaliation
California law protects employees who report employer misconduct or illegal activity to the authorities. If you blow the whistle on wrongdoing you see at work, your employer canโt punish you.
Unlawful retaliation can include demotion, cutting wages, threats, harassment, and even termination. If you face backlash after raising the alarm about suspicious behavior at work, you could be the victim of employer retaliation.
Employee Misclassification
This is when employers improperly classify workers as independent contractors or exempt employees to avoid paying overtime, benefits, or complying with wage and hour laws. This often results in unpaid wages, lost benefits, and improper tax withholdings.
Under California law, misclassified employees may be entitled to back pay, overtime compensation, and reimbursement for expenses. Our employment lawyer in Pasadena can help determine your proper classification and fight to recover what you are owed.
Unemployment Insurance
Thereโs nothing worse than losing your job - except maybe for realizing you canโt even claim unemployment to ease in the burden while you look for your next opportunity.
The good news, though, is that if your employer wrongfully contests or denies your claim for unemployment benefits, you may have grounds to challenge their actions. This is something an employment attorney in Pasadena can help you navigate. .ย
Aidin Ghavimi - Employment Lawyer Helping Those in Pasadena
Mr. Ghavimi received his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from USC, with Honors. He received his Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. While at Loyola, Mr. Ghavimi Externed with the Hon. Chief Judge George H. King in the United States District Court, Central District of California.
Learn More About Aidin GhavimiHow an Employment Attorney in Pasadena Can Help
Many California employees donโt realize when mistreatment crosses the line and violates their rights. Itโs essential to consult with an employment lawyer in Pasadena if you suspect that your employer has broken the law.
A qualified employment lawyer in Pasadena can listen to your concerns and evaluate whether you have a legal claim. They can also help you understand your options for taking legal action, because you may not want to go through with the hassle of going to court. They can potentially help you settle out of court.
With the help of a skilled Pasadena employment lawyer, employees with successful employment claims can recover compensation for unpaid wages, denied job opportunities, emotional distress, and attorneyโs fees.
So, whoโs an employment attorney in Pasadena you can trust to do right by you every step of the way? Look no further than Starpoint Law.
We Can Help You Get Justice
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Enjoy Legal Advocacy with Empathy and Integrity: Choose Starpoint as Your Employment Lawyer in Pasadena
Taking action against workplace wrongdoing can feel like an uphill battle for employees. At Starpoint Law, we understand the high stakes for Californians dealing with harassment, discrimination, and wage theft at work.
If youโre facing abusive or illegal treatment at work, you donโt have to take on that burden alone. Enlist the expert guidance of our employment attorney in Pasadena for one-on-one assistance from A to Z.
Our employment lawyer in Pasadena has helped hundreds of employees navigate their legal rights and options after an employerโs harmful acts. We offer complimentary one-on-one consultations for workers dealing with employment-related disputes.
We arenโt just the #1 Pasadena employment lawyer, either. Employees across the Golden State have chosen us as their California employment lawyer. Here are some other areas we serve:
- Employment lawyer Beverly Hills
- Employment lawyer Sherman Oaks
- Employment lawyer Glendale CA
- Employment lawyer Hollywood
- Employment lawyer Pasadena
- Employment lawyer San Fernando Valley
- Employment lawyer Santa Clarita
- Employment lawyer Santa Monica
- Employment lawyer Westwood Village
- Employment lawyer Los Angeles
No matter where youโre located you can rest assured weโll work with you to weigh your options and come up with the best possible course of action.
Donโt suffer in silence and deal with having your rights violated. Contact our office online or by phone today to discuss your case with an employment lawyer in Pasadena. ย
Where You Can Find Our Sherman Oaks Office