California Employment Legal Questions

If you are entitled to medical insurance pursuant to an agreement with your employer, you should not lose that benefit because you have received a work injury.   That would be in violation of your employment agreement.  You should also be receiving workmens compensation benefits while you are off work and all of your medical expenses should be paid.   Robert Spitz Attorney at Law 909 395 0909... Read More

This is a good question.   Drivers of trucks that are involved in interstate commerce are governed by the Federal laws that limit the number of hours they can drive in a day or a week.   As a result, they are exempted from the typical California overtime laws.   However, mechanics for those same trucks that are not involved in driving in interstate commerce are not governed by those Federal laws.  As a result, there is no such exemption for them. If your employer is not paying you overtime wages he is in violation of California overtime laws.   You would be entitled to recover for all of your overtime at time and a half.   You should seek legal advice for your recovery of these overtime wages and keep an accurate accounting for all of the overtime that you have worked for the past three years. Robert Spitz Attorney at Law (909) 395-0909  ... Read More

You should discuss this with a local lawyer who specializes in wrongful terminations. The details of your situation make a big difference. If you work for the government, you have additional protections and your employer has to correctly go through additional procedures. If you are a member of a union, you should get the union involved. If you suspect that your employer has a discriminatory motive for the suspension, you should definitely talk to a lawyer right away. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to your question.... Read More

It is not against the law for an employer to fire you because your brother came into the store during your shift. However, that is a pretty flimsy reason to fire someone. It may be just an excuse, which they are using to hide another motive for firing you that actually is against the law. You should talk to a local lawyer who specializes in wrongful termination cases.... Read More

No, you probably cannot discharge this employee. This is disability discrimination, and it could subject you to a lawsuit in California (however, there are certain exceptions which might apply to you). If the employee needs a reasonable accommodation to keep her job, you have to work with her to identify and provide that reasonable accommodation. Time off can be a reasonable accommodation. You should contact her and find out when she and her doctor think she can return.... Read More

Any attorney advising you on whether your previous employer can prevent you from working for or starting a competing dog-walking business will need to review the actual contract that you signed with your employer. Its that simple. Given that I don't have the actual contract to review, the law in California is that agreements in restraint of competition are pretty much not enforceable. But there are EXCEPTIONS to this RULE-and your contract might contain one of those exceptions-so be careful! Two common exceptions (to a non-compete clause being unenforceable) go to the scope of the actual limitation. If the non-compete clause is limited to a locality where your ex-employer's business is located, or is limited to a shortened timeframe, these may be held reasonable limitations and could be enforced by California courts. Again, be careful! My best advice for you is to get good legal advice as to whether the non-compete clause of the agreement you signed with your ex-employer is limited in scope enough to be enforceable in California. It's just impossible to say without examining the actual contract.... Read More

In California, you can make a complaint to the California Labor Commission. They can help you pursue the unpaid wages. Most private attorneys would handle unpaid overtime cases in Superior Court only if the company is systematically failing to pay overtime to all (or many) of their employees.... Read More

You may have a case for wrongful termination. They are not allowed to fire you for complaining about having to miss meal breaks and rest breaks. However, they are allowed to fire you for getting in an argument with a coworker. You should talk to a local attorney who specializes in wrongful termination cases, to see if it is worthwhile for you to pursue your case.... Read More

They may be able to fire him for this reason. There is no law that says they cannot fire someone based on hearsay. They are allowed to believe the coworker's story. However, it depends on what they think he was saying about the manager. They are not allowed to fire him because they think he was a whistle-blower or because he was complaining about illegal harassment or discrimination.... Read More

You should talk with a local lawyer who specializes in wrongful termination cases. There is not enough information in your description to determine whether you have a wrongful termination case. The lawyer will need to know more about the reasons for the write ups and the principal's motives for unfairly firing you.... Read More

You can prevail in the case, but you face some challenges.  Since you paid a salary, I doubt you kept track of hours worked.  Thus, he can claim all kinds of hours and you would be required to produce evidence that he did not work as much as claimed.  That can be difficult without a time card.  The employee can bring the lawsuit because he is not an exempt employee.  Thus, he is entitled to overtime compensation after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a workweek.  You have some other problems as well.  He may assert claims for missed meal and rest periods.  He could also claim that his paycheck stub did not meet the requirements of Labor Code section 226.  My advice is to seek the assistance of a lawyer who handles wage and hour cases.  Good luck.  Doug Larsen... Read More

Tell the co-employees who use the guns that you find it very disturbing so would they please not use it around you, especially to block you from going to your desk. If you can explain some type of emotional problem it causes [family member shot by gun, etc.] they are more likely to pay attention. If that does not work, tell your joint supervisor that it prevents you from working well; do not be too pushy in saying that. You can check with HR but they likely will not do much. You need to learn to be more aggressive as to what you want. While it is nice to be nice, bosses and co-workers often just think they can sometimes take advantage of you. It is my experience they actually pay more attention to self centered people who do things for their own advantage then someone who tries not to cause any problems, is an introvert, and passive. You have to learn gradually to be more forceful and act in your own self interest, as people will actually respect you more. Nice guys do not always finish last, but they rarely finish first. That is a sad fact of life.... Read More

Sounds like you have a good case for employment harassment, defamation against the manager, eventual unlawful termination. Speak to some local attorneys as to employment lawsuits so you know what to do as to documentation, response to employer, etc. The initial visit is free and case would probably be handled on basis of attorney fee as percentage of amount actually recovered. I think it would be too difficult for someone who does not handle theses types of cases all the time to know its value. Good luck.... Read More