California Employment Legal Questions

Did you report the injury? If you did you can file a workers compensation claim. If you did not report the injury at or near the time it happened or if you do not have witnesses or if you did not seek medical treatment immediately after the injury you may have a problem of proof. I suggest you contact a workers compensation lawyer in haste. Good Luck.... Read More

Since the incident occurred at work, it would be covered by Workers' Compensation law but there is an except for physical assaults and battery. So, yes, you could sue the person who hit you and you could collect some damages, but probably not much because basically it was only your feelings that were hurt and probably not with really significant evil intent. But what will the effect be on your work relations? That physician will not speak to you, your boss may consider you a trouble maker [after all, it is probably easier and cheaper to hire a replacement for you then him], and complaining to the head of the office will have the same result of preventing him from hitting you again. I do not think suing him is worth it.... Read More

The application of Overtime Pay in California can be complicated.   Many employers do not know the rules and even more of them fail to observe the rules.   It is likely that your employer is in violation of Overtime Rules. You are entitled to Overtime pay if you work more than 8 hours in any given day, even if you work less than 40 hours in a week.  Let's say you worked 10 hours Monday, 6 hours Tuesday and 8 hours on Wednesday.  You would still be entitled to 2 hours of Overtime Pay, even though you only worked 24 hours for the entire week. If you are not receiving all of your Overtime Pay, please contact my office to discuss your situation.   Robert Spitz (909) 395-0909  ... Read More

You should be allowed time off to go to a doctor when you have a medical emergency.   It is a violation of the law to retaliate against you for a medical condition.  Make sure you have good documentation from your doctor.  When you leave work for this condition, you must contact your doctor immediately and ask for an appointment as soon as possible. In the event you are terminated because of this medical condition, please contact me office to assess your alternatives. Robert Spitz. (909) 395-0909  ... Read More

If you went out on maternity leave, you are entitled to be returned to the exact job you had when you went on leave. However, if you want further help, send me the dates of your leave and the exact reason given for your leave, especially if there was more than one type of leave that was specified.... Read More

My best advise is to change jobs if you are in an environment with 'rumors' and 'it seems' the employer is 'looking' for evidence against you. If police are called, there will have to be sufficient evidence of a crime. Most harassment actions do not involve any crimes, just civil code or Labor Code violations. If you are ever confronted by police, you go into custody, keep your mouth completely shut, except to repeat you require a criminal defense attorney at your earliest. Why would you consider for 2 seconds remaining at any job where you suspect the employer is building a criminal case against you? You're not a slave, get a new job immediately.... Read More

Based on your question, it sounds like a third party said something unfavorable about you which your supervisor used to give you a poor performance appraisal. It sounds like you want to know if that could be considered unlawful discrimination. Based on those bare facts alone, it is hard to say. However, if your supervisor gave you a negative appraisal, or has harmed you in other ways, based on your membership in a legally recognized protected class, then you could have a claim. Examples of protected classes include: age, race, religion, national origin, sex, and pregnancy. If you think your supervisors actions were motivated by a discriminatory animus you should consult an attorney and provide them with additional details about your case.... Read More

Unless there is some policy / practice or employee benefit plan regarding severance, your employer is under no obligation to provide you with severance.  However, if the employer promised you severance and you provided something in return or relied on that promise to your detriment, you may have a contract theory against the employer.  For instance, if the employer promised you a month of severance and you relied on that promise to make a payment, the failure of the employer to deliver on that promise might form the basis of liability against it.  Of course, proving that the employer made such a promise would be difficult.  If the employer had a practice or policy of offering severance and somehow decided you were not entitled to it, especially if the employer did so on grounds of a protected classificaiton such as race, that might be theoretically grounds to hold the employer liable.  Again, though, this is not easy to prove as you must estabish the practice / policy and then argue you were entitled to it but were wrongfully denied it.... Read More

California and federal law require an employer to pay an employee for any work that is "suffered or permitted" by an employer.  This means that if an employer knows or should know an employee is working, that time worked is compensable.  For instance, if an employee tells you that she is ending her 8-hour day at 5:00 p.m., but then tells you that she'll continue working on a project for you past that time until 6:00 p.m., you know (or at least should know) that she's working that extra hour.  Because you do, that hour is compensable as one hour of overtime.  In your set of facts, you appear to know that the employee is working "voluntarily."  However you may to characterize the nature of the work the employee is performing, you must pay that employee for the "voluntary" work performed.  Please also note that overtime pay must be made to the employee no later than the next pay period in which it is earned.... Read More

Yes. The worst case is a recovery of the minimum wage. The best case is evidence showing what is customarily charge by the hour for such services multiplied by the hours spent. The hourly rate can be proved by reviewing job ads for similar work, or by an expert witness whose is familiar with industry practices.... Read More

If you were injured on the job as a result of your job, I would represent you in a Workers Compensation claim. No attorney wants any claim unless and until you can articulate how you can prove clearly that the employer owed you a duty of care and breached that duty, If your union owed you a duty of care (or a fidiuciary duty) and breached that, you can sue the union for the money damages you sustained just from that breach of duty.... Read More

There are no 'answers' regarding depositions in the California Labor Code. Calif. Code of Civil Procedure CCP governs setting up depositions, but not how many times. A Workers Compensation Judge will permit the defense to take a new deposition after 5 years. What you need to do is get the transcript of the depo from 5 years ago and read it 100 times. DO NOT AGREE to go forward with the new deposition unless and until you have the transcript from the first deposition. If your answer to a question this year that conflicts with you answer five years ago, the defense gets to tell a doctor or a judge you were lying at one of those depositions. So do not go forward with the new depo until you've reviewed and nearly memorized your answers from the last deposition.... Read More