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Steps to Take If You Are a Victim of Racial Discrimination

Steps to Take If You Are a Victim of Racial Discrimination

If you are a victim of racial discrimination at work, you may have the grounds to file a lawsuit against your employer for their blatant disregard for the law. Before you can file your claim against your employer for race discrimination, there are a few steps you need to take in order for your lawsuit to be considered legitimate. The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group is here to represent you, and guide you through every step of the way and ensure that your claim is taken seriously and submitted through the legal process.

We help people like you every day, and help answer questions regarding their right and any next steps. Examples of such questions include:

  • Steps to take if you have been the victim of racial discrimination at work
  • What should I do if my boss racially discriminates against me?
  • What to do if your boss discriminates against your race

Steps to Take Before You File a Lawsuit

  1. Alert Your Employer

You may not have to file a full legal lawsuit against your employer. If you feel like you are being discriminated against for your race, it is more likely than not that your employer does not know that such an occurrence is happening. Often, the victim of race discrimination does not make it clear to the employer, and unfortunately, it is up to the employee to bring it up to the employer. Talking to your Human Resources (HR) representative and making a formal complaint with them is a good way to make it official. If the employer continues to allow the race discrimination, then you may have to take serious action.

  1. Keep a Journal for Your Records

Take note of any incidents of discrimination or harassment that you experience. Make sure that your record the date, the time, location, who was involved in the incident, any witnesses to the discrimination/harassment, and detail the kind of discrimination you experienced and what was said.

For example, your journal entry might include such information as, “On November 21, 2017, I was refilling my water bottle with the water cooler when Chad Williams (supervisor) said, ‘As long as I am the head-honcho here there will never be a colored person in a high position.’ Issa Collins and Kurt Vonn (coworkers) were there at the time and heard him say it.”

  1. Photograph and Keep Any Objects

Pictures that were shared, posted, left for, or given to you in the workplace that you believe are offensive, discriminatory, and creates a hostile work environment should be kept.

For example, if you are an African American and when you get to your desk you find a banana with a racial slur written on it, you may want to photograph it and bring it to your employer. Having visual evidence will help prove your case.

  1. Review Your Company’s Anti-Discrimination Policy

Your employer may have their own policies, outside of any federal and state laws, which explicitly state that discrimination in the workplace will not be tolerated. Retain a copy of your employee handbook or anything else that states discrimination will not be tolerated, it will bolster your case.

Filing a Case Against Your Employer


If you have brought up the discrimination to your employer and they have done nothing to deter the behavior, your next step is to file a lawsuit against your employer. Before you can sue and take them to court, however, you must first file a charge with an employment government agency. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the agency at the federal level, and the California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH) is the agency at the state level. Both are available to you. The EEOC and DFEH are in work sharing agreement – when you file a charge with one agency, an identical copy is created and sent to the other agency. This is called “dual filing” and is meant to fully protect your rights under both state and federal laws.

Because both federal and state laws have their anti-discrimination laws and prohibit race discrimination in the workplace, the deadline to file your charge is extended from 180 days, to 300 calendar day. This is 300 days from the day you experienced the race discrimination. If the discrimination was ongoing, then it’s 300 calendar days from the day you last received the form of discrimination.

Once the agency launches an investigation, you can then request a “right-to-sue” letter which gives you the go-ahead to sue your employer and take them to court. It is recommended that you only request the right-to-sue letter only once you and your attorney are ready to pursue further action as you only have 90 days to take action against your employer.

What You Need to File a Charge with a Government Agency


Whether you file your charge with the EEOC or the DFEH, you will need a couple of things to ensure that everything goes well. You have the option of doing a walk-in, or mailing it in.

If you want to go into an agency, you should check with their walk-in/appointment policy as every office has different regulations. Bring any important documentation that may help your case. Once in, they will have you fill out paperwork to get your charge started.

If you want to mail it in, here is a checklist of all the things you’ll need to include in your envelope:

  • Your name, address, telephone number;
  • Name, address, telephone number of the employer you want to file a lawsuit against;
  • The number of employees employed (if it is known) ;
  • A description of the events that has led you to believe you have experienced discrimination (were you fired, harassed, demoted, denied benefits?);
  • When and where the events took place, and any witnesses that were present to experience the discrimination;
  • Name, address, telephone number of those witnesses;
  • The kind of discrimination you experienced and how it relates to your case (for example, “I was fired because I am Latino and experienced Race Discrimination);
  • Your signature – it is crucial that you include your signature in the document because, without it, the agency cannot legally launch their investigation.

The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group is here to ensure that justice is served. We offer free consultation and the zero-fee guarantee – if we don’t prove your case, you don’t pay for our services. Call us today to see how we can protect you!

Attorney to File a Marital Status Lawsuit Against My Employer

Attorney to File a Marital Status Lawsuit Against My Employer

If your employer has taken action against you because of your marital status, you may have the grounds to file a lawsuit against them and collect the damages to which you are entitled. The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group can help represent you if you believe that you have become a victim of marital status discrimination in the workplace.

Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), it is against the law for employers to discriminate against a person under their employment because of their marital status. Cal. Gov. Code 12940(a) states that ” It is unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire; to discharge or to terminate; to refuse to select or to bar or discharge an employee from a training program leading to employment; or to discriminate against the person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.”

The law defines “marital status” as “an individual’s state of marriage, non-marriage, divorce or dissolution, separation, widowhood, annulment, or other marital state.” This also includes things like being a single mother and single father.

For example, an employee has been subject to marital status discrimination if the company for which she works does not give maternity leave to unmarried or single mothers, then that employee has experienced marital status discrimination and has the right to file a marital status lawsuit against her employer.

If you believe that you have been subjected to marital discrimination at work, you may have the grounds to file a lawsuit against your employer and collect the damages to which you are entitled. We at the California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group are here to help you through this difficult time. We help people like you every single day get knowledge about any future steps and answer questions they may have about marital status discrimination. Examples of such questions include:

  • Can I sue my employer if he discriminates against me because of my family status?
  • My boss wrongfully terminated me because of my marital status. Can he legally do that? What are my rights?
  • I was terminated because of being divorced. Can I sue?
  • I am facing discrimination at work because of being divorced. What are my rights?
  • Can I hire a lawyer to sue my employer if they fired me for being a single parent?
  • My boss discriminates against me because I am a single parent. Can I file a lawsuit?
  • Can I file a claim because I was demoted due to my family status?
  • Is marital status a protected class in California?
  • Can I file a discrimination claim against my employer if I was fired or demoted because of my marital status?

What Is Marital Status Discrimination


Marital status discrimination occurs in the workplace when a person is treated differently or unfavorably by an employer, supervisor, coworker, or client because of they are single, married, divorced, engaged, widowed, or in a same-sex marriage. Marital status discrimination is prohibited under most state laws, including the state of California. Marital status discrimination is illegal in all facets of the employment process. This means that an employer cannot overlook an applicant just because of their marital status.

It is illegal for an employer to ask whether an applicant is married during an interview, otherwise, they are in direct violation of California law which then gives the applicant the right to file a lawsuit.

Marital status discrimination often takes place along with other forms of discrimination such as sex discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, or parental status. California law does not allow for discrimination and promotes an equal workplace for all employees with things like work schedules, promotions, benefits, and wages regardless of things like an employee’s race, sex, national origin, religion, and other such things. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects against most kinds of discrimination. The Civil Rights Act, however, does not protect against marital status discrimination. The federal law which protects employees from marital status discrimination is the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) – but these laws only apply to federal workers.

This is why many employees look towards their state for protection, and California offers such protection.

Harassment based on marital status is considered illegal as well. Harassment can take the form of unwelcome jokes, or degrading comments about their marital status. For example, if a white employee’s spouse is Black, an employer cannot comment on that.

How to Prove That You Experienced Marital Status Discrimination


The best way to prove you were subjected to marital discrimination is with direct evidence – something that your employer did and stated that your marital status was the reason for their taking action. For example, once you are employed your employer calls you into his office. He tells you that married women are not desirable to their older clients and so they must demote you to another position. In this case, the employer has directly stated that the employee’s marital status was the sole reason for her demotion.

In order to prove that your employer subjected you to marital status discrimination, you must be able to prove the conditions listed below:

  • You have a particular marital status (e.g., married, single, divorced, etc.);
  • That your job performance leading up the alleged marital status discrimination was satisfactory, or that the applicant was qualified for the position for which they were not hired;
  • You were affected by your employer’s decision, in this case, fired, demoted, denied benefits, etc., because of your marital status (e.g., single);
  • That your fellow employees with different marital statuses were not subjected to the same kind of discrimination to which you were subjected by the employer. (For example, your colleagues who are married were not affected by the same kind of punishment you received.)

If you can prove that the above circumstances apply to you and your case, then the courts may have no other option than to assume that your employer subjected you to marital discrimination.

What If My Spouse and I Work for the Same Employer?


California marital status anti-discrimination laws are very clear on marriage between two coworkers. If two coworkers are married to one another, an employer cannot terminate them. It “is not ipso facto a reason to get rid of them.” (Hope Int’l Univ. v. Sup. Ct. (Rouanzoin), (2004) 119 C4th 719, 724, 743. For example, if you are a professor at a university and marry another professor who works in the same university, the university cannot fire you simply because of your marital status to one of the other professors.

But just because an employer cannot discriminate and take action against you and your spouse, it does not mean that they cannot regulate you two. Employers are allowed to dispense “reasonable regulation” over the working of spouses if they work in the same department. California regulations implicitly state that the employer “shall make reasonable efforts so as to minimize problems of supervision, safety, security, or morale.” This rule helps maintain a fair level of playing field for all employees. This way, the spouse does not receive any preferential treatment that other employees would not receive.

The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group is here to ensure that justice is served if your employer breaks the law and subjects you to marital status discrimination. Discrimination law can be difficult to understand, and so that is why it is important that you contact an employment attorney. Our qualified attorneys can help protect your rights and make sure that you get the damages to which you are rightfully entitled. We offer free consultations and the zero-fee guarantee. That means that there’s no financial obligation nor financial risk on your part because if we do not win your case, you will not pay for our services. Give us a call today to find out how we can help you.

Attorney to File a Lawsuit for Wrongful Demotion

Attorney to File a Lawsuit for Wrongful Demotion

If you believe that you have been wrongfully demoted, you may have the grounds to file a lawsuit against your employer. The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group is here to defend your rights and represent you if you require any legal counsel in court.

Employers need to treat everyone in the workplace equally. So that means that employers need only worry themselves with their employee’s qualifications and their ability to perform the essential job functions – the necessary job tasks which are the reasons that that job exists in the first place – with or without reasonable accommodation. When employers consider anything other than the qualification and ability to perform the essential job functions, they may give their employees to file a lawsuit against them. Employers cannot consider such things in their employees nor their applicants as race, color, country of origin, religion, sex, age, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender expression/identity, and other such markers. When employers use any of these characteristics to make decisions on their employees, it is known as discrimination and is against federal and state law (depending on your state). For example, if you are pregnant and give birth to a child, your employer cannot make any decisions based on the fact that you gave birth. Some women who come back to work after having a child find that they’ve been demoted and given new (and often monetarily worse) responsibilities just because of their status as a new mother. This is a form of sex discrimination and gives employees the right to take action against their employer.

We at the California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group are here to assist you in any way if you believe that your employer has acted unfairly to you. We have the best wrongful demotion attorneys working for us. We help people in your position every day who ask themselves, “Can I Can I sue for Wrongful Demotion if I was demoted from my job because of discrimination?” If you believe that you were wrongfully demoted for something which is protected by law, you can file a lawsuit against your employer.

Here are a few things to know if you believe you were wrongfully demoted.

Can My Employer Demote Me?

Your employer can only demote you if you do no longer have the qualifications or you can no longer perform the essential job functions, even with reasonable accommodation.

How to File a Lawsuit Against Your Employer If You Were Wrongfully DemotedBut your employer cannot demote you for being part of a protected class. That is to say that your employer cannot look at you and make employment-decisions based on things like your hair, color of your skin, age, and other such things. It is called discrimination and is against the law for employers to do in any facet of the employment process from the interview process all the way to the firing process. Included in that process, is the ability to demote employees. Employers cannot demote you if you belong to a protected group of persons which are protected by the various Acts that have were signed into law.

For example, let’s say that you suffered an accident and lost the use of your legs and are considered disabled. You now use a wheelchair for transport. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), you are disabled and are protected under this Act from employer discrimination. It is considered discrimination if your employer makes any decision on your employment, like demotes you to a lower position with fewer responsibilities and less pay,  simply because of your disability.

When Does Discrimination Occur?


Discrimination occurs when an employer treats you differently or unfavorably because of something that is protected. So that means that an employer cannot demote you just because you are a minority, follow a certain religion, are a certain age, are sexually oriented in one or many ways, or anything else that is protected by law.

For example, you are a Black employee and have worked for a company for many years and are one of the top salespeople with many recognitions and awards. One day, you get a new white supervisor and on his first day, despite your qualifications, experience, and accomplishments, he demotes you to a lower position with less pay and fewer responsibilities and replaces you with another white male employee. You would then have the grounds to file a racial discrimination lawsuit against your employer for wrongful demotion.

Another example follows thusly: You are a 45-year-old computer programmer. You’ve worked with computers all of your life and have qualifications along with the ability to perform the essential job functions of your occupation. One day, your employer decides to hire a youth to your position and demotes you to “something that may be a better fit for someone with your experience.” This demotion was based on age, and is illegal for your employer to do. You can file a lawsuit against your employer.

Employers cannot demote you based on inconsequential characteristics which can be discriminated against. There are four things which you need to be able to prove in order for your demotion to be considered legitimate and considered illegal discrimination:

  • You must show that you are a member of a protected class. For example, that you are Latino, a woman, disabled, et cetera.
  • That you were qualified for the position from which you were demoted.
  • That your employer indeed took action which affected you. In this case, that you were demoted.
  • That you were replaced by someone who is not in your protected class. For example, you are a woman who was replaced by a man.

How to File a Lawsuit Against Your Employer If You Were Wrongfully Demoted

Discrimination in the workplace gives employees the right to sue their employer. That means that if you were illegally discriminated against and that led to your demotion, you can take action against your employer. But before you drag your employer to court, you must first file a discrimination charge with an employment government agency. There exists both federal and state branches through which you can file your charge.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the agency at the federal level and enforces the Civil Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and other such laws which apply federally. These laws which are enforced by the EEOC apply to all employers across the nation, whether they be private or public. At the state level exists the California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), which enforces any anti-discrimination laws that California has.

Both agencies have a work-sharing agreement with one another, and so when you file a charge with one agency an identical copy is created and sent over to the other agency. This process of charge copying is known as “dual filing” and exists in order to fully protect your rights under both state and federal laws.

Under the EEOC, you have 180 calendar days from the day you experienced the discrimination to submit your charge. But because both federal and California laws protect employee against discrimination, this deadline is extended to 300 calendar days from the day you experienced your form of discrimination. If the discrimination is ongoing, then you have 300 days from the last day you experienced the discrimination. Holidays and weekends count against your time, but if the deadline on which you have to file your charge falls on a weekend or holiday, you have until the next business day to submit your charge. It is not recommended that you wait until the last day as there may be some documentation that is required.

Once the agencies have received your charge, they will launch an investigation against your employer during which time your employer is not legally allowed to discipline you any further than they already have.

Should the agencies determine that it was more likely than not that your employer violated your rights and subjected you to discrimination, you may request a “right-to-sue” letter. This letter gives you the green light to take your employer to court. Take note that you only have 90 days to file a lawsuit against your employer from the day you receive the right-to-sue letter, so it is recommended that you only request this letter once you and your employer are ready to pursue further action.

The California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group is here to help you get what you are merited for your unjust demotion. We are aggressive attorneys who will pursue the maximum amount of damages which you deserve to get for your employer’s blatant disregard of the law. We offer free consultation, and the zero-fee guarantee. With free consultation, you have the ability to sit down with one of our attorneys without financial obligation and explain your case. The attorney will give you their initial thoughts, like whether or not you have a case.

The zero-fee guarantee is our promise to our clients that we will use every available resource to prove your case. If we do not win, you do not pay for our services. If we do win, we only collect a small fee on the amount awarded. Contact us today to see what we can do for you!

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