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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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