Articles Posted in Discrimination

A single discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart has become one of the largest job-discrimination cases in U.S. history, reports the LA Times. With stories from female employees claiming they’ve been passed over for promotions because of they’re sex, Berkeley versus Bentonville begins. The case affects nearly two-million women and is putting tens of billions of company dollars at risk.

Our San Bernardino discrimination lawyers understand that while we’d like to keep good-faith in companies, unfortunately there are instances when an employee is treated unfairly and discriminated against.

In some cases, unfair labor practices may be company wide. In other cases, a discrimination lawsuit in Orange County, Riverside or elsewhere in Southern California may be filed as a result of working conditions specific to a single store or involving a single manager. It is important to step forward and contact an attorney to fight for equal rights.

In our previous California Employment Lawyer Blog when we first told you about this suit, we stated that Wal-Mart claims to have no difference in pay between men and woman at 90 percent of their stores. They also stated that their hiring policy is determined locally, not as a company-wide decision.

The court will be determining if nearly 1.6 million current and former Wal-Mart employees can in fact claim discrimination within the company — en masse, as part of a class action lawsuit. The discrimination is said to have been taking place for last ten years. Detractors of the suit claim it will be open season for employment suits against large national corporations if the court permits the behemoth complaint to go forward.

The company’s lawyers point out the suit now speaks for more women than the combined total of active-duty personnel in the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard, reports the LA Times. The Times also reports that there are “significant deficiencies in the company’s policies and practices for identifying and eliminating barriers to equal employment opportunity at Walmart.”

“To prove these cases, you rely on statistics. And now all the records are electronic. It’s all there at a keystroke,” said Brad Seligman, a civil rights lawyer.

Yet, if the allegations are true, it is up to these women to step up, stand together and speak out to make sure they’re heard and demand equal treatment in the workplace.

“Performance reviews that feature rigorous, detailed criteria and that are regularly scheduled, taken seriously, and conspicuously tied to compensation and advancement are a critically important factor for easing gender bias,” said Lauren Rikleen, in her book ‘Ending the Gauntlet, Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law,’
Continue Reading

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an employment discrimination lawsuit in San Bernardino may be brought for actions of any supervisor — not just a company’s top decision maker.

Our Orange County employment attorneys note the illegal discrimination must be found to be a “motivating factor” in the supervisor’s actions. Common factors in employment discrimination are age, race and sex. Federal and state law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or potential employees.

The Los Angeles Times reports the nation’s high court voted unanimously to support a broad approach in employment discrimination cases, after more than a decade of lower court indecision over whether such cases should focus only on the supervisor with hiring and firing power, or on other supervisors who may have influenced the outcome.

The court’s decision restored a $57,640 verdict awarded to an Army reservist who was fired from his job as a medical technician at Proctor Hospital. He claimed two of his supervisors were biased against him because of weekend absences to fulfill military obligations. He was ultimately dismissed from his position and sued under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act of 1994, which forbids discrimination against employees because of military duties.

An appeals court had dismissed the case, saying the firing decision was made by a vice president of human resources, and therefore the comments of immediate supervisors regarding the employee’s military duty should not have been taken into account.

The case is Staub v. Proctor Hospital.
Continue Reading

In one of the more unusual employment lawsuits in Orange County or the surrounding areas, a Southern California man claims he was fired from his job at a NASA laboratory for doubting Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Our Orange County discrimination lawyers would file this one under discrimination based on religious belief, which is protected by state and federal law. The Pasadena Star-News reports the employee is a well-known proponent of “intelligent design” who writes the blog “Creation-Evolution Headlines.”

He initially filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court last April, claiming he was demoted from his job at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory because of his beliefs. He now plans to add retaliation charges after he was laid off from the lab earlier this year. He may also claim a free-speech violation.

The original discrimination lawsuit in Los Angeles was filed under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. An Orange County employment attorney may claim retaliation if a client suffers negative consequences as a result of asserting his or her rights in the workplace, whether the issue is employment rights, or alleging a violation of health and safety regulations.

The First Amendment claim could be made as a result of a new Supreme Court decision, NASA v. Nelson, which was issued in response to a lawsuit by employees of the lab, which claimed background checks were a violation of their civil rights.

Legal theorists said such an argument might be made if intelligent design is viewed as a political opinion and not a religious one; protections for religious activity have not been read by the courts to include speech during work hours.

Detractors say the scientific community at NASA has encouraged criticism of intelligent design and has tried to shut down any pro-intelligent-design view points. The same employee has made a First Amendment claim against the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Continue Reading

The California State Automobile Association lost a pay and age discrimination dispute on appeal after the court found the organization’s reasons for terminating older workers “doubtworthy.”

An Orange County discrimination lawyer should always handle cases of wage, age or sex discrimination in the workplace. Such cases have become more common as the workforce ages and companies seek to trim high-wage earners from their payroll.

Victims of age discrimination can be devastated both emotionally and financially and may never recover the earning power that comes with losing a job late in one’s career. An Orange County employment attorney can review the facts and circumstances in such cases and may be able to successfully fight to reclaim a client’s job or obtain a financial settlement.

The human resources trade publication HR.BLR reported that the three employees joined the CSAA office prior to 1976, where they worked as sales agents. They had agreements that sales quotas would be reduced by 15 percent for those over 55 with at least 15 years of service. And by an additional 25 percent at the age of 60.

In 2005, one of the defendants was fired for failing to meet his sales quota. He was 57-years-old. The two others, ages 57 and 55, were fired for refusing to sign revised compensation plans without reduced quotas. All three sued in 2005 but the case was dismissed by the trial court.

An Orange County employment lawyer may file such cases under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination of a protected class. In this case, the representatives claimed the CSAA wanted rid of them so it could claim renewal premiums that would otherwise go to its veteran employees. CSAA claimed the changes were for competitiveness and internal fairness.

The appeals court found sufficient evidence of discrimination to return the issue to the lower court. In particular the court cites testimony that the company was looking to rid itself of older employees and was “looking for new blood going forward.”
Continue Reading

A race and age-discrimination lawsuit in Los Angeles can proceed against the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers after a judge refused to throw out the suit brought against the team by its former general manager, Elgin Baylor, according to the Beverly Hills Courier.

With increasing frequency, our San Bernardino employment lawyers are being called to deal with cases involving age discrimination in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. Amid the economic downturn, employers often decide to layoff their veteran employees, who are frequently among a firm’s highest paid. In certain cases, age discrimination may result. For Baby Boomers — particularly those who have decided that working a few more years is the best way to fund a secure retirement — the consequences can be dire. Consulting an experienced attorney is your best bet when it comes to fighting for your rights in the workplace and protecting the financial well-being of you and your family. Too often, veteran employees who are downsized as a result of age discrimination will be unable to find a comparable position at comparable pay.

In this case, Clipper officials say Baylor resigned in October 2008 after 22 years as GM. However, his lawsuit claims he was unceremoniously dumped from the team based on race and age discrimination. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed the team’s request to throw the case out of court. The employment lawsuit also alleges that Baylor was underpaid, never earning more than $350,00 a year, which is not comparable to the GM salaries for other NBA teams.

Baylor was named NBA Executive of the year in 2005-06 when the team reached the semifinals for the first time since the 1975-76 season. The NBA is also named in the lawsuit, as it alleges the league condoned the discrimination by virtue of knowing the general manager salaries of other teams in the league.

The Los Angeles Times reports the wrongful termination lawsuit is scheduled for trial on March 2.
Continue Reading

Gender discrimination in Los Angeles may be part of the reason women doctors make less than men, according to a recent report in the L.A. Times.

Our employment lawyers in Riverside and Orange counties are often called to represent clients who have been fired or suffered harm in the workplace as a result of discrimination based on age, gender, race or other factors. While we have made great strides as a nation when it comes to gender equality, women continue to be paid less than men for the same job.

In other cases, women may be passed over for a promotion. As we reported late last year on our California Employment Lawyer Blog, women hold fewer than 1 in 10 of the top executive positions at California’s 400 largest companies.

An article in the journal Health Affairs recently reported women doctors are paid an average of $16,819 less than men at the beginning of their careers. But the premise of the article may itself have been biased as it attributed the pay difference to women choosing jobs with more flexible hours and other family-friendly attributes.

The article contends the same inequality in pay exists between male and female anchor teams at every television news station.

In 1999, new women physicians made $151,000, versus $173,000 for men, a difference of 12.5 percent. In 2008, women made $174,000 compared to $209,000 for men, a difference of 17 percent.
Continue Reading

As employee’s rights attorneys we are often asked, “should all employment discrimination Plaintiffs take their case to trial?” My answer is always the same, only if you think your chances are very good. Reading a recent article in the latest edition of California Lawyer, I believe in my own advice more now than ever. According to the magazine, a study by Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, of all the employment discrimination cases that go trial and average 2% result in a verdict more favorable to the Plaintiffs. This means that 98% of cases that go to trial end up with the employee not winning. (This study was mainly based on federal cases between 1988-2003.)

The same study also found that the median award to plaintiffs was $110,000 and the median settlement $30,000. Our Orange county sex discrimination attorney knows that the decision to go to trial or to settle is one of most important decisions a Plaintiff will make. Our attorney’s experience as a former general counsel to a public company means that he also knows what issues are considered by companies before they decide to make an offer to a former employee. Before deciding on whether to go to trial, our Orange County race discrimination attorney will research recent verdicts in the district where the case will be tried. This bit of information should always be considered when one is deciding on whether to take a case to trial or not.

If you or a loved one is the subject of racial discrimination at work, or you feel that you or a loved one is experiencing sex discrimination or sexual harassment, contact our Santa Ana discrimination attorneys for a free consultation. You can also contact our sister firm Criminal Defense Team for any questions for Orange county DUI attorney or related to criminal cases in San Bernardino.