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The government’s largest contract provider of security services has agreed to pay $1.26 million to 26 female employees for pregnancy discrimination, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Our Los Angeles employment attorneys represent women in the fight for fair treatment in the workplace. Whether the charge is pregnancy discrimination, age or gender bias or sexual harassment, women have the right to work in an environment free of such issues.
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Akal Security, which provides contract security guards at U.S. military bases, was accused of forcing pregnant employees to take leave and discharging them because of pregnancy. The company was also charged with subjecting pregnant women to less favorable terms and conditions of employment, including preventing them from taking annual physicals or firearms training or forcing them to take such tests before their certification expired.

The company also reportedly retaliated by filing criminal charges against an employee who complained of the discrimination.

Akal is one of the nation’s largest contract security companies and operates in 40 states and 20 countries. It was accused of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which prohibits gender discrimination in employment.

“This is a very important settlement that will help protect an entire class of women from discrimination on account of pregnancy,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien. “This agreement reinforces the EEOC’s commitment to securing fair and equal treatment for all women in the work place.”

In addition to the monetary settlement, the company must report to the EEOC when an employee is required to take a leave of absence while pregnant or is terminated while pregnant. It must also report any testing of pregnant employees and provide additional training for managers.

“Akal operated its business without regard to federal law,” said Barbara Seely, an EEOC attorney. “Employees who become pregnant and can continue to perform their jobs should not be pushed out of traditionally male jobs just because they don’t fit the employer’s image. We are confident Akal now understands the price of allowing this type of illegal stereotyping to drive employment decisions, and that it will ensure pregnant employees are treated fairly going forward.”
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A Los Angeles sexual harassment lawsuit has been settled after a parochial school employee said she was sexually harassed by the church pastor, FOX News reported.

Our Orange County sexual harassment attorneys and Riverside employment rights lawyers understand the need for experienced, high-quality legal representation for victims who have faced sexual harassment or sexual discrimination in the workplace.

In October 2009, the woman sued the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles and the accused Priest. The case was scheduled to go to trial on Monday but defense attorneys filed paperwork with Los Angeles Superior Court saying the case had been resolved. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The lawsuit alleged that the woman began working as a janitor and cook at the Epiphany Catholic Church school in 2007. She claimed the priest spanked her and hugged her in a sexual manner. When she complaint, her boss allegedly told her to endure the harassment and hopefully the priest would stop.

She was later placed on medical leave and, when cleared to return to work, the diocese reportedly refused to reinstate her.

Earlier this summer, the judge ruled in favor of the diocese attorneys, finding that the religious organization could not be sued under the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. However, the judge had permitted the lawsuit to go forward as a violation of civil rights.
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A vacation-home rental company will pay $165,000 to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit alleging that it discriminated against Latino employees, according to the Sierra Star.

The Los Angeles office of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission reported that “An investigation was undertaken that led to a finding of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.”

Our Orange County employment attorneys understand the anger and frustration that can come with discrimination in the workplace. Such discrimination, whether based on age, religion, sex or race, can make even the most capable employees feel powerless. Frequently, an employee is hesitant to say anything, or to take action — particularly in a today’s economic environment, where good jobs are scarce. We understand. And we offer confidential consultations to discuss your rights if you feel you have been discriminated against in the workplace.

Wawona Property Management Inc, doing business as The Redwoods — a vacation home rental company in Yosemite National Park — was sued in September by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The suit claimed five Latino employees were targeted for harassment, discrimination, increased scrutiny and eventual termination. The suit claimed an operations manager favored non-Latino staff.

The suit also claimed the company’s general manager was fired after reporting discriminatory conduct to the company’s board of directors.

The California employment lawsuit said the employees were seasonal workers of Mexican and Salvadoran descent, who worked in housekeeping and maintenance. When a new operations manager was hired, the lawsuit claims he took disciplinary action against Latino workers after making disparaging remarks about them. Meanwhile, non-Latino employees who violated company policies were nevertheless promoted.

The EEOC filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, claiming that the discrimination against national origin and harassment and retaliation where a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Redwood has subsequently agreed to revise its policies with respect to discrimination, harassment, retaliation and employee evaluations.

The EEOC reports that cases of discrimination of national origin are up 20 to 40 percent nationwide.
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Two police officers claim they were wrongly transferred after being falsely accused of sexual harassment in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Independent reports the LAPD sergeant and officer worked for the bomb squad at the Los Angeles International Airport. They are claiming gender discrimination and retaliation.

A Los Angeles employment attorney can assist an employee in protecting their rights in the workplace on either side of a sexual harassment claim. This case illustrates sexual harassment v. sexual discrimination in Los Angeles employment situations. The male officers are claiming they have been subjected to sexual discrimination after being transferred out of the unit following a sexual harassment claim.

The officers claim the incident has ended their careers and each are seeking in excess of $2 million. The accuser received $2.25 million in a settlement with the city over the alleged conduct of the officers.

The female bomb squad officer contended that the sexual harassment included the posting of photographs of half-naked officers, sexually explicit cartoons, men using the women’s shower, taking items from her locker and blowing cigar smoke in her face. She claims the harassment happened between 2000 and 2005.

She retired last year after receiving the settlement from the city. The male officers claim the allegations are false and that they were inappropriately transferred and received a reduction in pay.
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The California Attorney General’s Office has filed an employment lawsuit in Los Angeles against eight car washed owned by the family that runs the trendy Koi restaurants popular with celebrities around the world.

Businessweek reports that the lawsuit accuses owners of the car washes of not paying the minimum wage, refusing rest and meal breaks to employees and forcing them to show up early or otherwise work without pay. It also says that employees who quit or were fired were not paid and others received bad checks.
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Our Santa Ana employment lawyers handle cases against employers who refuse to pay employees money owed for time worked. Wage and hour disputes in Los Angeles are common and often result form an employee not being paid upon termination of the working relationship.

Employers must also abide by state and federal laws that require adequate time for meal and rest breaks. Additionally, an employer may not permit (let alone demand) that an employee work without pay. In some cases, the classification of an employee as a salary worker is done in an effort to avoid overtime. Frequently this is against the law and an experienced employment attorney in Los Angeles can assist you in seeking back wages.

The California Attorney General’s Office is seeking $6.6 million in the lawsuit against the 8 car washes after an investigation revealed a “widespread pattern of worker exploitation.”

“The owners routinely denied wages, breaks and overtime pay to workers at their unlicensed car washes,” the Attorney General said. “This lawsuit seeks to end this widespread pattern of worker exploitation.”

The car washes are in Fair Oaks, Folsom, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Santa Monica, San Ramon and Venice. The five-month investigation interviewed more than 80 workers and found they were routinely denied minimum wage and overtime. False record keeping was used to cover up the violations.

The business also required employees to arrive hours early and be available unpaid until business picked up.

Here is the complaint, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Chapman University of discrimination, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Our Los Angeles employment attorneys represents clients facing discrimination, wrongful termination and other employment issues throughout the Los Angeles area, including Santa Ana, Orange County and Riverside.

Chapman University, which is located in Orange, California, is accused of denying tenure to a black professor because of race. The University later fired the woman.

The lawsuit claims the private Southern California university denied tenure in 2006 to the business school’s only black faculty member, who was highly regarded by colleagues. The woman was fired in 2008.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit accuses the university of promoting professors with worse performance. The lawsuit seeks punitive damages and a court order prohibiting future acts of employment discrimination by the university.

The OC Weekly reports that the professor was hired by the Chapman Argyros School of Business in 2001 and applied for tenure and promotion from assistant professor to associate professor in 2006. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges she did not advance because of her race. It states she was the only black faculty member in a department of about 30 people.
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Servers working in restaurants, especially the larger and busier chains, need to know their rights when it comes to overtime, rest and meal breaks and compensation paid to other employees. A practice that is somewhat prevalent in the industry is the requirement that servers pay a portion of the wages of other co-workers who don’t share in the tips paid by patrons. This practice could include the requirement of servers to pay a sum to those that break their shifts. Orange County Employee’s Rights Attorneys of Employment Law Team, are currently working on two class actions that deal with servers being required to pay “breakers” and having to share tips with hostesses. One of our cases involves a practice that is alleged in the complaint to be in violation of “on-call” laws. Contact our Orange County Employment attorneys if you’d like to learn more.

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Many unscrupulous employers resort to misclassifying their employees as “independent contractors” in order to avoid: 1) Paying overtime and benefits to the employee AND 2) Paying payroll taxes to the government. Both result in enormous harm to the community and to the families of the employees. Recently our Orange County Employee’s Right Attorneys have been approached by a number of employees from a local company that has classified over 35 inside sales employees as contractors and has avoided paying them overtime and in some cases even the minimum wage required in California. In order to determine if one is a contractor or an employee number of questions must be answered. The most important of these questions deals with the level of control that the employer has over the individual’s schedule. Case law has held that this test, developed under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), looks to whether the employee is economically dependent upon the principal or is instead in business for himself or herself. Other factors looked at our whether individual pays own expenses, pays for employees, set own goals and can and does take work in other places. What is important is that employers not be allowed to abuse the system by declaring otherwise regular employees as contractors. Such classification hurts us all!

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When economy turns slow as it has in the past year or so it affects issues related to employment law in many different and unique ways. One of the impacts we’ve observed is that employers begin to obscure the line between exempt and exempt employees in order to save on paying overtime wages. In California every hour worked over 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week has to be paid at the time and half rate. This rule however, only applies to employees who are entitled to receive overtime and are not exempt. When economy is bad employees may be willing to be put on a salary for the fear that they may lose their hours. The employer may then simply call the employee a “salaried” employee and pay him o her a flat amount each two weeks, even if the employee works more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. However, if an employee who does not fit one of the exemptions, i.e. managerial, administrative, software, etc., then he or she may still be entitled to overtime for hours worked over 8 or 40 hours. Orange and Los Angeles overtime attorneys of Employment Law Team are currently working on many overtime cases in which employees were paid as salaried even though they did not qualify as exempt. If you have a question about this complicated area of law contact our wage and hour attorney.

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