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Can I Sue A Company For Wrongful Termination In California?

The Influence of Title VII on LGBTQ Workers


"We need to talk" is not just a terrifying phrase to hear from your significant other, it is also something you never want to hear from your boss. No good can come from the phrase and if it is said to you at work, it most likely means trouble lies ahead, such as losing your job. Hopefully, you never have to hear those four haunting words at work but if you do and you are fired, is that legal? Do you even have the right legally to fight the decision in court? What if your boss just did not like you and fired you? Can your boss fire you without giving you a reason? How do you know if what your boss did was even allowed according to the law? All of these questions are totally valid and should be asked! This was your job, your livelihood, your means of providing for yourself and perhaps others, and this could also negatively impact your career, so you need to ask these questions, but who do you ask? Is it worth pursuing in court? An Employment Attorney is the type of legal professional who would be able to provide the most educated opinion on these common questions regarding your termination. When and if you do need these questions answered, keep the following information in mind.

Throughout America, every state varies on their laws, especially the laws that regulate employment. As an employee or applicant, it is important to know the laws that your state in particular enforces. This is because a situation may arise at work where you might have been treated adversely and depending on the state, you could potentially recover.

In California, employees are called "at-will" employees. What in the world does that even mean though? "At-will" means that if you are an employee in the State of California, your boss or employer can decide at their own will to boot you out of your job for any reason or even for no reason at all. So your boss could basically walk into your office today and say "Hey, I've decided you just absolutely repulse me and the sight of your face makes me want to gouge my eyes out. You're fired!", and it could technically be legal. It is not likely that someone would actually be so blunt and fire you for repulsing them, but technically there are no laws that prohibit the action or behavior unless it is motivated by a protected class or activity. Some may argue that the flip-side to at-will employment for the employee is that unlike other states, the employee is not required to give a two-week notice of resignation. The employee can quit without notice, for any reason or no reason at all and not be sued by the employer.

At first glance, it seems pretty crappy to be an employee in California but that's not the whole story. As an at-will employee can you really be fired for any reason? Like every good lawyer will tell you, the answer is: "well it depends". The circumstances that surrounded the termination are essential and may lead to the exception to at-will employment. Although an at-will employee can be fired for any reason or no reason at all, they cannot be fired for an illegal reason. This means an employer cannot fire an employee based on belonging to a protected class such as race, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, medical condition, military status, marital status and so forth. Another reason that may be considered as illegal would be retaliation for making a complaint regarding unlawful issues at work. Depending on the facts of the situation, even being fired for refusing to consent to a lie detector test could be considered as wrongful termination. One other example of being fired for an illegal reason would be in retaliation for filing a complaint, testifying in legal proceedings, or even for reporting abuse. There are many ways in which an employee could be fired for an illegal reason that you may have had no idea existed.

What is considered an "illegal reason" can be very complex so it is essential to provide to an Employment Attorney all of the facts that lead up to your termination and even any details you can provide for what happened after. Important details may include but are not limited to who your employer replaced you with, whether you made any complaints verbally or in writing about adverse treatment, for how long you were employed for, and perhaps were any comments made to you leading up to your termination.

For example, let's take the previous example from the rather blunt boss who fires you because he basically just hates the sight of you. If prior to this happening your boss asked you out on a date and you turned him down, his actions in terminating you may have been illegal. This is where the circumstances are key. This might be considered wrongful termination because you were fired for an illegal reason which in this case could be quid pro quo sexual harassment and/ or retaliation. Another example would be if you are Hispanic and your boss did the same thing to several other Hispanic employees, and in fact, only fired Hispanic employees and only hired non-Hispanic employees. Again these surrounding circumstances may constitute a wrongful termination, which in this case may be a race discrimination claim. 

So can you sue a company for wrongful termination in California? Taking all the information provided above, the answer remains "well it depends", which is better than "no". Every case is different and requires careful consideration from an Employment Attorney. An Employment Attorney has the specific expertise in the complex and forever evolving employment laws in California. The good news is that if you are told "we need to talk" to your boss, you do have certain rights and they can be enforced or you may recover if those rights were violated. If you do decide to call an Employment Lawyer regarding a potential wrongful termination claim, be sure to contact a law firm that offers free consultations like Stevens & McMillan.




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Is there a statute of limitations that I have to file a sexual harassment claim before?

harassment in workplace


A statute of limitations is not something that only constrains matters in criminal law, it also impacts sexual harassment claims that occur in the workplace. Certain claims under Employment Law regulations have a statute of limitation attached to the filing of the claim, meaning an employee cannot just file a lawsuit at any time, they must file certain claims within a certain time period that is set by statute. The law requires that an employee file a claim within a certain time frame or the claim will expire. An employee can avoid missing the statute of limitations on a sexual harassment claim by being well informed of the deadlines that the law imposes. Every case is different and it is important to ask an Employment Lawyer at Stevens & McMillan to be advised in your particular case.
First and foremost, before looking into the statute of limitations on sexual harassment, the employee might need to know if they were sexually harassed in the first place. Because the statute of limitations concerns the act of sexual harassment and when it occurred it is useful for the employee to know all the types of behaviors that fall under sexual harassment. Certain behavior is considered sexual harassment under the law, such as unwanted sexual advances or romantic pursuit, and other unwelcome conduct that is of a sexual nature, including verbal comments, inappropriate touching, lewd gestures, and visuals, depiction of sexual acts or sexual content, including sexual innuendo and/or words, lewd jokes and derogatory statements directed at an employee based on gender. Examples these acts may be demonstrated through asking the employee on a date, imitating or acting out sexual acts such as oral sex, any kind of unwanted touching that is not acceptable in the course of everyday life, blocking an entry or exit with their body, making comments that are about sex, cat-calling, blowing kisses, winking, and even sending emails or texts that are of a sexual nature. The behaviors and acts mentioned is not an exhaustive list, but as you will read below, being able to identify sexual harassment and all the forms it may take might have the potential to set a statute of limitations at a farther in the future date. If you are uncertain if you were sexually harassed by your coworker or boss you should discuss the details of what happened to you with an Employment Law Attorney.
An employee who has been sexually harassed at work or in a work setting does need to file their claim before the statute of limitations expires. Before the employee is able to file in Court, the employee must exhaust administrative remedies through the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). In California, an employee who has been sexually harassed in the workplace needs to file a complaint about the sexual harassment with the DFEH. Not only do they need to file a complaint with the DFEH, the complaint must be filed within 12 months of the most recent act. For example, Tammy has endured unwelcome sexual advances made by her boss towards her for the last six months. On numerous occasions, he has made comments to her about her breasts and often tried and sometimes succeeds at giving her back and neck massages. Over the course of the six months, Tammy has made several complaints to the Human Resources Department about her boss' unwelcome touching and his offensive remarks, yet nothing has been done to remedy the situation. Tammy recalls the last incident occurred on March 2, 2017, which was the day she filed her last complaint with the Human Resources Department after her Boss tried to massage her neck again. Because this was the last time her boss had sexually harassed her, she must file her sexual harassment complaint with the DFEH by March 2, 2018, in order to protect the statute of limitations and be able to file a lawsuit.
After a complaint is filed with the DFEH, the employee may be given a right-to-sue letter, This means that the employee who filed the complaint has exhausted her administrative remedies and now has permission from the department to sue their employer or organization. Alternatively, the employee may ask for a right-to-sue notice, which means that the Plaintiff is requesting the DFEH stop conducting an investigation and therefore the employee can begin legal proceedings. Once the employee receives either a right-to-sue letter or a notice of case closure, the employee has 12 months from that date to bring a civil lawsuit in Court against their employer for sexual harassment.
Keep in mind that filing the complaint does not mean that the employee has commenced legal proceedings. Also, the Department producing a right-to-sue letter does not mean the employee is guaranteed to have a successful case, it is formal permission to begin legal proceedings against the employer. For instance, the employee may hire an Employment Lawyer upon receiving the right-to-sue letter. The employee may call an Employment Lawyer because that is the type of attorney who handles sexual harassment cases that take place at work.
Although an employee may feel pressured and restricted by the enforcement of a statute of limitations on sexual harassment claims, one of the reasons it may positively impact the employee is that they have a better chance of obtaining fresher evidence. This means that the statute of limitations may encourage employees to obtain witnesses statements sooner while the details of the circumstances are still fresh in the mind of the witnesses and even for the employee themselves. So while the statute of limitations can feel like it is working against the employee, it can also aid in building a stronger case. In addition, if the employee decided to hire an Employment Lawyer, the sooner the employee files their complaint with the DFEH, the more time the legal team will have to investigate the matter and put the case together.
Again, each potential case is different and if you feel that you have a sexual harassment issue in the workplace, you should still reach out to Stevens & McMillan to discuss your potential claim.



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