Firm News
Seek legal advice if you believe you’ve been fired in retaliation
Can you legally refuse to work without being penalized for it? It depends. If a situation presents an obvious hazard but there's no clear risk of real physical harm or death, you should report the issue to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Keep...
California takes new step to prevent women from discrimination
There's a very subtle way that women are discriminated against in the job market. It's so subtle, in fact, that most women probably don't give it much thought or even realize that it has the capacity to lock them in a gender-based cycle of unequal pay for equal work....
What is caregiver discrimination?
Many people have never heard of caregiver discrimination -- even if they've dealt with it in person. Caregiver, or "family responsibility," discrimination occurs whenever an assumption is made (either correctly or incorrectly) that an employee's responsibilities at...
Getting even: How to define retaliation for your employees
If an employee has filed a complaint against your company due to the discriminatory behavior of other employees, you are now in the peculiar position of having to defend that person from his or her co-workers -- whether you want to or not. Even when an employee is...
How do you avoid workplace discrimination because you’re Muslim?
There's been an uptick in cases of workplace discrimination toward Muslim-Americans -- to the tune of 250 percent since before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Unfortunately, while America treasures the concept of religious freedom, fear has made much of the...
Get help if someone uses a power imbalance to sexually harass you
There has been a striking imbalance between the number of males and females in California's tech industry and between the investors that men and women business leaders were able to attract. There seemed to be no logical reason for the ever-widening gender gap in the...
Can they really fire you for that? Understand at-will employment
Do you have an employment contract? Are you a member of a union that has a collective bargaining agreement with your employer? Unless one of those things is true, you're probably what's known as an "at-will employee." That means that you -- and your employer -- are...
Does a fired Google employee have a discrimination case or not?
A Google employee made national headlines after writing an anti-diversity memo that essentially stated, among other things, that women were biologically unsuited to the tech industry. He was terminated rather quickly for pushing gender stereotypes and violating a...
4 clues to determine what is and is not sexual harassment
Sexual harassment isn't just a woman's problem. Anyone of either gender can be sexually harassed by anyone else, However, if you're like most people, you aren't sure where the line is between poor behavior and actual harassment. Here's how you can tell: 1. A single...
3 steps to stop unwanted sexual advances at work
How do you handle unwanted sexual advances at work? Women have been dealing with this issue for decades, and they've had to think up all sorts of defenses to discourage unwanted suitors. Some conventional advice women were once offered included things like...