Bay Area Employment Law Blog
Gender discrimination laws may help protect abuse victims’ jobs
How long is it going to take before society stops blaming the domestic violence victim for the actions of the abuser? It seems like the problem isn't ever going to end -- especially to abuse victims. For example, a California teacher was recently fired because her...
Sexual harassment is about power and control, not lust.
Most people still think of sexual harassment as a predominately female problem. Intellectually, the majority of people probably realize that men can also be sexually harassed -- but that's not the typical scenario that pops into most people's minds when they think...
Acting gay offers workers legal protection but being gay does not
An Atlanta appeals court decision over the firing of a lesbian security guard has upended the definition of sex-based discrimination used by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In a case that could have far-reaching implications, a security guard who...
When is quitting really the same as being fired?
When workplace conditions become so bad that any reasonable person would feel compelled to quit, the law will sometimes treat that person as if they were fired instead. This can open the door up to a claim of constructive dismissal (also called constructive...
How do you document sexual harassment on the job?
It's very rare for one incident alone to give rise to a sexual harassment claim—most are based on numerous small incidents instead. But how do you document what's happening when there's often no one around but you and your harasser to see? Keep a sexual...
Former California principal alleges pregnancy discrimination
It seems hardly believable that a school district in this modern age wouldn't have a policy in place to deal with the maternity leave of one of its administrators. Yet, that's precisely what the former principal of a California elementary school is alleging. Perhaps...
Public policy trumps over at-will employment
If you had a good job with a highly-valued tech company, could you be lured away by a competitor that promised to be bigger and better? That's exactly what one former Snapchat employee claims happened. The ex-employee claims he was lured away by the Facebook rival...
Are younger workers most vulnerable to sexual harassment?
Are younger employees, particularly those in their teen years, especially vulnerable to sexual harassment? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission certainly thinks so. One of the agency's directors in San Diego said that young workers can be more vulnerable to...
Can sexual harassment among restaurant workers be stopped?
People don't just go out to eat -- they go out to be entertained. Restaurants increasingly are billed as places to cut loose and have a good time. Does that good time include sexually harassing the waitstaff? A lot of servers say that, unfortunately, it does. Worse,...
Your employer’s social media policy may not be legal
Do you know what your rights are when it comes to posting on social media about your job? Your employer may have a social media policy in place that makes it clear that you can't say anything negative about your company, boss or job. If so, that policy may be...