Bay Area Employment Law Blog
California caregivers challenge workplace discrimination
At some point in nearly everyone's life, he or she will have to care for someone else. Whether it is a child, an elderly parent or a sick spouse, caring for others is a part of life. Unfortunately, the number of cases in California involving workplace discrimination...
Does my firing qualify as wrongful termination?
When you are fired from a job, it is easy to immediately think that somehow, someway your employer terminated you without just cause. On the one hand, you may be right. There are many ways that a company can open itself up to liability when they fire an employee. On...
HBO film highlights Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill
For all you HBO subscribers out there, and even for those who aren't, you likely have seen ads for the movie "Confirmation" which chronicles the 1991 U.S. Supreme Court nomination -- and subsequent sexual harassment controversy -- of Clarence Thomas. Before he...
Members of U.S. Women’s team sue federation for uneven pay
As many people have likely heard, the U.S. Women's national soccer team has had a contentious relationship with their governing body, U.S. Soccer. Yesterday, a few members of the women's team filed a lawsuit against U.S. Soccer for wage discrimination. Alex Morgan,...
I’m entitled to warnings before being fired!!! Or am I?
I hope to someday write a book about the stories I've heard from people who think they have employment claims. One of my favorites was the guy who wanted to wear roller skates to work as a disability accommodation. Probably the most common thing I hear is people who...
Retaliation is one of the most misunderstood concepts in employment law
Like many employment law firms, ours receives frequent calls from people who believe they have been retaliated against by their employers. Almost all have; the operative question, however, is whether they have been subject to unlawful retaliation. While almost every...
Courtroom lessons Ellen Pao taught us
As the dust from the harassment and retaliation trial-of-the-century settles, take-aways emerge for litigation of future employment cases. Although Ellen Pao lost on all the claims she made against her former employer, well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm...
The rise of “take what you want” vacation policies
Companies are increasingly ditching traditional vacation accrual policies in favor of allowing employees to take whatever vacation they want. Most employers allow workers to earn set amounts of paid vacation that accrues over time worked (e.g., 1 hour of vacation for...
Difficult supervisors don’t entitle employees to disability leave
Managers are often difficult or contentious, which understandably causes employees stress. But stress caused only by a difficult boss does not qualify as a "disability" under California law. In Higgins-Williams v. Sutter Medical Foundation, the plaintiff took medical...
“He said, (s)he said” evidence good enough to get discrimination cases to trial
Many people who suspect they have been wrongfully terminated think they need "smoking gun" evidence to even have a chance in court. Not so, says a recent California appellate court case. In Nigro v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., the court ruled that just about any kind of...