FREE CONSULTATIONS:
415.925.5161
Frequently Asked Questions
We have categorized our most frequently asked questions into the following sections for your convenience. If you have additional questions or need more information about your issue, please contact us for a free case evaluation.
How does a lawsuit work?
Often clients have many questions about how the legal process works. The following chronology explains how a lawsuit may typically work, although many factors may affect this timeline. Keep in mind that the process often varies from case to case depending on the number of parties, factual issues, legal issues and the overall complexity of the matter.
The answer greatly depends on your case. The firm has no control over how long any particular case will take. Typically, uncomplicated civil lawsuits in a fast-track jurisdiction take about a year to resolve after the initial filing.
Complex matters and courts that do not employ fast-track scheduling may take considerably longer. The delay or stalling tactics of the opposing party may also affect the length of certain matters.
You can be confident, however, that the firm will work to advance its clients' cases as expeditiously as possible within the confines of the court process. We believe that "justice delayed is justice denied."
What are all these legal documents?
Lawyers, by tradition or court rule, must file certain papers that look very different from documents used in everyday life. At the beginning of a lawsuit, attorneys exchange legal papers describing the claims and defenses of each side. As the case advances, your lawyer may send you copies of documents filed with the court, sent by the other side, or sent by the court. Your attorney is the best reference for explaining the legal papers in the context of your particular case.
The vast majority of cases we handle on behalf of employees, such as wrongful termination, discrimination and unpaid wages, are on a “contingency basis.” This means that you pay no fee until we recover damages for you.
Certain other services, including severance review or legal advice, may entail an hourly fee.
There is never any charge for the initial phone conversation. Because the length and nature of each legal matter varies, we will discuss fees and options during the initial consultation. We strive to provide the highest level of service at the lowest possible cost to you.
Once the firm is retained, we take appropriate action, whether that means sending a written demand to the potential parties, filing a lawsuit or initiating other methods to help resolve your matter. We are committed to providing the highest level of availability and accountability to our clients from the initial retention to the conclusion. You’ll be apprised of all important developments, timelines and expectations in your case, and you can be assured that we will vigorously represent your interests from start to finish.
Once a lawsuit is started, the law requires disclosure of all relevant facts and documents of the case to the opposing side prior to trial. This process of exchanging information is called “discovery.” Discovery assists all parties in getting at the underlying facts of the dispute and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their respective cases. It also avoids surprises at trial and can sometimes help facilitate a settlement.
Lawsuits can be a time-consuming, stressful, and expensive experience. Sometimes there are simpler options. Ask yourself these questions to help decide whether you’re ready to pursue legal action.
The California Labor Code states that all employees are assumed to be “at will.” This means that you or your employer may end the employment relationship for any reason at any time, even without warnings or serious performance problems. At-will employees are different from contract employees, whose contracts (often, a union agreement) may specify the conditions and circumstances under which a company may terminate the worker.
Some technology companies pay their computer programmers and other I.T. professionals a salary without realizing some of these employees are entitled to overtime.
In California, the Computer Professional overtime exemption (Labor Code Section 515.5) determines which employees are exempt from receiving overtime pay. This law states to be exempt from overtime, computer professionals must be paid a minimum salary, AND have advanced job duties. Even if you make more than the minimum salary, to be exempt from overtime under California law, a computer professional must have job duties that meet several requirements, which are detailed in this article.
It is illegal for an employer to terminate or retaliate against an employee because the employee filed a wage claim against them. Both federal and California laws protect employees from retaliation when they participate in “legally protected activities.” Exercising your legal rights by filing a wage and overtime claim is considered a legally protected activity.
Workers have the right to file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, or to file a wage lawsuit in California or federal court, against an employer without fear of retaliation. When employers violate these rights and discriminate or retaliate against employees who have filed wage claims, workers can pursue retaliation or wrongful termination claims against the employer along with the original wage claim.
In order to establish a case of illegal retaliation, the employee must prove the employer’s harmful employment action toward them was motivated by their engaging in the protected activity of filing a wage claim. The harmful action must be a tangible one, such as termination, demotion or withholding a promotion.
If the employee can prove the above, then it is the employer’s responsibility to prove they had some other valid reason for taking the action against the employee. The employee then has to show the employer’s reason was just an excuse to cover up for the retaliation.
California law allows employees to recover money owed for unpaid wages, including denied overtime and meal periods. One way to recover unpaid wages from an employer is by filing a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), also known as the Labor Commissioner’s Office.
Read more to learn how to file a claim for unpaid wages.
California has stricter overtime pay laws than many other states. Employers are required to pay overtime for both authorized and unauthorized overtime hours. Unless they meet an exemption, California requires that employees who work over eight hours a day or 40 in a week, or work on the seventh consecutive day of a work week, be paid overtime at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay. In addition, hours over 12 worked in a day or hours over eight worked on the seventh consecutive day in a week are paid at two times an employee’s regular rate of pay.
In some cases, an employer may implement an alternative work week that allows employees to work up to 10 hours per day for four days per week without receiving overtime. However, if employees work more than the hours stipulated in the agreement, they must be paid overtime. Normal double-time rules also apply. Furthermore the agreement must follow strict legal guidelines, which include that it must be approved by two-thirds of employees in a secret ballot held during regular work hours.
Learn more to see if you're entitled to overtime pay.
Not necessarily. Being salaried does not guarantee exempt status. Some salaried employees may be incorrectly classified as exempt. There are many categories of exemptions that are governed by complex rules that depend on various factors, such as the type of duties an employee performs.
Learn more to see if you are qualify as an exempted employee.
No. The California Labor Code states that an employee who is fired must be paid all of their wages immediately at the time of termination. The final paycheck should include all earned and unpaid wages, as well as accrued vacation, bonuses or commissions if applicable.
An employee can file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner’s Office if he or she does not receive their final paycheck from their employer. Employers must pay a “waiting time” penalty for willful failure to pay final wages immediately upon termination. The penalty accrues at the employee’s average daily wage for a maximum of 30 days. The 30-day period includes weekends, holidays and other days the employee would not usually work.
When calculating the penalty, overtime wages are included only if the employee had regularly scheduled overtime each week. The penalty stops accruing once the employer pays the outstanding wages, or the employee decides to file a complaint in court to recover the unpaid wages with the help of an attorney.
Employers are required to classify employees as either exempt or non-exempt. The major difference between the two categories is that non-exempt employees receive overtime pay, whereas exempt employees receive the same pay regardless of how many hours they work in a pay period. However, sometimes employees are wrongly classified as exempt, and may be owed unpaid overtime.
Learn more about the differences between an exempt and a non-exempt employee.
The purpose of minimum wage is to protect workers from unfairly low compensation. Under California law, almost all state employees must be paid the minimum wage by their employers for every compensable hour worked. This right cannot be waived by the employer or the worker. Some cities have their own minimum wage, including San Francisco and San Jose. Workers are entitled to the highest minimum wage, whether it is local, state or federal. Tips cannot be counted toward minimum wage in California. Also, employees paid on a piece, salary or commission must receive at least the equivalent of minimum wage for every compensable hour worked.
Learn more about California's minimum wage, as well as finding out current minimum wage rates.
Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual conduct in the workplace, whether it is physical or verbal. Verbal harassment that is offensive, hostile or intimidating can be a common form of sexual harassment. It can affect an employee just as seriously as physical harassment.
There are many forms of verbal harassment that can be considered sexual harassment. Some examples are offensive jokes of a sexual nature, unwanted sexual advances, excessive and unwelcome flirting, requests for sexual favors, suggestive or obscene emails and derogatory comments in a sexual context.
Regardless of whether the harassment is severe or pervasive or not, employers can never terminate an employee in retaliation for complaining about any perceived sexual harassment.
The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) allows employees to take leave from work in certain situations for family and health reasons. Under the act, employers with 50 or more employees must allow eligible full-time employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off in a 12-month period.
Learn more to see what entitles you to medical leave.
California law defines a disability as any medical condition or disorder that limits an employee’s ability to work. A wide range of disabilities are protected from employment discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
The two main categories are physical disability and mental disability. The law also protects employees who have a medical condition. Medical conditions are those that are related to cancer or a genetic characteristic that could lead to the increased likelihood of developing a disease or disorder.
Learn more on what is considered a physical or mental disability.
Temporary workers are covered by the same employment laws as other workers even though they may be hired on a seasonal or short-term basis. They are sometimes misclassified as independent contractors and denied their rights as employees due to the project-oriented nature of their work.
A temporary employee may file a discrimination claim if their employer discriminates against them on the basis of their membership in a protected class, such as age, sex, race, religion, disability or medical condition, national origin or pregnancy. A temporary employee is usually supplied to an employer via a temporary agency. Depending on the specific facts of a case, both the temp agency and the employer that leased the employee can be held liable for workplace discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act if they knew about the discrimination and failed to take immediate action against it.
A worker’s status as an employee may affect their ability to file various discrimination lawsuits against the employer, in addition to the temp agency. The main factor used to determine the employer’s liability is a “right to control” test. The test is similar to the one used to establish a worker’s independent contractor status. A temporary worker may effectively become a leasing company’s employee for legal purposes if the leasing company is found to exercise significant control over the way tasks are accomplished.
While getting yelled at by an employer or supervisor all day long may be unpleasant, such behavior does not necessarily provide grounds for a harassment lawsuit unless it falls under a legally-defined hostile work environment. A “hostile work environment” is a legal term that refers to verbal or physical harassment in the workplace against certain protected classes of people.
There are very specific federal and California employment laws that determine whether an employer’s actions qualify as discrimination. An employee simply experiencing unfair treatment from the employer is not enough to establish a discrimination claim.
Unfair treatment becomes unlawful if an employer discriminates against the employee based on their membership in a “protected class.”
Although it may seem difficult, the very first step in dealing with discrimination or harassment in the workplace is to talk to your employer or supervisor. Make sure your supervisor knows what is happening, assuming that he or she is not the perpetrator. This can take the form of a private meeting or in a note or memorandum. Additionally, you should approach your company’s human resources manager and inform him or her of the improper conduct. Unfortunately, many discriminatory acts go unrecognized and unpunished because the victim is not fully informing the employer that the conduct is occurring.
An employee may still have a case against their employer under the constructive discharge claim. Constructive discharge is when an employee is forced to quit their job because they were subjected to illegal working conditions that were so intolerable they felt they had no other choice.
The employee does not have to actually be fired from their job in order to have a claim. The law treats constructive discharge as an employer firing an employee rather than an employee voluntarily resigning. In order to prove a constructive discharge claim, the employee must show several factors detailed here.
Being fired out of the blue or even after getting positive performance reviews does not necessarily constitute wrongful termination. Employers are not required to give at-will employees any advance notice or warnings before firing them. That said, an employee with a good record, fired out of the blue or for a suspicious reason, may wish to consider whether the employer had an illegal, hidden motive for the termination.
Learn more if you have been fired without warning or getting a negative performance review.
Being fired from work unexpectedly can be a stressful experience that can leave a person feeling unsure about their options. Upon the termination of employment, the first step to take is to determine whether the termination is illegal. Wrongful termination occurs when an employer unfairly terminates an employee in violation of federal or California employment laws.
Read more to learn what you can do if you think you've been fired unfairly.
For the average person, a lawsuit can be very expensive. Typical expenses may include court filing fees, deposition fees, costs associated with subpoenaing witnesses and documents, expert witness fees and numerous other trial-related fees. The vast majority of our cases, including wrongful termination, discrimination, and unpaid wage cases are handled on a contingency basis where we pay for all legal expenses and recover nothing until you win. The costs of litigation should be discussed during the initial consultation with an attorney.
Illegal retaliation occurs when an employer takes some tangible action against an employee for exercising his or her rights under anti-discrimination, whistleblower or certain other laws. Retaliation could be in the form of actions that significantly harm the employee like termination, demotion, salary reduction, discipline or a negative performance review.
Both federal and California law protects employees from retaliation when they participate in legally “protected activities.”
An employee may be able to file a wrongful termination lawsuit if they are fired for complaining about their employer’s illegal conduct and not for some other, legitimate reason. Federal and California laws offer employees protection from retaliation when they participate in “legally protected activities” such as:
- Complaining about discrimination or sexual harassment
- Exercising their rights under wage and overtime laws
- Participating in investigations
- Protesting unsafe working conditions
- Reporting illegal conduct by the employer or its managers
SEEN ON
