KILLING THE MESSENGER
Retaliation Is Still Illegal – When Attorney Acts for Employer Federal and California law guarantee minimum wage and overtime pay, and prohibit retaliation against an employee who complains about a perceived violation of those laws. In California law, unlawful retaliation includes reporting or threatening to report any worker to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to […]
SCHEDULING VACATIONS IS NO VACATION
Coordinating Employee Summer Time-Off Can Be an Exercise in Diplomacy No California employer is obligated to provide paid vacation time to its workers. However, such benefit is a common practice, promoting morale and productivity. Once a company grants paid vacation (say, one week annually), it is considered an accruing benefit, i.e., an employee earns it […]
EMPLOYERS DUTIES TO REASONABLY ACCOMODATE WORKER DISABILITIES
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits companies employing five or more persons from: 1) discriminating against an employee due to his or her physical disability; 2) failing to make reasonable accommodation for a worker’s known physical disability; 3) failing to engage in a prompt and good faith interactive process with a disabled employee […]
EMPLOYEE THEFT PREVENTION AND HANDLING
Proceed with Good Judgment The best handling for workplace theft is to prevent it in the first place. Suspected or alleged employee thievery – and an employer’s twin obligations to protect the group against an actual thief and to protect the accused from false charges — is a delicate challenge. A company’s much more straightforward […]
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 80
Age Claims Never Grow Old
San Diego Employer Steps in It
North Star Gas Ltd. (NSG) has settled a California Civil Rights Department (CRD) age discrimination claim, with $37,000 paid to the fired truck driver.
The CRD alleged a NSG manager justified a cut in the actively driving worker’s assignments because he was “too old” and “retired.” NSG reportedly then fired the worker for his age (40 or over) in violation of the California Fair Housing and Employment Act.
NSG has also agreed to issue and distribute policy to detect and prevent unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation; to designate an employee to investigate complaints; and to report compliance to CRD.
CAUTIONARY TALE EPISODE 37
Dalit girl, Andhra Pradesh, India, May 12, 2005 Photo from Wikimedia Commons Published without changes under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. WORKPLACE CULTURE CLASH CALIFORNIA CHALLENGES CISCO SYSTEMS FOR COLOR (“CASTE-BASED”) DISCRIMINATION On June 30, 2020, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed suit against Cisco Systems, Inc. (Cisco) […]
ABOLISHING WORKPLACE BIGOTRY: A WORK IN PROGRESS
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and its federal counterpart, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, are designed to protect employees from unlawful discrimination. The FEHA also established the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) to investigate, mediate and prosecute workplace discrimination complaints. It is the largest state civil rights agency in the […]
CAUTIONARY TALES EPISODE 35
OVER THE BORDERLINE State Agency Settles Sex and National Origin Discrimination Case for $450,0000 On July 26, 2019 the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced the $450,000 settlement of a sexual harassment, national origin and retaliation case against Pioneer Pines Mobile Home Park. The complainant, a female employee of Mexican descent who […]
CAUTIONARY TALES EPISODE 30
State Settles Sexual Harassment Case with Cypress Police Department The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) defines sexual harassment as unwanted sexual advances, or visual, verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature. This includes same-sex harassment, offering employment benefits in exchange for sexual favors, or retaliating after receiving a negative response to sexual advances. On June […]
WHAT’S NEW FOR 2019 CALIFORNIA’S ZERO TOLERANCE PROTECTIONS AGAINST WORKPLACE HARASSMENT
The Expanding Meaning of “Zero Tolerance” The #MeToo movement has prompted the California Legislature to expand employer liability for harassment of employees and other specified persons effective January 1, 2019, making it far easier for workers to sue and bring their cases to trial. Release and Waiver Agreements Prohibited: Except for certain negotiated settlement agreements […]