Attorneys Protecting the Rights of Los Angeles Employees

The Employment Lawyers at Clark Employment Law, APC serve clients in and around Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern, Santa Barbara, Ventura & Orange Counties.

Work is an important part of our lives. We spend most of our time at work, we devote our best efforts to our work, and we take pride in our contribution to our employers. We expect to be evaluated on our performance. However, employers may fire, discriminate, harass, or treat certain employees unfairly because of their legally protected characteristics—disability, pregnancy, maternity, gender, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, race, national origins, age, religion, or the like. Or employers may retaliate against certain employees because they have asserted their rights under the law. Should any of these unlawful acts happen to you, you can trust your case to the experienced Los Angeles employment attorneys at Clark Employment Law to help you recover damages and hold your employer accountable.

Whether you are still in your job and require advice on how to handle a potential discrimination, harassment, or retaliation at work, or you have been wrongfully terminated from your job, we are here to help. We will represent you in litigation and will fight aggressively to recover the compensation you deserve. Contact the employment lawyers at Clark Employment Law today for your free consultation.

Clark Employment Law is one of the best litigation law firms in California that exclusively represents employees in employment law cases in state and federal courts. What sets us apart is our dedication to all our clients. Our firm handles only a limited number of cases at any given time. This practice model allows us to provide the highest level of professional legal services and personal attention to each individual client. Clark Employment Law has obtained several recovery/settlements in the millions of dollars in employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases, including the largest employment law settlement in California in 2015.

• Wrongful termination;
• Discrimination (including discrimination based on physical disability, mental disability, perceived disability, association with people with disability, pregnancy, maternity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, gender reassignment, race, color, national origins, age, religion, military and veteran status, or the like);
• Workplace harassment (including harassment based on disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, gender reassignment, race, or the like);
• Retaliation for making protected complaints or engaging in other activities protected under the law;
• Retaliation for requesting or taking protected family or medical leaves;
• Family medical leave interference or retaliation;
• Pregnancy discrimination (including disability caused by pregnancy, childbirth, maternity leave, baby bonding leave, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions);
• Failure to engage in good faith interactive process;
• Failure to provide reasonable accommodation;
• Transgender discrimination;
• Whistleblowers retaliation;
• Defamation;
• Military leave violations;
• Invasion of privacy;
• Unemployment insurance benefits hearings/appeals;
• Wage and hour compliance matters (including overtime pay laws);
• Breach of contract;
• All other California labor and employment laws.

The attorneys at Clark Employment Law will provide qualified and experienced guidance for your potential case. Our employment lawyers in Los Angeles exclusively represent employees/plaintiffs only. We never hesitate to bring cases against large corporations or public entities.

There is a strict deadline (statute of limitations) for filing a lawsuit of which you must be mindful. If you let the statute of limitations run on your case, you may miss out on the opportunity to file a claim to hold your employer accountable. So, don’t wait! If you believe you have been wronged or treated unfairly by your employer, contact the attorneys at Clark Employment Law for a free consultation. It is important to find competent and experienced attorneys so that your discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or wrongful termination case can be filed on time and without procedural error. For a free consultation of your potential case, we invite you to call our dedicated attorneys.

Since 2013, Tyler F. Clark, the founder of Clark Employment Law, has been named as a Super Lawyers Employment Litigation Rising Star in Southern and/or Northern California. Since 2015, he has been named as a Top 100 Up-and-Coming Rising Star across all practice areas. He believes fair treatment in the workplace is every employee’s fundamental civil right and makes it his mission to help his clients achieve it. Mr. Clark leads the Los Angeles employment lawyers of Clark Employment Law in representing clients throughout California, including clients in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, Orange, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Kern, and all surrounding counties. Let us help you.

At-will employment, that is, employment having no specified term, may be terminated at the will of either party on notice to the other, with or without cause. However, it does not mean that an employer can discharge/terminate any employee for an illegal reason, which may involve violation of anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, anti-retaliation laws or a breach of employment contract. For example, an employee cannot be terminated on the basis of her or his physical or mental condition/disability, association with people with disability, pregnancy, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, race, color, national origins, age, religion, etc. It is also illegal to terminate an employee because they made complaints against the employer, or because the employee blew the whistle on what she/he believes to be illegal conduct by the employer.

It is illegal for California employers of five or more employees to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of her/his protected characteristics under the law. It is also illegal for California employers of five or more employees to retaliate against a job applicant or an employee because she or he has asserted her or his legal rights or engaged in other activities (for example, whistleblowing) that are protected under the law. Our employment attorneys can help Los Angeles employees assert their rights in these situations. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act also prohibits harassment based on a protected category against an employee or a job applicant. Harassment is prohibited in all workplaces, even those having fewer than five employees. California law protects individuals from illegal discrimination by employers based on the following categories: race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status. Employment discrimination happens when a member of a protected category is treated differently from other workers because of her/his protected characteristics.

If your employer employs five or more employees and you have a pregnancy disability, you may be entitled to reasonable accommodation, transfer, or up to 4 months of job-protected, unpaid pregnancy disability leave. This leave applies when you are actually disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. It can be taken intermittently or in form of a reduced work schedule. If you are disabled by pregnancy for more than 4 months, you may be eligible for extended leave as a reasonable accommodation for your disability, under the Fair Employment and Housing Act or Americans with Disabilities Act. It is illegal for your employer to terminate your employment because you are pregnant or because you request or take pregnancy disability leave.

If your employer has 50 or more employees working within a 75-mile radius, and you have actually worked for your employer for at least 1,250 hours during the past 12-month period immediately before the requested leave, you are covered by the provisions of FMLA and CFRA. Our employment attorneys can help Los Angeles workers ensure that they protect these rights. An eligible employee can take the CFRA/FMLA leave for one or more of the following reasons:

• You’re unable to work because of your own serious health condition;
• To care for a newborn child, newly adopted child, or care of a child newly placed in foster care;
• To care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.

If you are eligible for CFRA or FMLA leave and provide reasonable notice to your employer, it is unlawful for your employer to refuse to grant a CFRA leave, unless such refusal is justified by the permissible limitation otherwise specified under the law. After granting a requested CFRA or FMLA leave, it is also unlawful for your employer to refuse to reinstate you to the same or a comparable position at the end of your leave, unless (1) the employer can prove your employment would have ceased or hours would have been reduced even if you had not taken the CFRA/FMLA leave; (2) you are a “key employee,” meaning, you are among the highest paid 10 percent of employees within 75 miles of your worksite; or (3) your employer can prove that you fraudulently obtain or use the CFRA/FMLA leave.

An employment lawyer can help Los Angeles employees protect their rights to health benefits as well. If your employer provides health benefits under any group health plan, the employer has an obligation to continue providing such benefits during your CFRA/FMLA leave. Your employer must maintain and pay for your health coverage at the same level and under the same conditions as coverage would have been provided if you had not taken CFRA leave. This obligation starts on the first date of your CFRA leave for the duration of the leave, up to a maximum of 12 workweeks in a 12-month period.

Disability discrimination occurs when an employer treats a qualified employee or applicant unfavorably because s/he has a mental or physical disability or other medical conditions. It is also unlawful to treat a qualified employee or applicant less favorably because of a history of mental or physical disability, because of the employer’s belief that the employee may have a mental or physical disability, or because of the employee’s association/relationship with a person with a disability.

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act and other related regulations also requires an employer of five or more employees to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee or job applicant with a physical or mental disability, unless doing so would cause undue hardship, meaning, significant difficulty or expense, for the employer. It is unlawful for an employer to retaliate against an employee for seeking or taking reasonable accommodation for the employee’s mental or physical disabilities. In this situation, an employment attorney in Los Angeles can help an employee take legal action.

To determine what reasonable accommodation is possible or effective, the employer is required to engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with the employee or job applicant. This interactive process can clarify what job functions are essential, what accommodations are possible, and whether accommodating an employee with disability will be an “undue hardship” to the employer’s business operation. It is unlawful for an employer to fail to engage in a timely, good faith, interactive process in California.

Have you complained about safety issues, employees’ health, unsafe working conditions, or unlawful/unethical work practices in your place of employment? Have you raised any concern about your employer’s business or practice that you believe to be unlawful, fraudulent, or violating any governmental regulations? Have you refused to participate in an activity at work that you believe to be a violation of or noncompliance with a local, state or federal law, rule or regulation? If you answer yes to any of the foregoing questions, you might be a whistleblower that is subject to protections under various California laws. Our employment lawyers fight for Los Angeles residents who have blown the whistle on their employers.

It is the public policy of the State of California to encourage employees to notify an appropriate government or law enforcement agency, person with authority over the employee, or another employee with authority to investigate, discover, or correct the violation or noncompliance, and to provide information to and testify before a public body conducting an investigation, hearing or inquiry, when they have reasonable cause to believe their employer is violating a state or federal statute, or violating or not complying with a local, state, or federal rule or regulation. There are protections afforded to you if you are a whistleblower, or your employer believes you to be a whistleblower, who discloses information about the employer’s violation or noncompliance with a state or federal statute or a local, state or federal rule or regulation. It is illegal for your employer to retaliate against you, because it believes you blow the whistle. Your employer may be required to reinstate your employment and work benefits, pay lost wages, and take other steps necessary to comply with the law. An employment attorney in Los Angeles can help whistleblowers seek all their available remedies.

Defamation can have a serious and devastating impact on your future employment prospects. Workplace defamation can occur when an employer, manager, supervisor, or co-worker makes a false statement about you either in writing (libel) or verbally (slander) that caused damage to your character, reputation, or career. The impact of defamation can severely harm your career advancement, lead to job loss, and hurt your chances of finding another job. If you have been the victim of false or misleading statements spread by your employer, manager, supervisor, or co-worker, you may be entitled to legal recourse to recover your damages for any financial losses, emotional distress, and potentially punitive damages.

At Clark Employment Law, we know how much damage an act of defamation can cause your future advancement. Our Los Angeles employment attorneys have represented employees who were victims of defamation by their former supervisors/employers. Our lawyers have the experience and knowledge to stand up for you.