California Labor and Employment Law

An Ode to Whistleblowers and the Law: Part II

Have you blown the whistle on illegal conduct at your workplace? If so, there are state and federal laws that could protect you from retaliation by your employer. For instance, the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 prohibits retaliation against employees of publicly-traded companies who (more…)

Popularity: 5%

An Ode to Whistleblowers and the Law: Part I

Wikipedia defines a “whistleblower” as a “person who publicly alleges concealed misconduct on the part of an organization or body of people, usually from within that same organization”. It takes a special person to be a whistleblower, to set aside their own self-interest in favor of what’s right, to stand alone (more…)

Popularity: 3%

LAPD Hit with $2.3 Mil. Sexual Harassment Jury Verdict

The LA Times reports in an article entitled “Jury awards $2.3 million in LAPD harassment case” that a federal jury has awarded a female police officer $2.3 million for sexual harassment and retaliation by members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division in 1996. Melissa Borck, et al., v. City of Los Angeles, et al. (more…)

Popularity: 10%

$3.4 Mil. Settlement is Latest Female College Coach Award

It seems female collegiate sports coaches have been long been getting the short end of the stick compared to their male counterparts, but that looks like it’s about to change. According to an article at News-press.com, "FGCU settles gender bias suit" , two former (more…)

Popularity: 10%

Shocker – U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Employees!

The U.S. Supreme Court has been decidedly anti-employee and pro-employer ever since Dubya-appointed Justices Roberts and Alito joined the bench. The Supreme Court’s infamous and awful Ledbetter v Goodyear ruling (and Congress’s voting down of the law intended to overturn Ledbetter) seemed to be clarion call (more…)

Popularity: 8%

Longshorewoman Wins $1.2 Million Jury Award for Retaliation

Fellow attorney Tony Luti reports a $1.2 million award to a longshorewoman in a retaliation lawsuit against her employer, Pacific Maritime Association. Plaintiff Catherine McCoy was a third generation dockworker who had worked the waterfront for 18 years. She and five other African-American women had filed a lawsuit against employer Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) in 1998. (more…)

Popularity: 11%

Teacher Wins $1.8 Million Jury Award for Wrongful Termination

Fellow attorney Mary-Alice Coleman reports a $1.8 million award to a teacher in a wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against her former employer, private school operator Phoenix Schools Inc. Jennifer (more…)

Popularity: 18%

Fresno State Women’s Basketball Coach Wins $19.1 Million Jury Award for Discrimination, Retaliation

The Sacramento Bee reports that a Fresno County Superior Court jury on Thursday awarded $19.1 million to former Fresno State women’s basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein.

Johnson-Klein had been fired mid-season after less than three seasons as the Bulldogs’ coach. The firing sparked intense (more…)

Popularity: 8%

And the Winner for Most Popular Discrimination Complaint in the US Is . . .

Ever wonder what the most popular discrimination complaint in the US is? According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the answer is racial discrimination / racial harassment. Following close behind are 2. sex discrimination / sexual harassment, 3. retaliation for making a discrimination complaint and 4. disability discrimination.

I’ve created the below chart from discrimination charge statistics published on the EEOC’s website. Because most people who file an EEOC charge list multiple types of discrimination, the total number of charges is actually less than what’s indicated, (more…)

Popularity: 13%

DLSE: Retaliated Employees Need Not File with State Labor Commissioner

There has been some confusion among federal and state courts in California as to whether an employee who has been the victim of whistleblower retaliation by their employer (under Cal. Labor Code s. 1102.5) must first file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner (under Cal. Labor Code s. 98.7) before they can proceed with filing a lawsuit in court. This is important because it potentially creates yet another hurdle for an (more…)

Popularity: 11%