Hanford Employment and Labor Lawyer

Your job is not only the way you bring income and provide for your family, but it can also be a place where you can contribute to a business, with your labor providing production and revenue to your employer. In return, your employer not only provides you with income, but would hopefully provide you with a safe and enriching work environment. After all, your contributions to the business are very important. Even with your contributions, your employer may still not provide you with everything you need to be a productive employee. Whether they foster a hostile work environment or violate any of your other workplace rights, Hanford workers have to know that they have legal protections in the workplace. Attorney Martin Gasparian and his firm, Maison Law, know how important your job is to you and your family. When your employer doesn’t provide you with what you need, contact us today for a free consultation.

What Types of Employment Laws Are There in California?

California, like all other states, has a number of laws that govern illegal activities in the workplace.  These legal protections range from being discriminated against because of your age, race, gender, or medical condition to how you’re paid. California provides such a level of legal protection for its employees that it enjoys the status as one of the most employee-friendly states in the nation. For our Hanford area clients, our team of dedicated employment lawyers have a wide range of experience in handling workplace issues in California. Among the types of employment claims our firm has successfully helped employees through include:

• Wrongful Termination
• Hostile Work Environment
• Discrimination/Retaliation
• Whistleblower Violations
• Wage and Hour Violations
• Violations of Employee Privacy
• Breach of Contract

No matter which area of the law your employer violated, our Hanford employment and labor lawyers can help you understand your legal rights and what you’ll have to do next to recover compensation. This starts with a free consultation, where we can assess the strengths and weaknesses of your case, and let you know what the next steps are for you.

What Does an Employment Law Case Look Like in Hanford?

When you decide to work with our Hanford employment lawyers, we can provide you with a basic roadmap of your claim. Among the most important things to remember is that filing a lawsuit against your employer won’t be easy. In most cases, they have vast resources and control of crucial evidence at their disposal. But you also have your truth, knowing what really happened that caused you to lose your job. Not only that, but our dedicated Hanford lawyers provide you with the crucial support and understanding you need to forge ahead. To that end, any employment case begins with two pivotal elements:

• Being protected under the law
• Your employer taking actions that break the law

No matter what industry you work in, as soon as you become employed in Hanford (or anywhere else in California), you are automatically protected by California’s workplace laws. This means that when your employer violates one of these laws, you can file a lawsuit against them for damages.

California Workplace Laws

• The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) – The FEHA is California’s main workplace law that prohibits discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination. Specificaily, it protects certain people in the workplace based on their age, gender, race, color, national origin, sex, disability, as well as other characteristics. When your employer begins to target you based on these characteristics or decides to fire you because of them, you can file a “wrongful termination” claim against your employer.
• Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) – The WPA is the main California law that protects “whistleblowers”, or those employees that report their employer’s illegal activities to the proper authorities. Much like the FEHA, the WPA prohibits retaliation from your employer because you reported them. Most of the time, you report unsafe or hazardous conditions in the workplace to one of California’s administrative bodies that are charged with enforcing workplace laws like the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), or Cal/OSHA.
• Wage and Hour Laws – California’s Labor Code specifically lays out how your employer must comply with wage and hour laws in the workplace. This means paying you a minimum wage, overtime pay, giving you meal and rest breaks, and classifying you correctly. When your employer breaks one of these laws, you can file a lawsuit to recover any lost or unpaid wages you have.
• Privacy Laws – California also has various protections regarding your privacy in the workplace. Your employer must disclose how they obtained and what they plan to do with your personal information like your social security number, medical records, and criminal history (if you have one). Further, it doesn’t allow your employer to record you in certain areas of the workplace, usually in places where you have an expectation of privacy (restrooms, closed offices, etc.)

Pre-Suit Litigation

The first step in any employment case is pre-suit litigation. This often involves filing a claim with one of the administrative agencies mentioned above. As enforcement agents of California’s workplace law, they have the power to:

• Subpoena pertinent documents.
• Conduct investigations into the workplace behavior and policies.
• Issue rulings and orders to your employer making them change problematic conduct.

Once the agency issues their ruling, they will also issue a closing order and “right to sue” letter. This officially closes your claim and will allow you to proceed to filing a lawsuit in civil court for monetary compensation.

Litigation

Once we file your complaint in civil court, the litigation phase of your case will begin. The first major hurdle of filing a lawsuit is filing it within the “statute of limitations”, which is a legally mandated time frame in which you can file your lawsuit. In California, statutes of limitations for employment law claims can range from two to four years from the date of your employer’s illegal action, depending on the type of claim. Failing to file within the statute of limitations means you can’t bring a claim for damages, so it’s important to meet with our team as soon as possible to make sure you have plenty of time. Even when your case gets filed, litigation takes an extensive amount of patience. The litigation phase can take months, or even years, to complete. Still, the vast majority of cases resolve much sooner. Further, your case could resolve at any time. Most of the time, the reason litigation takes so long is because of the “discovery” process.  In discovery, both sides formally request information and documents through:

• Written questions, known as interrogatories
• Gather testimony in depositions
• Subpoena records and other documents to be used as evidence at trial.

Once your case is filed, the judge that presides over it will issue a “scheduling order” early on in the case that provides a trial date and various deadlines for discovery, witness identification, and deadlines to file and argue motions.

Resolution

As the litigation phase winds down, you’ll likely enter court-mandated mediation. This typically comes a few weeks before trial, and offers an opportunity for both sides to meet and mediate the matter with all of the evidence acquired up to that point. Both sides present before an impartial mediator, who then presents both cases to the opposing side. While your case could settle at mediation, if it doesn’t, it is likely to proceed to trial. Our lawyers have a great deal of experience in working cases up to their maximum value for our clients. Whether through trial or mediation, your case can settle at any time. That’s why we will give your case the special attention it deserves, so that you can recover full and fair compensation for your family.

How Much Is My Hanford Employment Case Worth?

Again, every case is unique, so it’s difficult to place a general value on an employment claim. However, the worth of your particular case usually involves the evidence you have, the amount of lost wages you have, and the overall egregiousness of your employer’s actions. Under California law, you can pursue compensation in the form of damages from your employer, which usually include the following:

• Lost wages
• Loss of benefits
• Back pay
• Damages relating to pain and suffering
• Damages relating to emotional distress
• Damages relating to loss of dignity

Every lawsuit is a gamble, no matter how strong your case may seem. That’s why it’s important to work with our experienced Hanford employment lawyers. We have a proven track record of success in these claims, and can give you the best chance at recovering compensation.

Work With Dedicated Hanford Employment Lawyers

No employee wants to have to be put in the position where they have to file a lawsuit against their employer, especially when you’re just trying to make a living for your family. Unfortunately, there are times when this is necessary. We provide a client-specific approach to each case, and all of our clients receive the support and validation it takes to hold their employer accountable. To get started with a free consultation, contact us today.