Reporting unfair treatment at work in California should begin with a complaint or report to your supervisor or the company’s human resources department. This gets your report on the record, and will force your employer to take corrective action to fix the problem or they may take no action, in which case you can file a formal complaint with one of California’s administrative bodies or a lawsuit.
When your employer decides to treat you-or anyone else-unfairly at work, it can be seriously destructive of morale. Not only that, but this unfair treatment is very likely to be illegal. This means that reporting the illegal activity is only the first step in the process. When the treatment rises to the level of unlawful, it becomes a legal issue that employers have to fix.
Contact Maison Law For a Free Consultation
Understanding your rights as an employee can help you recognize when unfair treatment in the workplace becomes illegal. The best way to do that is to contact the experienced team of California employment lawyers at Maison Law. Our founder, Martin Gasparian, can help ensure that your voice is heard. To learn more about our process, contact us for a free consultation.
California Law and Unfair Treatment in the Workplace
Understanding what unfair treatment is and is not is very important when trying to understand what rights you have as an employee. After all, not every instance of unfair treatment in the workplace rises to the level of illegal.
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) is the main California law that protects workers from unfair treatment in the workplace. Obviously, there can be a great deal of variation when looking at the basic definition of an unfair treatment. In the interest of full understanding, here are the core parts of what exactly makes unfair treatment illegal:
- The treatment or conduct must be unwelcome.
- The unfair treatment is motivated by your protected characteristics (age, race, gender, sex, disability, etc.)
- The unfair treatment must be severe or pervasive, meaning that the treatment keeps occurring over and over again despite attempts to stop it.
- The unfair treatment is interfering with your ability to do your job, or is such that it fosters an environment of intimidation and abuse.
- A reasonable person would consider the treatment to be hostile or unfair.
When all five of these components are present, it is extremely likely that you’re experiencing unlawful unfair treatment. Still, there are some common ways in which unfair treatment manifests itself in California workplaces.
What Does Unfair Treatment Look Like in California?
Unfair treatment in the workplace can take many forms. In general though, unfair treatment usually occurs in retaliation for your reporting wrongdoing to human resources, management, authorities or seeking legal counsel. Common examples of unfair treatment include:
- Being fired from your position
- Being demoted
- Being denied a promotion
- Being harassed
- Being excluded from staff meetings, training exercises, or other activities available to other employees
- Being given undesirable work assignments
- Having your pay or hours cut
- Being written-up for unwarranted reasons
- Receiving negative performance reviews
Suffering unfair treatment in the workplace is obviously very stressful. Worse yet, your employer can prey on that, knowing that your reporting of their unlawful treatment puts a target on your back. That’s why you should understand your rights and what mechanisms are in place for you to report unfair treatment.
Reporting Unfair Treatment At Work in California
Just because there are laws against unfair treatment doesn’t prevent them from occurring. Oftentimes, unfair treatment presents gradually, first with innocuous comments, then increasing to consistent retaliatory actions. It’s important to understand that dealing with unfair treatment has two basic cycles: during employment and after the employment is ended.
Registering a Complaint With Your Employer
When you recognize that you’re suffering unfair treatment at work, generally the best course of action they can take is registering a formal complaint with either your supervisor, management, or with the human resources department. This initiates the process and serves a number of functions, including:
- Puts your employer on notice that the unfair treatment is occurring.
- Reinforces the fact that your employer has a legal responsibility to take action regarding the unfair treatment.
- Allows the employer to correct the unfair treatment.
- Shows the employer that you’re willing to stand up for yourself.
In order to be fully effective, it helps if the complaint is written and submitted via proper procedure. Above all, it must be professional, respectful, helpful, concise, and illustrative of the protected characteristic that is motivating the unwelcome behavior in the first place.
Filing Complaints With California’s Administrative Bodies
There are a number of different administrative bodies that are charged with enforcing federal and state law in the workplace. While these administrative agencies don’t have the authority to recover monetary damages for you, they can still investigate your claims and make a ruling that forces your employer to stop the unfair treatment. Getting started means filing a complaint with one of the following administrative agencies:
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commision (EEOC)
- United States Department of Labor (DOL)
- California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE)
These agencies can set the table for your claim and your potential lawsuit by demonstrating evidence and having a ruling on record that confirms your treatment was unfair and illegal.
After Your Employment Has Ended
One way or the other, suffering unfair treatment in the workplace is likely to end your employment. Whether the treatment forces you to quit-known as “constructive discharge”- or you end up being fired, California’s legal protections will come into play.
When an employer terminates, or otherwise retaliates against you for reporting unfair treatment, they will have broken the law.
At that point, our team of experienced California employment lawyers can consult with you about your legal options, which could include filing a lawsuit for damages. If successful, you can recover:
- Lost wages
- Back pay
- Restitution for loss of benefits
- Costs related to emotional distress, pain and suffering, and mental anguish.
Work With Experienced California Employment Lawyers
Not every employer takes their responsibility to uphold the law seriously. When your employer treats you unfairly to the point it breaks the law, Maison Law is here to help. If you have been subjected to unfair treatment and would like to set up a free consultation to discuss your options, contact us today.
