San Francisco, California – Employment Attorneys
Our attorneys are often asked by clients to explain discrimination and incidents of hostile work environment. In addition, each of these laws also includes a protection against retaliation for reporting the laws to state agencies or law enforcement. When such a report is made, employers may not retaliate against employees by taking such actions such as demotion or termination (or even causing fear of termination). When employers make it unbearable for employees to continue working, this is often called constructive termination and is outlawed.
Stephen Danz and Associates prides itself of standing up for justice in California for over four decades. We are a California law firm with attorneys representing plaintiff employees in most of the state’s major cities. Our attorneys cover cities in Northern California and Southern California as the State’s courts are as specialized and diverse as the State’s landscape. In San Francisco, California, our employment lawyers are highly specialized and handle complex employment lawsuits where private individuals trust us to bring forth their cases in local, state and federal courts.
What Accommodations are Provided under the Accommodation for Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation?
Labor Code section 1025 provides that any private employer regularly employing 25 or more employees must “reasonably accommodate” any employee who wishes to enter an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program, as long as such accommodation does not impose any “undue hardship” on the employer. If an employee’s rights under section 1025 are violated, he or she may file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner. Section 1025 does not require an employer to hire or to continue employing an employee who is unable to properly perform his or her duties or cannot perform the duties without endangering the health and safety of the employee or others because of alcohol or drug abuse.
What Accommodations are available to Employees under Accommodation for Illiteracy Laws?
The Employee Literacy Education Assistance Act requires private employers who regularly employ 25 or more employees to reasonably accommodate and assist any employee who reveals a problem of illiteracy and requests employer assistance in enrolling in an adult literacy education program, provided that the reasonable accommodation does not impose an undue hardship on the employer. An employee who reveals a problem of illiteracy and who satisfactorily performs his or her work may not be subject to termination of employment because of the disclosure of illiteracy.
What Restrictions on Employers Are Created by Arrest Record Laws?
An employer may not obtain or seek from any source or use either information concerning any of the following, whether the information concerns a criminal or a juvenile offense:
- An arrest or detention that did not result in conviction.
- A referral to and participation in any pretrial or posttrial diversion program.
- A conviction that has been judicially dismissed or ordered sealed.
The employer also may not use the information as a factor in determining any condition of employment, including, among other things, hiring and termination. This must be construed broadly.
What Laws Protect Disclosure or Assignment of Inventions as Condition of Employment?
Under Labor Code section 2870, any provision in an employment agreement that requires an employee to assign his or her rights in an invention to his or her employer is unenforceable if the employee developed the invention on his or her own time, without use of the employer’s facilities, equipment, supplies, or trade secret information. Such an agreement is not void, however, if (1) the invention relates to the employer’s business, or (2) the invention results from work performed for the employer.
What Protections Are Afforded under Discrimination for Seeking Unemployment Insurance Information?
Unemployment Insurance Code section 1237 prohibits any business entity from discharging or otherwise discriminating against any person because such individual has (1) sought information from the Employment Development Department concerning his or her rights under either the Unemployment Insurance Code or the Labor Code, (2) has cooperated with any investigation undertaken by the department, or (3) has testified or is about to testify in any proceeding under the Unemployment Insurance Code or Labor Code.
What Is Discrimination Against Injured Workers?
Labor Code section 132a prohibits discrimination against any employee, including discharge or threats to discharge, because the employee has (1) filed or plans to file a workers’ compensation claim, (2) received a rating, award, or settlement, or (3) testified or will testify in another employee’s proceedings. Because the preface to this law states a public policy prohibiting discrimination against injured workers, the statute has been interpreted broadly to prohibit discriminatory conduct not specifically enumerated in its provisions. The statute is not the exclusive remedy for persons discharged in violation of its provisions: remedies under Government Code section 12940(a) and common law remedies are available to employees for discrimination based on a disability created by a workplace injury.
What Protections Are Afforded to Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault Victims?
An employer with 25 or more employees may not discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking for taking time off from work to seek treatment or participate in safety planning, including relocation. Employers must inform each new hire and other employees on request of these rights in writing on a form developed by the Labor Commissioner.