San Jose, California – Employment Attorney
Employers in California must comply with many laws. The most critical of these laws are anti-discrimination rules that are so often violated. The result is that employees suffer and are wrongfully demoted or terminated. The most common types of violations include sexual harassment and discrimination based on race, disability, age, religion and sexual orientation.
At Stephen Danz and Associates, our attorneys combined experience is over a hundred years. In law, the experience and knowledge of the attorney is what makes the difference to truly represent employees’ rights. As one of the premier law groups in San Jose and throughout California, we have the resources and specialization to adequately represent our clients and our passion and results in resolving workplace disputes speaks for itself. Join the thousands of others who have trusted our attorneys for decades. Our legal counselors are highly capable to handle complex employment lawsuits where private individuals utilize our unparalleled experienced and resources to bring forth their cases in local, state and federal courts.
The Following are Common Laws Employers Violate in San Jose, California:
What Law Protects Jurors and Witnesses in California?
(Labor Code Section 230)
This labor code prohibits discharge or other discrimination against an employee for taking time off from work to serve as a juror as long as the employee gives reasonable notice of the anticipated absence. It also prohibits discharge, or other discrimination, or retaliation against an employee for taking time off to appear in court to comply with a subpoena or other court order as a witness in any judicial proceeding. In addition, this section prohibits discharge, or other discrimination, or retaliation against an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, for taking time off from work to obtain any relief to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the employee or his or her child.
What Law Protects Labor Organization Affiliation?
(Labor Code Section 923)
This law includes the public policy of granting every worker “full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of his own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of his employment.” It has been interpreted to prohibit an employer from terminating an employee because of his or her union membership or activity. Courts have found that Labor Code section 923 permitted an individual employee to designate an attorney or other individual to represent him or her in negotiating terms and conditions of employment, and that discharge for doing so constitutes a violation of section 923. However, another court of appeal rejected an employee’s claim that the employer violated Labor Code section 923 by allegedly discharging the employee for requesting the presence of an attorney at performance evaluations.
Because the National Labor Relations Act gives exclusive jurisdiction of cases in which a covered employer wrongfully terminates an employee for union-related activities to the National Labor Relations Board, a state wrongful termination action based on Labor Code section 923 would be preempted, unless the NLRB for some reason declines to issue a complaint.
What Law Protects Medical Information Disclosure in the Employment Context?
(California Civil Code Section 56 et seq.)
Health care providers and employers must obtain a written authorization to disclose medical information about an individual, except in certain limited circumstances. This law provides that an employer may not discriminate against an employee for refusing to sign an authorization for such disclosure.
What Law Protects Military Duty by California Employees?
(Labor Code Section 394)
This law forbids discrimination against a member of the military or naval forces of California or the United States. It specifically prohibits employers from discriminating against any employee for “the performance of any ordered military duty or training.” Like the Fair Employment and Housing Act, section 394 allows servicemen and servicewomen plaintiffs to hold their employers, but not individual employees, liable for discrimination.
What Law Protects Employees’ Political Affiliation in California?
(Labor Code Section 1101)
This timely law prohibits employers from making or enforcing any policy which prevents employees from engaging in political activities or from running for public office, or which tends to control or direct the political activities or affiliations of employees. It forbids employers from attempting to coerce or influence employees’ political activities by means of threat of discharge.
What Law Protects Against Unlawful Polygraph Examinations?
(Labor Code Section 432.2)
This law forbids private employers from requiring employees or job applicants to take polygraph or similar tests as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer may request employees or applicants to take such tests voluntarily, as long as the employer provides written notice of the rights guaranteed by this law. Although public employees are specifically exempted from the provisions of this law, they are afforded similar protection from involuntary polygraph examinations by the privacy clause of the California Constitution.