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Severance decisions are complicated for workers and employers, so we suggest you contact an experienced attorney; schedule your free initial consultation today.

Under California law, it is unlawful to terminate an employee if a substantial motivating factor for the termination was prejudice based on a legally recognized characteristic or activity. Protected classes include age, race, national origin, religion, disability, or gender, while protected activity often relates to whistleblower conduct.

Class Action and PAGA Lawsuits

We file and defend group claims including class actions and “PAGA” claims (i.e., Private Attorney General Act). We've been approved as class counsel by many California and federal courts and have resolved millions of dollars of group claims.

Both harassment and discrimination relate to some form of prejudice, but discrimination refers to a specific job-related decision that was motivated by inappropriate bias. Harassment involves other mistreatment.

One of the biggest differences between employees and independent contractors is that independent contractors never have the right to overtime pay while many employees do.

Most workers are presumed to be employees and have a right to be treated as an employee instead of an independent contractor. For both the company and worker, there's a major difference between employee and independent contractor status.

California has detailed rules regarding meal breaks for employees. Employees have a right to take an uninterrupted meal period of at least thirty (30) minutes for every five (5) hours worked.