Category: Employment Law

An African-American Los Angeles Firefighter was served dog food by fellow employees. Upon complaining of this reprehensible and hurtful behavior to his supervisors, he was subjected to “verbal slurs, insults (and) derogatory remarks.” Firefighter Tennie Pierce sued the City of Los Angeles and for this degradation and settled his case against them this week for $2.7 Million. The Los Angeles City Council approved the settlement in an 11-1 vote. Amazingly, this lawsuit is just one of a string of recent employment harassment suits against the City of Los Angeles Fire Department. The Press-Enterprise reports that last month, the city awarded $220,000 to a firefighter who said he… Read More

California law states that for those of you in the private sector who are required by your employer to wear uniforms, such uniforms must be paid for and maintained by your employer. This rule does not apply to government workers. Most California Industrial Wage Commission (IWC) wage orders state that “When uniforms are required by the employer to be worn by the employee as a condition of employment, such uniforms shall be provided and maintained by the employer. The term ‘uniform’ includes wearing apparel and accessories of distinctive design or color.’” Are you paying for, and maintaining (i.e., paying for the bill… Read More

FYI, California law requires employers to pay employees who resign with 72 hours advance notice, or who are involuntarily terminated, all wages due immediately upon discharge.  Employees who quit without notice must be paid within 72 hours. The California Supreme Court in Smith v. Superior Court (2006) 39 Cal. 4th 77, held that an employee who works only for a specific term of employment, such as one day or one week, has been “discharged” within the meaning of the California Labor Code such that “the wages earned and unpaid at the time of discharge are due and payable immediately.”  This situation usually arises when… Read More

I know it’s hard to believe but sometimes employees get cheated by their boss! Big companies, as well as small, have a responsibility to follow the law. This means that under certain circumstances they must pay overtime, provide meal breaks and rest periods, reimburse you for money that you have laid out for required uniforms, pay you for travel time and, depending on the circumstances, cannot take back commissions paid to you if a sale is canceled. This is just a small sampling of the obligations that your employer (or former employer) has to you as their employee — more… Read More