Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

Nike Sued for Wage and Hour Violations in California

May 18, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

Nike is being sued for violating wage and hour laws within the state of California. The case was filed as a putative class complaint. Many Nike employees could become part of the class action claim against the company for failing to pay wages as required under California law.

There are many protections in place under state and federal law to ensure every employee is paid a fair wage in the state of California. An Orange County employment lawyer can provide assistance to those who are not paid at least minimum wage, who are not paid required overtime or who are otherwise deprived by their employers of money they earned. Continue Reading ›

A Look at Factory Worker Conditions in LA

May 15, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

We often hear about the working conditions for factory workers in countries like China where those making cellphones for American consumers live in company dorms that allegedly have nets over the building to prevent workers from jumping out windows in suicide attempts. These suicide attempts are allegedly related to the poor working conditions for workers who are taken far away from home and their families.

While conditions are not generally considered this bad in America, at least not in the past 50 years or so, according to a recent news article from Racked, factory conditions for workers in Los Angeles are worse than we might think. The article focuses on stories of several workers. Continue Reading ›

Report: Employees Demonstrate at LA County Sanitation Districts HQ

May 14, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news report from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, more than 200 workers at the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts were present for a major demonstration. They were carrying picket signs and chanting about management and the rights they are fighting for, but this was not a strike. While we typically associate picket signs and workers’ rights chants with a strike or even a work slowdown, we are seeing more and more of these demonstrations where workers will express their concerns and then go back to work.

The concern for these sanitation workers is coming to a boil as talks are ongoing that may affect their paychecks. The picketing workers included wastewater plant employees, supervisors, IT specialists, and engineers. The rally was the first for this agency, as they have not had many issues involves disgruntled employees in the past. However, these workers do have considerable power should there ever be a strike, as they are responsible for the sanitation needs of nearly 6 million people in nearly 80 cities and unincorporated parts of the county. Continue Reading ›

Department Store Workers Avoid Strike

May 13, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news article from CNN Money, workers at a major department store chain have managed to avoid a strike when it seemed like the situation had turned hopeless in terms of reaching a deal with management.

Before we get to the actual dispute in this situation, much of the trouble stems from a shift from people shopping in so-called brick and mortar stores to online shopping with giants such as Amazon. There is no question that the retail market is changing, and that will mean big changes for the employers and employees at department stores. However, the changes go much further than that, as even the shopping malls that typically house these large anchor stores, as they are often called, are also closing as less people go out to the mall these days. Continue Reading ›

Terminated D.C. Metro Workers Sue for Discrimination

May 12, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

The Washington, D.C. metro transit system operated by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has been in the news a lot in the past decade, and none of it has been for positive reasons. We have seen reports of trains crashing and people injured and killed and a train trapped in a smoke-filled tunnel that caused the death of one victim. We have seen reports of workers injured or killed, and numerous safety violations, as well as a seemingly never-ending barrage of accusations of financial mismanagement.

In yet another recent news article for the Washington Post, we learn that five fired metro track workers are now suing WMATA on various claims, including discrimination and the creation of a hostile work environment. These workers had all been employed in the transit systems track inspection department. Two of these plaintiffs were track walkers and two of them were department supervisors. The last employee was a maintenance engineer. Continue Reading ›

Facebook Aims to Hire 3,000 Workers to Fight “Streaming Violence”

May 10, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

Since Facebook introduced its live stream feature on its incredibly popular social media application, people have been recording many different aspects of their daily lives and posting them to their Facebook walls. In some of these cases, we see people ranting about politics, or perhaps someone will post a video of himself or herself driving in traffic with a smartphone camera sitting on the dashboard.

In addition to these common variety live feed posts (which can be watched at any time later as well), there has been an alarming trend of people being beaten, kidnapped and even killed that have been posted on Facebook and watched by millions. There have also been several suicide attempts or actual suicides posted on the social media site. Continue Reading ›

U.S. House Votes on Bill That Could End Overtime Pay

May 8, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

For many Americans who struggle to get enough hours at their jobs, the chance to work overtime is welcomed. The reason for this is that being paid time and a half for any hours over 40 in a given week means a bigger paycheck.

However, there are those who are not looking to work overtime, because that takes away time from their families and may interfere with their ability to work second or even third jobs, as this is an unfortunate reality for many workers these days, because a single job will not pay enough to let a person take care of themselves and their families.

For these people, the fact that they will be earning overtime pay helps to ease that burden and makes it more palatable. However, according to a recent report from CNN, the U.S. House has just passed a bill that would allow employers to not pay overtime. Continue Reading ›

Hospital Workers in Orange County Picket for Improved Working Conditions

May 6, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news article from OC Weekly, workers at a major regional hospital were wearing red shirts with their union logo and holding picket signs. Their goal was to bring public attention to what they consider poor working conditions. The main complaint brought by the picketers was that their employer is using part-time labor and on-call staff to get around paying fair wages to the permanent health care staff.

At this worker demonstration, there were hundreds of employees gathered with picket signs. They also say that part-time employees are being hired and are being required to work full-time hours, but are not getting full-time employee benefits. Essentially, the claim is that the employer is acting improperly and unfairly toward the full-time staff and the new part-time hires. They also argue the part-time employment plan is not good for workers or the patients. They argue that having a dedicated full-time staff that is treated well is the proper thing to do. Continue Reading ›

Report: More Airline Employees Face Possible Discipline for Passenger Interactions

May 2, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

When a man who refused to give up his seat on a full plane was allegedly rough handled by security and dragged off the plane, the public became enthralled with the story. There were campaigns to boycott the legacy carrier and a seemingly endless supply of memes. This all came about as a result of the alleged incident being captured by a passenger on his or her smartphone video camera.

These days, it seems there are cameras everywhere. While there may have been witnesses describing such an event to a news reporter in the past, nothing sparks the public interest and, in this case, outrage more than a video clip of the incident on one’s Facebook feed or on a news organization’s web feed.

This can be used as critical evidence when an employee’s job is on the line. However, it’s important to remember that sometimes clips can be taken out-of-context. That alone doesn’t necessarily mean wrongful termination occurred. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act protects workers from wrongful termination, but California is still an at-will employment state.

Workplace Sexual Harassment Awareness Higher Than Ever

April 29, 2017 | by Nassiri Law

When Title VII passed in 1964, it banned gender discrimination at work. However, it wasn’t until 1975 that activists at Cornell University coined the phrase, “sexual harassment.” And still, it wasn’t until around the early 1990s, when law professor Anita Hill accused Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her when they worked together. That didn’t stop Thomas’ nomination from being confirmed, but that same year, the Civil Rights Act was amended to allow victims in those cases to seek both compensatory and punitive damages. The number of sexual harassment cases skyrocketed.

Twenty-six years later, allegations of sexual harassment brought down one of the most powerful men in cable news – Bill O’Reilly. Of course, it took years and numerous allegations from many women.

But even before then, in late 2016, Anita Hill spoke out to CBS News, in response to the infamous Access Hollywood Trump tape, Hill said women have been saying for decades that sexual harassment is real and it is a problem. The revelation didn’t stop Trump from being elected. However, the incident did spur a national discussion. Then there was Roger Ailes, the former Fox chairman who was ousted amid numerous allegations of sexual harassment from high-profile female anchors and staffers. When the latest allegation arose against Bill O’Reilly, advocates say it brought sexual harassment “to the tipping point of public attention.” Continue Reading ›