Illegal workplace Discrimination and harassment discrimination in employment is prohibited if it is motivated by:

• Disability (mental and physical, including
• HIV and AIDS
• Medical condition (including cancer or
  genetic characteristics)
• Age (40 and above)
• Ancestry
• Color
• Religion
• Sex or gender
• Sexual orientation
• Marital status
• Race
• National origin
• Job Termination Due to Use of the Family
• Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Pregnancy

Under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), California’s main employment discrimination law, claims generally must be filed with Department of Fair Employment and Housing within one year of the alleged discrimination. For this reason you should never let an employment issue linger. Failing to protect your workplace rights may cause you to miss out on your chance to obtain justice.

Do I need an attorney? While you can file a claim on your own, there are many reasons why it is in your best interests to consult an employment law attorney before you file a discrimination claim.

To speak to a California Fair Employment and Housing Act lawyer, call We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis with no upfront costs. Se habla espanol.

Workplace Disability Discrimination

Our California disability discrimination lawyers handle many cases of disability discrimination in employment, failures to accommodate disabling conditions, jobs not left open during periods of disability, and employment terminations on the basis of actual or perceived disabilities. If you have questions about whether an unfair employment decision may have been made due to your actual or perceived disability, contact our workplace disability discrimination lawyers at 805-200-0100 or Ventura Employment Disability Lawyer for a complete description of disability discrimination cases.

Workplace disability laws prevent employers from firing employees, failing to accommodate them, or harassing them on the basis of actual or perceived disabilities. Disabilities are medical conditions of a permanent or long lasting nature. Workplace disability discrimination is about disabilities that prevent employees from working or otherwise engaging in major life activities.

Physical Disabilities include conditions such as a bad knee that prevents an employee from standing and any inabilities to perform major life activities due to impairment. Sometimes physical disabilities are caused by medical conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, cerebral palsy, Graves Disease, thyroid disorders, multiple sclerosis, cancer, Lynch Syndrome, Marfans Syndrome, or HIV status.

Mental disabilities refer to longstanding mental diagnosis of a chemical nature. Employees who suffer from major depression, a bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or anxiety disorders deserve reasonable accommodations. Short term psychological conditions may be protected by the Family Medical Leave Act.CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT AND WORKPLACE LEAVES OF ABSENCE.

Perceived disabilities relate to employers believing an employee is disabled and/or cannot perform a job function. Sometimes the employee’s disability does not present the limitations the employer believes to exist. Discrimination based on perceived disability is often based upon stereotyping, ignorance, and outdated notions. We have handled numerous disability discrimination cases in which the employee’s doctor cleared them to work, or wrote specific notes indicating the employer’s notions were incorrect, but the employer continued to mistreat the employee based upon perceptions about their medical conditions, or medical conditions the employee did not even have.

Pregnancy Discrimination Lawyers

Our firm has handled many pregnancy discrimination cases including jury trials and binding arbitrations. We have also successfully won appeals on pregnancy discrimination issues following our jury trial wins. Representing women who were the victims of pregnancy discrimination is something we take great pleasure doing.

Issues in pregnancy discrimination cases involve employers failing to accommodate pregnancy related medical restrictions (often doctor’s notes), failure to reinstate women to their jobs following their maternity leaves, women being fired from their jobs right before their maternity leave is to begin, and pregnancy harassment. Pregnancy harassment often involves supervisors refusing to abide by doctor’s notes, employees making fun of pregnant women for wanting to follow their doctor’s restrictions, or passing religious or moral judgment on women who are pregnant and sometimes not married.

For more information on pregnancy discrimination CLICK HERE PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION or call our Ventura County pregnancy discrimination lawyers at 805-200-0100 for a confidential conversation with our employee law firm.

Protected Characteristics at Work

Mean, unfair and inequitable treatment by supervisors and others in the workplace is unfortunately common across many industries and occupations. If you have been called names, made a target of jokes, exploited sexually, denied promotion or been threatened in some way, you may understandably wonder when this type of treatment rises to the level of illegal workplace harassment and/or discrimination.

A critical factor in many potential employment claims is whether you are a member of a legally "protected class" and targeted based on protected characteristics. This area of the law is not well understood by the general public, and state and federal laws differ in some critical respects. In view of both these sets of employment statutes, protected characteristics include:

• Race and national origin
• Age, if over 40
• Disability and serious medical conditions
• Gender
• Religion
• Sexual orientation
• Pregnancy

Race Discrimination by California Employers

California far surpasses every U.S. state except Hawaii in its racial diversity, but race discrimination by employers remains a serious and pervasive problem throughout our state. At the Employment Lawyers Group, we are prepared to evaluate all forms of unlawful workplace harassment and discrimination and take decisive action to recover just compensation.

Protections Cover Hiring, Harassment, Working Conditions, Equal Pay and More

Defining race itself is sometimes a challenge, especially given that complex genetic distinctions are involved and many acts of discrimination are based on other protected characteristics such as national origin and religion. However, black, Hispanic and Asian workers are the most frequent victims of acts driven by race discrimination, includi

Failure to hire job applicants or promote workers because of their race

Racial harassment, including subjection to racial and ethnic slurs

• Requiring job applicants to provide their race as part of the application-and-hiring process
• Subjection of workers to unfair or inequitable conditions based on their race or ethnicity
• Retaliation against a worker for reporting race discrimination, including wrongful termination or creation of intolerable conditions that may force resignation

Within the last few years, we have also seen a number of "reverse discrimination" cases, including those of workers who are not Asian being terminated, workers who are not Hispanic are terminated or given less desirable work, and a range of other reversed  discrimination problems at work.

We understand that the pain and stress of working where racism is tolerated can be overwhelming. Employers are required by law not only to refrain from engaging in or promoting race discrimination and racial harassment, but also to take action to stop racism at work.

Speaking out and taking action to expose racial discrimination takes courage. We support people who do so with the full weight of our knowledge and resources. Your situation may call for first steps including the filing of a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). Our Ventura County Race Discrimination Lawyers can advise you on the action likely to be most effective for you.

Have You Suffered Race Discrimination in the Workplace?

Our attorneys thoroughly investigate employment discrimination cases and build them for trial if needed. We stand always willing to go the distance to recover compensation for lost income, emotional distress and other damages.

To discuss whether you have a valid racial discrimination claim in Ventura County, or elsewhere in California, call our workplace discrimination law firm at today. We handle all employment claims on a "no fee if there is no recovery" basis. Se habla espanol.

National Origin Discrimination

Immigrants from many nations and U.S. citizens of nearly every ethnic background are essential contributors to California companies. Sadly, however, workers who look, speak or dress differently than what is perceived as the "norm" often face harassment and discrimination that hold them back financially and create severe emotional stress.

Your national origin along with your ethnic background, religion and more are protected characteristics under both United States (Federal) and California state employment laws. This means that you may well have a valid claim or lawsuit, with the potential to recover substantial damages from your employer, if you suffer discrimination or harassment based on your nationality.

Employment discrimination based on national origin affects people of many different backgrounds. Sometimes the perpetrators themselves are not whites of European descent. Historically, numerous prominent lawsuits have been brought by the EEOC and private law firms on behalf of people of Mexican or other Hispanic descent, Chinese or other Asian descent, and individuals from other backgrounds. Today, people from Middle Eastern nations such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia are increasingly mistreated at work as well. We recently represented an Oxnard car salesman from Jordan who was the target of numerous anti-Arab, alleged terrorist jokes even though he was Christian. That is an example of discriminatory stereotyping.

We have seen a number of cases in which Mexicans mistreat Salvadorians, Latin Americans mistreat Central American workers they believe are too vocal on employee rights issues, Koreans mistreat Mexicans, and Americans are mistreated by immigrant employers. Some of these cases may qualify as reversed discrimination.

Has Your Ethnic Background, or Nationality Caused You to Suffer at Work?

Discriminatory employment situations that call for a consultation with a proven California employment discrimination lawyer such as our founder Karl Gerber include:

• Being wrongfully fired or denied promotion because of your national origin or heritage
• Being fired or forced to quit for reporting discrimination, filing a complaint or cooperating with an investigation
• Subjection to a pattern of offensive or unfair treatment often including name-calling, circulation of offensive e-mails or documents, and more that is tolerated or encouraged by your employer

Put Legal Knowledge, Experience and Commitent on Your Side

Our founding attorney Karl Gerber has handled many cases with elements of national origin discrimination among more than 1,500 matters resolved favorably since 1993. If you have a valid, significant case, Mr. Gerber and our entire legal team are here to help you get the compensation you deserve by the most viable and efficient path available.

To request a consultation, call 877-525-0700 toll free or send us an e-mail inquiry today. We have Spanish speakers available and the ability to accommodate and represent people of any national origin and any field of employment, statewide in California.

Is It Time to Consult a Knowledgeable, Caring California Employment Lawyer?

Karl Gerber and our firm attorneys want to know what happened to you. We are exceptionally qualified to determine whether employer actions have violated laws prohibiting sexual harassment, race discrimination or retaliation for filing a lawful complaint or reporting illegal activities. Our lawyers have practiced employment law for years and handled many employment lawsuits.

The severity of what you have suffered and its consequences also matter.  Our Ventura County sexual harassment lawyers focus on handling cases of pervasive, harmful harassment that makes people's working lives intolerable forces them to quit or ends in wrongful termination when they speak out.

For action oriented Representation for Seriously Harassed Workers Call 805-200-0100

At the Employment Lawyers Group, we thoroughly evaluate many types of job harassment claims and take action for people across the cultural spectrum of life in California. We will provide honest, informed guidance on whether your claim is worth pursuing and how much we believe it is worth, based on experience handling more than 1,500 previous employment actions.

Our discrimination attorneys can evaluate your case anywhere in Southern California, statewide, including communities from Santa Clarita and San Fernando to Anaheim or Corona, Lancaster to Inglewood and points between. In Ventura County we have a waterside office in Oxnard. We also maintain an office in Sherman Oaks, downtown Los Angeles, Gardena, Tustin, and Bakersfield.

Focused, knowledgeable employment lawyers at our firm will consult with you. If we believe in your case we will provide skilled representation on a full contingency basis. Se habla espanol.

Your Ventura County job discrimination lawyers can be reached at 805-200-0100

Ventura County Workplace Discrimination

We know Job Discrimination Laws because we are your Ventura County job discrimination lawyers. Employment lawyers are labor lawyers and we are employment and labor lawyers. Do not be fooled by firms who claim they handle employment law, but only handle one type of employee lawsuit. Do not be fooled by lawyers who claim they are labor lawyers, but will not sue for retaliation under California Labor Code Section 1102.5. Being a labor lawyer doesn't mean hanging out for the next big unpaid overtime class action. Being a labor lawyer means representing labor, not just an executive suing for age discrimination in the workplace. We handle all employment cases and represent all levels of employees from minimum wage restaurant workers to executed paid seven-figure salaries.

The Employment Lawyers Group cares about the workforce. We care about employee rights and that is why we do not charge job discrimination victims any money up front. We believe in the job discrimination cases we take so we take the cases on a contingency which means we only get paid a legal fee if we win. Work discrimination is terrible so we advance the court costs to file lawsuits over work discrimination. Yes, we put our money where our mouth is.

Discrimination on the job may be actionable. Call 805-200-0100 to talk to a discrimination lawyer about employment laws.

We know employment laws because we are employment law attorneys. We practice one area of law; employee representation. We do not represent employers sometimes, employees at other times. We do not handle family law, immigration, personal injury, or anything other than workplace employment cases for employees.

We know what workplace harassment is because we have handled hundreds of workplace harassment cases. We know what wrongful termination because we have handled more than 1,000 wrongful termination cases.

Firm owner, Karl Gerber, feels strongly about sexual harassment Men and women should not experience sexual harassment at work. Nonetheless, hostile work environments based on gender, sex, or sexual favors continue to exist. Some sexual harassment cases are about power. Other sexual harassment cases are about sex. Harassment at work does not always stop because the employee complains of harassment at work. To find out what the next step is if you have complained of harassment at work, call 805-200-0100 a Ventura County Employment Lawyer.

Labor attorneys and employment law firms are not all alike. Many lawyers for discrimination are inexperienced. Many labor attorneys are unwilling to pursue your work discrimination case in court. An employment discrimination lawyer who will not pursue your case in court is not likely to get results on a workplace discrimination case. Our employment discrimination lawyers will pursue all angles of your case in the judicial system.

Make the right decision and call an employment discrimination lawyer who cares about discrimination laws. Job discrimination laws are only as good as the attorney using them.

805-200-0100 for Ventura County labor attorneys who care about job discrimination laws, gender discrimination, the definition of discrimination, and who won't tell you to file an EEOC complaint. EEOC complaints are for people who do not know discrimination laws. Experienced job discrimination lawyers do not recommend the EEOC that pursues weaker Federal job discrimination laws than the state job discrimination laws.