A woman stands apart, thinking, while two colleagues shake hands in the background of an office

Practice area

Workplace discrimination

Discrimination is not always loud. It can be the promotion that keeps going to someone else, the pay gap no one explains, or the schedule that only changes for you.

Overview

State and federal law make it illegal to treat workers worse because of a protected trait. California's law reaches most employers with five or more employees, which covers many small businesses that federal law does not.

Discrimination can show up in hiring, pay, promotions, discipline, schedules, layoffs and firing. Proof is usually built from patterns: who got what, when, and what reasons were given.

Usually contingency: no upfront cost, and no fee unless we recover for you.

This may apply to you if

Less qualified coworkers keep getting promoted ahead of you
You learned you are paid less than others doing the same work
Comments about your age, accent, religion or family plans
Discipline that started after a manager learned something about you
You were the only one in your group cut in a layoff

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One or two of these is enough to ask. Most people are not sure.

Protected traits under state and federal law

These are some of the traits employers cannot use against you. California protects more traits than federal law does.

Race and color
National origin and ancestry
Sex and gender
Gender identity and expression
Sexual orientation
Pregnancy
Age (40 and over)
Disability, physical or mental
Medical condition
Religion
Military or veteran status
Marital status

How we handle it

Compare the treatment We line up how you were treated next to coworkers in similar roles. Patterns matter more than any single moment.
Request your personnel file and pay records California workers have the right to see their personnel file and payroll records. We help you ask the right way.
File with the right agency Many discrimination claims must start with an agency complaint before a lawsuit. We handle that step for you.
Press the claim Through negotiation, mediation or court, with a clear picture of the risks at each stage.

What to save

Job postings and promotion announcements
Pay stubs and any pay comparisons you know of
Comments in writing: emails, chat messages, texts
Your own notes with dates, written close to the time
Reviews before and after things changed

Keep copies of your own records. Do not take company files you are not allowed to have.

Deadlines

Discrimination claims usually must go through a government agency first, and those agencies have filing windows. Some are short. Do not wait to find out which one applies to you.

We tell you your deadlines in writing after the free review, even if we do not take the case.

Example outcome Discrimination

Passed over for promotion three times

The situation: A 61-year-old analyst was passed over three times for younger colleagues and was told the team needed 'fresh energy'.
What we did: We filed the agency complaint and a lawsuit, took depositions and opposed the employer's motion to end the case before trial.
How it ended: The court ruled for the employer before trial, finding the stated reasons for the promotions were not shown to be false. We did not win this case.

We did not win

Example outcomes are illustrations written for this sample website, not real clients or cases. Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar result, and some cases do not succeed.

See all example outcomes

Questions people ask

There is no smoking-gun email. Is that a problem?

Rarely. Very few cases have one. Most are proved through timing, comparisons and inconsistent reasons, which is exactly what we look for.

My company is small. Am I covered?

Possibly. California's discrimination law reaches most employers with five or more employees. We will check what applies to your employer.

Talk to a lawyer about discrimination.

Tell us what happened in a few minutes. A lawyer reads every inquiry and you hear back within one business day, with your deadlines explained either way.

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