Employment Discrimination Attorneys In Los Angeles

Have you experienced an adverse employment decision based on your race, sex/gender, religion, or other protected characteristic? Did you suffer a hostile work environment based on a protected characteristic? Did your employer retaliate against you for opposing or reporting workplace discrimination? You may have a legal claim to recover compensation or other relief and hold your employer accountable — and the legal team at Moon Law Group, PC, can help you.

Since 2007, our firm has focused exclusively on employees in disputes against their employers, handling some of the most complex employee claims in Los Angeles and throughout California. We have a proven track record of success in pursuing employment discrimination claims in state and federal courts, having recovered millions of dollars for tens of thousands of hardworking individuals. Our lawyers also have extensive experience handling collective action and class action lawsuits, which enable multiple employees who have experienced similar discrimination from a specific employer to collectively stand up to those businesses.

Our firm has the resources, knowledge, and determination to fight for our clients’ rights and hold employers accountable for mistreating their workers. We are one of the largest plaintiff’s employment law firms in California, with a team of attorneys that has established a reputation in California for delivering tenacious and skilled advocacy in employment litigation.

Discover more about your rights under state and federal law. Contact Moon Law Group for a free, confidential consultation with a Los Angeles discrimination lawyer. We can discuss your options for seeking compensation, legal relief, and justice against an employer that has discriminated against you.

How Can a Los Angeles CA Employment Discrimination Lawyer Help with My Case?

A Los Angeles discrimination attorney from Moon Law Group can help you seek relief and justice after suffering workplace discrimination in the following ways:

• Sitting down with you to listen to your story
• Thoroughly investigating your allegations to obtain evidence we can use to build your employment discrimination case
• Explaining your options to report job discrimination so you can make informed decisions about how to pursue your rights
• Helping you file complaints with the California Civil Rights Department, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or with government equal employment opportunity offices, such as the Postal Service EEO, the military EEO, or the federal government EEO governed by 29 CFR section 1614

What Is Employment Discrimination?

Employment discrimination occurs when an employer takes adverse employment actions against an employee or prospective employee based on the individual’s protected characteristics, such as:

Employers can commit discrimination when they do the following:

• Engage in disparate treatment of employees or prospective employees based on protected characteristics
• Adopt company policies that have a disparate impact and disproportionately affect workers who share a protected characteristic, even if the employer did not intend to discriminate under that policy

Adverse employment actions that can lead to employment discrimination include the following:

Employment discrimination can also involve harassment or an employer’s creation or acquiescence to a hostile work environment. A hostile work environment can stem from the following:

Employment discrimination can also occur when an employer retaliates against a worker who reports discrimination, files a complaint of discrimination, or participates in an investigation or legal proceeding related to discrimination.

What Are Common Types of Employment Discrimination?

Employment discrimination occurs when an employer takes an adverse employment action or creates or permits a hostile work environment based on protected characteristics. Common types of workplace discrimination include the following:

What California Laws Protect Me from Employment Discrimination?

Various state and federal laws protect workers from employment discrimination, such as the following:

• California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) – The Fair Employment and Housing Act of 1959 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or age (for workers over 40). FEHA also prohibits employers from retaliating against any worker who opposes a practice forbidden by the act or who files a complaint under the law or participates in a legal action under the act.
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or pregnancy.
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 – The ADEA prohibits discrimination against employees or prospective employees age 40 or older.
• Americans with Disabilities Act – The ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against workers due to their disability or perceived disability. The law also requires employers to negotiate with workers to find reasonable accommodations for a worker’s disability that allow them to perform the essential functions of their job.
• Equal Pay Act – The EPA prohibits employers from maintaining pay disparities between similarly situated employees based on gender.
• Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act – GINA bars employers from making employment-related decisions based on a worker’s genetic information.

The EEOC also requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide race- and gender-related data on their workers. This EEO reporting is meant to ensure compliance with hiring laws and provide insight into hiring trends.

What Type of Damages Can I Seek for Workplace Discrimination?

When an employer discriminates against you, you may have the right to seek compensation for financial and personal losses you suffer due to that discrimination. Types of damages you might recover when you suffer job discrimination include the following:

• Unpaid Wages and Paid Leave – When you suffer pay discrimination, you might recover compensation for wages, leave, or other employment benefits you should have received.
• Lost Earnings – After a discriminatory termination, you may seek financial recovery for your lost wages, including back pay, or salary.
• Job Search Expenses – You might seek reimbursement for job search expenses when you need to find a new job after a discriminatory discharge.
• Attorney fees – This is compensation for hiring a lawyer for representation.
• Emotional Trauma or Distress – Compensation in a workplace discrimination claim can include money for emotional trauma or distress you incurred due to a hostile work environment.
• Job Reinstatement – In some cases, a court may order your employer to reinstate you to a position from which the employer wrongfully terminated you.
• Punitive Damages – In rare cases, a court can impose punitive damages on an employer for discrimination, awarding the employee money and punishing the employer for egregious or wanton conduct, thereby further discouraging other employers from engaging in similar conduct.

How Can I Prove Discrimination at Work?

Workers who experience workplace discrimination may use direct or circumstantial evidence to prove that discrimination occurred.

Direct evidence can include an employer’s expressed statements or policy of making employment decisions based on protected characteristics. Circumstantial evidence supports an inference that an employer:

• Made an employment decision based on an employee’s protected characteristics
• Has used a non-discriminatory reason for an employment decision as a pretext for discrimination

Examples of evidence you might use to prove discrimination at work include the following:

• Employee files, including correspondence regarding adverse employment actions or documentation of performance reviews
• Emails or text messages
• Witness testimony about verbal statements expressing bias or prejudice against people based on protected characteristics
• Evidence of different treatment between similarly situated employees who have different protected characteristics
• Evidence of derogatory comments or slurs used in the workplace
• Statistical analysis showing a pattern of discriminatory decision-making
• Testimony from other employees who experienced discriminatory acts at work
• Human resources records

How Long Do I Have to File an Employment Discrimination Claim in Los Angeles CA?

For most types of employment discrimination claims, the statute of limitations requires you to file a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within:

• 180 days of a discriminatory act by an employer
• 300 days if a state or local agency enforces an equivalent state employment discrimination law

Alternatively, in most cases, you have three years from the date of a discriminatory act by an employer to file a claim with the California Civil Rights Department.

Before you can file an employment discrimination lawsuit, you must obtain a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC or CRD before you can file your complaint. An EEOC right-to-sue letter requires you to file your lawsuit within 90 days, while a right-to-sue letter from the CRD based on violations of state law requires you to file your lawsuit within one year.

For claims under the Equal Pay Act, you do not have to file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC before filing a lawsuit. Instead, you have two years from the date of the last discriminatory paycheck to file a lawsuit, or three years from that date for willful violations.

Because various deadlines apply to different types of employment discrimination claims, you should speak to an Lso Angeles employment discrimination attorney from Moon Law Group as soon as possible to ensure you file your claims on time.