Los Angeles Employment Law Blog

Workers in California and elsewhere have long seen Google as an innovative company and a great place to work. However, this can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to discrimination lawsuits. If a company has a good reputation, it is unlikely to be found liable in such a case. On the other hand, if Google is found liable, the organization could be subject to severe consequences.

California readers know that it is illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ employees in the workplace. However, some employers attempt to use religion as an excuse to do so. Two recent federal lawsuits could put an end to that. In a case that has yet to be decided, Lambda Legal filed an appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of a man who was denied a health care sales job due to his sexual orientation.

A former Google employee accused the California-based technology giant of discriminating against job candidates based on their race in a lawsuit filed on Jan. 29. The man claims that he was fired in November 2017 after voicing concerns about hiring policies that excluded white and Asian men in order to promote a more diverse workplace environment and insulate Google from the criticism that has been leveled at many leading technology companies.

A California university is facing allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. A nurse at the University of California, San Francisco, has filed a lawsuit against the university, the UC Board of Regents and the UC President. In October 2017, the nurse reported her supervisor for religious discrimination and sexual harassment. Her attorney says that although her complaint was validated, she has been harassed by coworkers, the supervisor and the university since filing the claim.

According to a lawsuit filed against Vice Media on Feb. 13, the company violated equal pay laws in California. The lawsuit, which was filed by an employee who worked in management from 2014 to 2016, also alleges that New York equal pay laws and the Federal Equal Pay Act were violated. The lawsuit says that the female employee hired a man as her subordinate, but he was paid $25,000 more a year than she was.

Many people in California go to work to support their families, but a person’s pregnancy could result in discrimination at work. Specific laws that protect workers from this form of discrimination include the Americans with Disability Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Family Medical Leave Act. Although these acts do not apply to everyone in all situations, they do form a framework that grants some rights to parents and expecting parents in regards to hiring, firing, demoting or promoting.

Californians who have disabilities are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act from workplace discrimination that is based on their conditions. Employers must provide reasonable accommodations if the disabled workers or job applicants need them to perform their job duties unless doing so would present an undue hardship to the companies.