California Workplace Discrimination Attorney

 

Employees deserve to be judged by their work—not by who they are, where they come from, what medical conditions they have, or other legally protected characteristics. When an employer treats an employee unfairly because of a protected characteristic, that conduct may violate California’s employment discrimination laws.

At Stroman Employment Law, California employment attorney Cody Stroman represents employees who have experienced workplace discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful termination, failure to accommodate, or other unlawful treatment at work.

 

What Is Workplace Discrimination in California?

 

Workplace discrimination occurs when an employer takes an adverse employment action against an employee because of a protected characteristic. Discrimination can happen at any stage of employment, including hiring, scheduling, discipline, promotions, pay, job assignments, accommodations, leave, demotions, layoffs, and termination.

 

Discrimination may involve obvious bias, but it is often more subtle. Employers may attempt to justify discriminatory decisions by pointing to “performance,” “attendance,” “restructuring,” “budget cuts,” or “policy violations.” In many cases, those explanations may be pretextual if the evidence shows the real reason was unlawful discrimination.

 

Protected Characteristics Under California Law

 

California employees are protected from discrimination based on characteristics including:

• Disability

• Medical condition

• Pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions

• Race, color, ancestry, or national origin

• Sex, gender, gender identity, or gender expression

• Sexual orientation

• Age, if the employee is 40 or older

• Religion or religious creed

• Marital status

• Military or veteran status

• Genetic information

• Requesting or taking protected leave

• Association with someone who has a protected characteristic

 

Employers may also be prohibited from retaliating against employees who complain about discrimination, request accommodations, participate in workplace investigations, or support another employee’s complaint.

 

Common Examples of Workplace Discrimination

 

Workplace discrimination can take many forms. Common examples include:

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• Firing or disciplining an employee after learning about a disability or medical condition

• Denying reasonable accommodations for a disability, pregnancy, or religious practice

• Treating employees differently based on race, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, or another protected status

• Passing over qualified employees for promotions because of protected characteristics

• Reducing hours, changing schedules, or assigning worse shifts for discriminatory reasons

• Targeting an employee with sudden write-ups after they request medical leave or accommodations

• Making age-related, sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or disability-related comments

• Paying employees differently for discriminatory reasons

• Laying off employees in a way that disproportionately targets a protected group

• Failing to stop discriminatory treatment by supervisors, managers, or coworkers

 

Discrimination cases often depend on timing, patterns of unequal treatment, shifting explanations, comparator evidence, workplace comments, failure to follow policies, or sudden changes in how the employee is treated.

 

Disability Discrimination and Failure to Accommodate

 

Disability discrimination is one of the most common forms of workplace discrimination in California. Employers may not discriminate against employees because of a physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, perceived disability, or history of disability.

 

California employers must also engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process when they know an employee may need a reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodations may include modified duties, schedule changes, medical leave, remote work, reassignment, assistive devices, or other changes that allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the job.

 

An employer may violate the law by ignoring accommodation requests, delaying the process, demanding unnecessary medical information, denying accommodations without proper analysis, or firing an employee instead of exploring reasonable solutions.

 

Pregnancy Discrimination

 

California law protects employees from discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions. Employers may not punish employees for becoming pregnant, requesting pregnancy-related accommodations, taking pregnancy disability leave, or needing time off for related medical reasons.

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Examples of pregnancy discrimination may include reduced hours, demotion, denial of accommodations, negative comments about pregnancy, refusal to allow leave, or termination after the employer learns the employee is pregnant.

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Race, National Origin, Sex, Gender, Age, and Religious Discrimination

 

Workplace discrimination may also involve unfair treatment based on race, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, or other protected characteristics.

 

This may include discriminatory comments, unequal discipline, unequal pay, denial of promotions, exclusion from opportunities, biased workplace policies, or termination based on stereotypes or prejudice rather than job performance.

 

Retaliation After Complaining About Discrimination

 

Employees have the right to complain about discrimination without being punished. It is unlawful for an employer to retaliate against an employee because they reported discrimination, opposed discriminatory conduct, requested accommodations, participated in an investigation, or supported another employee’s complaint.

 

Retaliation may include termination, demotion, discipline, reduced hours, undesirable assignments, exclusion from meetings, negative performance reviews, or other conduct that would discourage an employee from asserting their rights.

 

What Compensation May Be Available?

 

Employees who experience workplace discrimination may be entitled to recover damages, including:

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• Lost wages and benefits

• Future lost income

• Emotional distress damages

• Out-of-pocket losses

• Attorneys’ fees and costs, where available

• Punitive damages in appropriate cases

• Reinstatement or other equitable relief, depending on the circumstances

 

The value of a workplace discrimination case depends on the facts, the strength of the evidence, the harm suffered, and the employer’s conduct.  That is why it is important that you reach out to a legal professional to evaluate any potential claims that you may have.

 

​Why Choose Stroman Employment Law?

 

At Stroman Employment Law, employees work directly with Cody Stroman, an experienced California employment lawyer. Before representing employees, Cody represented employers at major national law firms. That background gives him insight into how companies evaluate discrimination claims, defend lawsuits, and attempt to justify unlawful employment decisions.

 

Today, Cody uses that experience to advocate for California employees who have been discriminated against, retaliated against, or wrongfully terminated.

 

Employees choose Stroman Employment Law because the firm offers:

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• Direct attorney communication

• Strategic case evaluation

• Experience with both employee and employer-side litigation

• Clear guidance through a difficult process

• Strong advocacy for California workers

• A focused commitment to employment law

 

Speak With a California Workplace Discrimination Attorney

 

If you were fired, disciplined, denied accommodations, passed over for promotion, harassed, or treated unfairly because of a protected characteristic, you may have a workplace discrimination claim.

 

Contact Stroman Employment Law today for a free consultation with Cody Stroman, a California employment lawyer representing employees in San Francisco, the Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and throughout California.