Pasadena Employee Rights Lawyers
Free Case Evaluation
$2 Billion
in Personal Injury Results
$150 Million
in Employment Law Results
for First Responders
Respected advocacy when employers violate the employee rights of police officers, firefighters, and first responders in California
Pasadena, near Los Angeles, is home to numerous educational, cultural, and scientific institutions. These institutions and Pasadena’s diverse mix of residents rely on the police to protect them. They rely on fire departments to respond when there is any type of residential, commercial, or natural fire. They trust that first responders will provide emergency health and other services. At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, we take great pride in knowing that police officers, firefighters, and first responders can rely on our lawyers to protect these heroes when their employers violate their employee rights. Our Pasadena employment lawyers file discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), and retaliation claims. We also file wrongful termination claims and demand enforcement of collective bargaining and executive compensation agreements. Call us now to learn more about your employee rights.
Our attorneys have secured more than $150 million for our first responder clients. Some of our larger successes include the following:
$11.65 Million
for an LAPD K9 Bomb Unit dog handler in retaliation case.
$11.56 Million
jury verdict for a former LAPD Bomb K9 trainer who faced discrimination and retaliation after he reported violations of the law.
$5.9 Million
for ten LAPD motor officers who claimed they were retaliated against for refusing to follow a ticket quota.
$5.8 Million
against the City of Los Angeles in a retaliation case on behalf of an LAPD officer.
$3 Million
for six firefighters who suffered retaliation after blowing the whistle on LAFD’s dangerous and unlawful building inspections.
$3 Million
on behalf of six Whittier police officers who allegedly faced retaliation for refusing to participate in an illegal quota.
$2.5 Million
for four officers from the Internal Surveillance Unit, an elite sector of the LAPD’s Special Operations Division in a retaliation case.
$13.1 Million
for two male LAPD police officers in a sex discrimination and retaliation case.
$10.1 Million
verdict for a Captain at the Los Angeles Police Department, against the LAPD.
$5.3 Million
verdict in favor of an African American member of a Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad for harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
$3.6 Million
for an LAPD employee facing retaliation after standing up for a female officer who had been subjected to harassment and discrimination.
$3.59 Million
for a Japanese-American police officer for harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.
$2.8 Million
secured a $2.8 million verdict on behalf of a now-retired Riverside Police Department Officer against the City of Riverside.
$2.3 Million
for a female SWAT officer denied a position on an elite squad.
$2.23 Million
for three LAPD female employees for discriminatory and retaliatory actions.
Quick questions
- Who do your Pasadena employment lawyers represent?
- What types of employment rights cases do you handle?
- What are the key elements of a Pasadena employment discrimination claim?
- What are the key elements of a Pasadena harassment claim?
- What are the key elements of a Pasadena retaliation claim?
- What federal and California laws govern employment discrimination in Pasadena?
- How do your employment attorneys protect the rights of employees in Pasadena?
- What is the value of my employment discrimination claim in California?
- Do you have a Pasadena employment discrimination lawyer near me?
Who do your Pasadena employment lawyers represent?
At McNicholas & McNicholas LLP, our lawyers represent government and private employees, contractors, and volunteers. Many of our employment clients include the following workers:
- Police officers, sheriff’s officers, deputies, and other law enforcement employees: Police officers provide security against crime, help when there are car accidents or other vehicle emergencies, educate residents and businesses about safety, and provide many other protective services.
- Firefighters: Firefighters and their support personnel protect Pasadena from structural fires, wildfires, toxic chemicals, smoke, and other dangers.
- First responders: Our lawyers provide employment representation for paramedics, EMTs, park rangers, court officials, corrections officers, and other first responders.
Our Pasadena employment lawyers have 35 years of experience. We have working relationships with workplace professionals, financial experts, discrimination experts, and other professionals. Our lawyers file claims against the Pasadena Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Pasadena Fire Department, and other Pasadena employers.
What types of employment rights cases do you handle?
Our Pasadena employment lawyers are ready to represent you if you have any of the following types of employment claims:
- Discrimination and harassment claims. Our lawyers hold employers accountable when they adversely affect the employment of an employee or harass the employee who is a member of a protected class (a class defined by race, national origin, sex, or other personal characteristics). We review your rights when employers discriminate or harass you in more detail below.
- Retaliation claims. At McNicholas & McNicholas LLP, we file claims against employers who retaliate against you (punish you) because you assert your employee rights or assist another employee in their employment claim. We discuss retaliation claims below.
- Wage and hour claims. Our Pasadena employment attorneys demand that employers pay you the money you earn. We file wage and hour claims based on the following:
- The Federal Labor Standards Act
- The Equal Pay Act
- California’s employment laws
- Los Angeles County’s regulations
- Any written contracts you have
- Executive compensation claims. The administrators, chiefs, and other executives of police departments, fire departments, and local county and Pasadena governmental organizations have the right to the compensation they earn based on performing their duties under their executive employment contracts. These rights include salary, health insurance, retirement benefits including pensions, severance pay, and other types of executive compensation.
- Qui tam/whistleblower claims. We hold employers accountable when they retaliate because an employee discloses their fraud through the federal False Claims Act and the California False Claims Act. Generally, anyone who discloses fraud involving payments by the government may be entitled to a percentage of any recovery.
- Family medical leave claims. We hold employers accountable when they violate your right to medical leave to care for a family member or retaliate because you assert your right to family leave.
- Wrongful termination. At McNicholas & McNicholas LLP, our lawyers work to reinstate you if your employer fires you in violation of any federal law, state law, or employment contract. We also demand compensation for your financial damages until you are fully reinstated.
What are the key elements of a Pasadena employment discrimination claim?
At McNicholas & McNicholas LLP, we file discrimination claims for employees, contractors, and volunteers if they are members of a “protected class” and their employers adversely affect their employment due to their membership in that class.
Protected class
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (CFHEA) and federal discrimination laws protect employees, contractors, and volunteers when employers make employment decisions based on any of the following factors (depending on which law we use):
- Race, national origin, or ancestry
- Sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression
- A disability
- Age (if 40 or older)
- Religion
- A medical condition
- Genetic information
- Marital status
- Military/veteran status
Our lawyers will inform you if you belong to a protected class.
Adverse employment conditions
Adverse work conditions include the following:
- Hiring and firing
- Employee classification
- Compensation
- Assignments
- Promotion
- Transfer
- Layoff
- Recall
- Recruitment
- Testing
- Use of the employer’s facilities
- Job advertisements
- Training and apprenticeship programs
- Benefits
- Pay/compensation
- Disability leave
- Reasonable accommodations for a disability
- Retirement benefits
Discriminatory practices include adverse employment decisions, harassment, and retaliation based on your protected class status.
What are the key elements of a Pasadena harassment claim?
According to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), violations occur when employers harass or tolerate harassment in the workplace by (supervisors, coworkers, and others). Employers should also create, implement, and enforce harassment protection policies. You can generally file a harassment claim if you are the subject of the harassment or if you are a witness to the harassment.
Workplace harassment involves:
- Hostile work environment harassment. If your job is unbearable due to offensive verbal or physical conduct that prevents you from concentrating on your job, you may have a hostile work environment claim – if you are a member of a protected class. Examples of this type of harassment include conversations, jokes, messages, videos, and social media postings that are offensive. Sexual harassment that creates a hostile workplace environment includes offensive sexual advances, photos, jokes, and any nonconsensual sexual contact.
- Quid pro quo harassment. This type of workplace harassment occurs when an employer or someone who can affect your employment conditions, your job, a promotion, or other work opportunities on sexual favors or sexual advances.
What are the key elements of a Pasadena retaliation claim?
You have a legal right to inquire about and file discrimination, harassment, and other employee rights claims. At McNicholas & McNicholas LLP, our employment lawyers file retaliation claims when employers try to punish you for asserting any of the following rights:
- The right to file a claim for discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, workers’ compensation benefits, or a qui tam/whistleblower claim
- The right to refuse sexual advances or to refuse to participate in discrimination or harassment of another worker
- The right to request reasonable workplace accommodations to perform your work due to a disability, pregnancy, or family medical leave
- The right to assert any other legal right
What federal and California laws govern employment discrimination in Pasadena?
Our Pasadena employment lawyers understand the federal and state laws that protect employees from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. We regularly assert the following laws on your behalf:
California laws
- California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA); and
- The California False Claims Act; and
- California Family Rights Act; and
Federal laws
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964;
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973;
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA);
- The Equal Pay Act of 1963;
- Family Medical Leave Act;
- Federal False Claims Act;
- The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and;
- The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).
How do your employment attorneys protect the rights of employees in Pasadena?
Founding Partner, John P. McNicholas has 50 years of experience fighting for the rights of personal injury victims and employee rights victims. Together, John and his sons, Patrick and Matthew, have tried hundreds of cases to jury verdicts. They’ve received numerous awards and honors for their legal representation. We have a team of other lawyers with extensive trial experience, too.
At McNicholas & McNicholas, we take the time in the first consultation to get to know you, understand your employment concerns, explain your rights, and answer your questions. We question everyone who has knowledge of your employment record and the employee rights that are being violated. Our lawyers thoroughly prepare your case, asserting your full employment rights, including your right to job reinstatement, financial compensation, and personal damages. We file employment claims before the following agencies and courts:
What is the value of my employment discrimination claim in California?
We understand how financially and personally upsetting it is to lose your job, be denied a promotion you deserve, or work under unbearable conditions. Our Pasadena employment lawyers demand all the compensation and benefits you deserve, depending on your type of employment claims. These damages include:
- Lost income including wages, salary, overtime pay, bonuses, and other types of income.
- Loss of seniority.
- Loss of vacation time or leave time.
- Loss of health insurance.
- Denial of executive compensation.
- Emotional distress.
- Damage to your reputation.
- Attorney fees and court costs.
- Statutory damages
- Punitive damages for unconscionable conduct
Other employment remedies may include job reinstatement, obtaining the promotion or benefits you deserve, and other types of employee rights.
Do you have a Pasadena employment discrimination lawyer near me?
McNicholas & McNicholas meets with police officers, firefighters, first responders, and other Pasadena employees at our Los Angeles office located at 10866 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1400. Our employment lawyers usually speak with employees remotely by phone through online video platforms.
We’re here to answer your questions, explain your rights, and fight for the employee compensation and benefits you’ve earned.
Get help from our experienced Pasadena employment lawyers now
John McNicholas, Patrick McNicholas, Matthew McNicholas, and our team of employment lawyers have 35 years of experience fighting for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and first responders when city, county, and state employers discriminate against, harass, or retaliate against their employees. We’re here to fight to protect your job, your income, and your benefits. Call McNicholas & McNicholas or fill out our contact form today to schedule a free consultation.
List of Agencies We are Suing or Have Sued
Police departments:
- Berkeley PD
- Chula Vista PD
- Culver City PD (Non-LEO)
- El Monte PD
- El Segundo PD
- Fremont PD
- Huntington Beach PD
- Palo Alto PD
- Pomona PD
- Redondo Beach PD
- Riverside PD
- San Diego PD
- Ukiah PD
- Walnut Creek PD
- Willits PD
Sheriff departments:
- Contra Costa Sheriff (Non-LEO/Employment)
- LA Co Sheriff
- Santa Barbara County Sheriff
- San Joaquin County Sheriff
- Shasta County Sheriff
Fire departments:
- Berkeley Fire/CoB (Non-LEO)
- LAFD
City of Richmond (Non-LEO/Employment)
LAWA