Monterey Employee Rights Lawyers

What employees and workers do your Monterey employment lawyers represent?

At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, our employment lawyers represent employees, independent contractors, and volunteers. We represent workers in both the public and private sectors.

Many of our clients protect and serve the public. Our seasoned trial lawyers regularly represent the following workers:

• Law enforcement officers. Our Monterey employment lawyers fight for police officers, sheriff’s deputies, bomb squad officers, SWAT team officers, and other workers who protect Monterey from crimes, serve the public when vehicle accidents or other emergencies happen, and educate homes and businesses about crime prevention.
• Firefighters. Our lawyers proudly serve firefighters and their support staff who extinguish residential fires, commercial fires, and fires like those that have ravaged communities across the Los Angeles region. We help these employees who also handle hazardous materials and provide emergency health assistance.
• First responders. Our attorneys represent all workers who provide emergency help, including EMTs, paramedics, corrections officers, park rangers, and other Monterey first responders.

What types of employment claims do you file in Monterey?

Our Monterey employment lawyers have 35 years of experience and working relationships with first responder professionals, discrimination experts, and financial experts to handle the following types of employment claims:

• Discrimination and harassment claims. If you work for law enforcement, fight fires, or are front-line responders, your job is essential to the safety and well-being of Monterey. Our lawyers are ready to represent you if your employer adversely affects your employment because you are a member of a protected class (such as race, sex, disability, national origin, or age). We discuss discrimination and harassment claims in much more detail below.
• Retaliation claims. Employers in Monterey have no right to try to intimidate, discipline, or punish you because you assert your rights or help another worker assert their rights. We file retaliation claims against employers who punish you instead of respecting you.
• Wage and hour claims. Employees deserve to be paid what their employees owe them – on time. At McNicholas & McNicholas, we file claims to ensure you receive the full compensation you deserve based on the Federal Labor Standards Act, the Equal Pay Act, California employment law, Monterey County regulations, and your written employment contracts, including collective bargaining agreements.
• Executive compensation claims. Some employees with special skills or in management positions have written employment contracts. Our City of Monterey lawyers demand that your employer pays your salary, insurance benefits, bonuses, retirement benefits, severance pay, and all other financial benefits – according to the terms of your contract and the applicable federal and state employment laws.
• Qui tam/whistleblower claims. The federal and California False Claims Acts grant employees and anyone with knowledge about fraudulent acts by employers that involve the government the right to disclose fraud, receive a percentage of the recovery, and be free from retaliation because they disclose the fraud.
• Family medical leave claims. Federal and California medical leave laws grant eligible workers the right to request leave to care for an ill family member or to welcome a newborn or adoptee into their family. We file retaliation claims when employers in Monterey retaliate against employees who assert their family leave rights.
• Wrongful termination. For police officers, firefighters, and other first responders, your job does more than pay your bills – your job helps Monterey prosper. Our Monterey employment lawyers file employment claims demanding job reinstatement and compensation for all your financial damages when employers fire you in violation of the laws and your contracts.

At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, we represent employees who work for the City of Monterey Police Department, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, the City of Monterey Fire Department, and other Monterey employers.

What are the requirements for filing an employment discrimination claim?

There are two fundamental criteria for filing a discrimination claim in Monterey. You must be a member of a protected class, and your employer must negatively (adversely) affect your employment because you are a member of a protected class.

Protected class

The California Fair Housing and Employment Act (CFHEA) and federal discrimination laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protect workers who have faced discrimination for the following reasons:

• Race, national origin, ancestry, or color
• Disability
• Age (40 and over)
• Religion or creed
• Sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation
• Genetic information
• Medical condition
• Marital status
• Military or veteran status

We can explain which federal or state law protects you.

Adverse employment conditions

Workplace conditions that negatively affect your employment include:

• Firing you
• Denying you a promotion you deserve
• Refusing to consider your job application
• Denying you the training, education, and job opportunities you deserve
• Reducing or docking your pay
• Failing to provide reasonable workplace accommodations for workers with a disability or who are pregnant

What are the requirements for filing an employment harassment claim?

The California Fair Housing and Employment Act and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) protect workers who belong to a protected class from workplace harassment that their employer should reasonably know about and fail to prevent. At McNicholas & McNicholas, we hold employers accountable when they commit either of the following types of harassment:

• Hostile work environment harassment. We file this claim when your workplace environment is offensive, abusive, or intimidating – or you cannot perform your job duties due to harassment. Hostile workplace harassment includes physical conduct (such as impeding your movement or contact without your consent) and verbal conduct (such as offensive comments, conversations, jokes, messages, website postings, photographs, and videos). Sexual harassment creates a hostile workplace environment when workers or anyone with access to the workplace leer, make sexual advances, conduct sexual conversations, or engage in any other verbal or physical sexual conduct.
• Quid pro quo harassment. Our Monterey employment attorneys file this type of sexual harassment claim if your employer or anyone who can affect your job status conditions your work opportunities or employment on sexual favors or sexual advances.

What are the requirements for filing an employment retaliation claim?

Our Monterey employment lawyers file retaliation claims when employers try to punish you for asserting any of the following rights for yourself or another worker:

• File a discrimination, harassment, or retaliation claim
• File a wrongful termination lawsuit
• Assert your right to workers’ compensation benefits
• File a qui tam/whistleblower claim
• Refuse sexual advances
• Refuse to engage in discrimination or harassment at work
• Request reasonable workplace accommodations because of a disability or pregnancy
• Request family medical leave

What federal and state laws protect Monterey employees?

At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, we assert every law that protects you. These laws include the following:

California laws:

• California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act(FEHA)
• The California False Claims Act
• California Family Rights Act

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
• The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA)

How do you advocate for the rights of Monterey employees?

Our Monterey employment lawyers are respected by former clients and the legal community for our dedication to our clients, our thorough preparation, and our impressive record of recoveries. At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, we can help by doing the following:

• Question your employer, supervisors, coworkers, and anyone with knowledge about your claim – through the formal discovery process.
• Request all the relevant documents that your employer has about your employment and about every aspect of your claim.
• Shows all your financial and personal damages.
• Work with expert witnesses.
• File your claim with the appropriate state or federal agencies and courts.
• Negotiate with your employer, your employer’s insurance carriers, and their defense lawyers.
• Argue your case before the appropriate agencies and courts. These jurisdictions include:
  • California Civil Rights Department (CCRD)
  • S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC)
  • Superior Court of Monterey County in California
  • US District Court for the Northern District of California

How much is my employment claim worth in California?

At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, we seek to compensate you as if your employer had not violated your rights. Our Monterey employment lawyers will help you obtain compensation for the following damages, depending on your type of claim:

• Your financial losses (back pay, future/front pay, insurance benefits, bonuses, and other types of compensation)
• Seniority benefits
• Retirement benefits include pension benefits
• Emotional distress and compensation for any damage to your reputation
• Executive compensation benefits
• Statutory damages
• Attorney fees, court costs, and interest
• Punitive damages for malicious conduct

Our lawyers also request that the court, where the law permits, direct your employer to reinstate you, fairly consider your application, grant a promotion, provide the education you need, and provide reasonable workplace accommodations (for workers with a disability or who are pregnant).

The court may also require that your employer take affirmative steps to prevent future discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.