San Francisco Employment Lawyers Representing First Responders
Free Case Evaluation
$2 Billion
in Personal Injury Results
$150 Million
in Employment Law Results
for First Responders
Helping first responders in CA when employers violate their employee rights
If there’s a fire, a car accident, an illness, an assault, or any emergency; San Francisco residents and tourists trust that first responders will be there to help them. Police officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and other first responders who provide help deserve the same trust from their employers. At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, we’re ready to help first responders when employers breach their trust by violating their employee rights.
Our San Francisco employment attorneys protect first responders by filing discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims. We also file wrongful termination claims, breach of contract claims, and wage and hour claims. Our lawyers have obtained more than $150 million in recoveries for first responders in California. You have the right to hold employers accountable when they violate your rights. Call us when employers violate your trust. We’re ready to help you now.
Quick questions
- What types of employment claims do you handle for first responders?
- Do I qualify to file a discrimination claim in San Francisco?
- Do I qualify to file a harassment claim in San Francisco?
- Do I qualify to file a retaliation claim in San Francisco?
- Which first responders do you represent in San Francisco?
- What federal and California laws protect first responders?
- How do your employment lawyers fight for my employment rights?
- How much can first responders receive for employment violations in California?
- Do you have a San Francisco first responder employment lawyer near me?
What types of employment claims do you handle for first responders?
Our lawyers handle the full range of employment claims. We’ve been fighting for first responders for more than 35 years. Our practice areas include:
- Discrimination and harassment claims. If you belong to a “protected class” (due to your identity characteristics), we file discrimination claims when employers adversely affect your employment due to your protected class. We also file hostile workplace harassment and sexual harassment claims if the harassment is based on your protected class.
- Retaliation claims. At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, our employment lawyers hold public and private employers accountable when they try to punish or intimidate you because you assert your legal rights.
- Executive compensation claims. Police departments, sheriff’s offices, and other employers often have executive compensation contracts for their chiefs, management officers, and employees with unique skills. We file breach of contract claims when employers refuse to pay your salary, insurance benefits, retirement compensation, severance pay, and other compensation according to the terms of your contract.
- Wage and hour claims. Our San Francisco employment lawyers file wage and hour claims when employers fail to promptly pay you for all the hard work you do.
- Wrongful termination lawsuits. At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, we demand that employers rehire employees and pay them for their financial damages, based on violations of federal and California laws and violations of collective bargaining or executive compensation agreements.
Do I qualify to file a discrimination claim in San Francisco?
To be eligible to file a discrimination claim, first responders must belong to a “protected class,” and their employer must have adversely affected their employment because they belong to a protected class. Generally, the federal and California discrimination laws protect employees, contractors, and even volunteers (in some cases).
Protected class status
Title VII of the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, other federal discrimination laws, and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act protect workers (who work for employers who are covered by the laws – most public employers are covered) if the worker can be identified by any of the following characteristics:
- Race, color, national origin, or ancestry;
- Sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and pregnancy;
- A disability;
- Religion or creed;
- A medical condition;
- Genetic information;
- Age – being 40 or older;
- Marital status; or
- Military or veteran status.
Adverse employment conditions
The employers of first responders can adversely affect your job by:
- Firing you;
- Suspending you;
- Denying you a deserved promotion or raise;
- Failing to consider your job application:
- Failing to give you the education and job training to advance your career;
- Transferring you to a less desirable location;
- Giving workers who do not belong to your protected class better assignments and job opportunities;
- Failing to give you reasonable accommodations if you have a disability or you’re pregnant;
- Harming your job status in other ways.
Do I qualify to file a harassment claim in San Francisco?
Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and other first responders need to rely on each other. That’s why harassment of workers is particularly inexcusable.
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and federal harassment laws prohibit the harassment of workers who are members of a protected class from the following types of harassment:
- Hostile workplace environment harassment. Your workplace is hostile if you dread coming to work or you cannot do your job because of harassment by your employer, supervisors, coworkers, or anyone with access to your worksite. Workplace harassment includes offensive conversations, jokes, postings, messages, images, and offensive physical conduct.
- Sexual harassment. Sexual harassment includes nonconsensual sexual contact and offensive jokes, photos, videos, advances, leering, and other types of offensive sexual actions.
- Quid pro quo harassment. Quid pro quo harassment occurs when someone with the power to fire you, deny a promotion, or affect your job in any material way conditions your job on sexual favors or sexual advances.
Your employer must take proactive steps to prevent and monitor workplace harassment. They must encourage victims to report harassment and must take disciplinary actions when harassment occurs.
You can file a San Francisco harassment claim if you are the focus of the harassment or you are forced to observe the harassment of others.
Do I qualify to file a retaliation claim in San Francisco?
Some employers don’t take kindly to employees who assert their legal rights. At McNicholas & McNicholas, we hold those employers accountable when they try to intimidate or punish you because you seek enforcement of your rights. These rights include:
- Filing a discrimination, harassment, or retaliation claim;
- Filing a claim for workers’ compensation;
- Requesting family medical leave;
- Filing a qui tam/whistleblower action;
- Asserting your contractual rights;
- Requesting reasonable accommodations if you have a disability or are pregnant; or
- Asserting other legal rights.
Which first responders do you represent in San Francisco?
Our San Francisco employment lawyers represent all types of first responders, among others:
- Law enforcement officers. These workers include police officers, sheriff’s deputies, bomb squad technicians, SWAT officers, and other law enforcement works;
- Firefighters and their support staff;
- Drug officials;
- Correction officers;
- Court officials;
- Ambulance drivers, EMTs, paramedics, and medevac operators;
- Public works employees and park rangers;
- Emergency telecommunications workers;
- School officers;
- Other first responders.
What federal and California laws protect first responders?
At McNicholas & McNicholas, we use every law that supports your employment claim, including the following:
California laws:
- California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)
- California Family Rights Act
- California False Claims 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 Family and Medical Leave Act
- The Equal Pay Act which requires that women and men receive equal pay for equal work
- The Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
- The Federal False Claims Act
- The Trauma Treatment Act
- The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
We also hold police departments, sheriff’s offices, and other employers of first responders liable if they violate their collective bargaining agreements or executive compensation agreements.
How do you assert my employment rights in Pasadena?
Our San Francisco employment rights lawyers represent first responders at the following agencies and courts:
Agencies:
Courts:
- The Superior Court of San Francisco; and
- The US District Court for the Northern District of California.
We file claims against the San Francisco Police Department, the San Francisco County Sheriff’s Office, the San Francisco Fire Department, and other San Francisco employers of first responders.
At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, we work with discrimination experts, financial experts, and professionals who understand your specific type of job. We formally question your employer and anyone else who has relevant information in writing (interrogatories) and orally (depositions). We also formally demand the right to review your entire employment record (including contracts, performance reviews, and any other helpful information). Our lawyers may also demand the right to information about how your employer treated other workers within and outside of your protected class.
We negotiate settlements where possible. Our lawyers are skilled at arguing your rights before agencies, arbitrators, judges, and juries. We’ve taken hundreds of cases to jury verdicts.
How much can first responders receive for employment violations in California?
At McNicholas & McNicholas LLP, we seek to place you in the same position as if your rights had not been violated. We demand compensation for all your past damages and the future damages you’re reasonably likely to have. These damage claims include, depending on your type of claim, the following:
- Financial damages. We demand compensation for your lost wages, bonuses, salary, overtime pay, health benefits, retirement benefits, seniority, vacation time, accrued leave, and other benefits. We also demand compliance with your employment contracts.
- Personal damages. To the extent the law authorizes, we seek compensation for any damage to your professional reputation and your emotional suffering.
- Additional damages. Our lawyers demand compensation for your lawyer fees, statutory damages, and punitive damages.
Our San Francisco first responder lawyers also request that the judge assigned to your case order that your employer rehire you, grant a deserved promotion, provide reasonable workplace accommodations, and enter other court orders.
Do you have a San Francisco first responder employment lawyer near me?
Yes. McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP meets with first responders at our local offices. Our lawyers also consult with clients remotely by phone and through FaceTime, Zoom, and other online video platforms.
We’ll answer your questions and prepare you for each step of your claim. Our San Francisco employment lawyers work to protect those who protect us.
Get help from our experienced San Francisco first responder employment lawyers now
At McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP, we fight to protect those who protect us. We’re respected by former clients, insurance companies, and the legal community for our dedication to our clients and our impressive record of recoveries. Please call us or use our contact form today to schedule a free consultation.
List of agencies we are suing or have sued
- Berkeley Fire/CoB (Non-LEO)
- Berkeley PD
- Chula Vista PD
- City of Richmond (Non-LEO/Employment)
- Contra Costa Sheriff (Non-LEO/Employment)
- Culver City PD (Non-LEO)
- El Monte PD
- El Segundo PD
- Fremont PD
- Huntington Beach PD
- LA Co Sheriff
- LAFD
- LAPD
- LAWA
- Palo Alto PD
- Pomona PD
- Redondo Beach PD
- Riverside PD
- San Diego PD
- San Joaquin County Sheriff
- Santa Barbara County Sheriff
- Shasta County Sheriff
- Ukiah PD
- Walnut Creek PD
- Willits PD