Areas of Practice
Severance Agreements
Being laid off or terminated from your job may provoke many deeply-felt emotions. It is quite common for unemployed people to become fearful for their futures.
Some employees receive, or are able to negotiate their way into receiving, severance offers or packages. These packages offer some compensation or benefits to help you bridge the gap between your current job and the next one. These severance packages are usually loaded with not-easy-to-understand legal jargon. Our attorney helps our clients thoroughly understand and agree to what they are being asked to sign- before they sign.
We have analyzed and negotiated hundreds of severance agreements for our clients. We have obtained confidential and favorable results in most cases. We take care to address and maximize the economic terms of a severance package. We also focus carefully upon the non-economic concerns of an agreement, such as how references for future employment will be handled, unemployment insurance eligibility, working in the same industry for a competitor, and other related issues.
At the Work/Environment Law Group, our attorney has overwhelming experience addressing, developing and enhancing severance agreement packages for our clients. She offers this experience to help a wide range of laid-off or terminated workers, managers or high-ranking and high net worth executives.
Wrongful Termination
In most circumstances in California, employment is referred to as “at will.” This means that employers can terminate employees at any time for any or no reason at all and employees can quit jobs at any time and for any or no reason at all. However, in certain circumstances, it is illegal to terminate an employee, such as when the termination violates a contract, is retaliatory or discriminatory, is based in fraud, or is meant to punish a whistleblower who had tried to do the right thing.
At the Work/Environment Law Group, our attorney analyzes the facts and provides comprehensive representation to wrongful termination victims throughout the San Francisco area. With your best interests and your career success in mind, we take the time to examine the situation that led to your termination. We search for any issues that may be classified as an illegal wrongful termination and we offer detailed advice on how to address the situation.
Detailed Advice on Various Employment-Related Issues
Even if you are terminated from your job as an “at will” employee, most California employees hold certain rights. We analyze your employment rights, including:
Eligibility for Severance
Eligibility for Unemployment Insurance
Waiting Time or Other Labor Code Penalties
Personnel File Rights
Non-Damaging References to Your Reputation for Future Employment
Employment Rights as a Contractor or Consultant
Whatever your specific wrongful termination or employment rights concerns may be, we work diligently to provide the information and guidance you may need to address your issues quickly and effectively.
If you have been wrongfully or illegally terminated from your job, please contact us. We have helped hundreds of employees deal with job terminations. We have helped these clients resolve their issues and move on successfully with their lives and their careers.
Harassment & Discrimination
Illegal Discrimination in the Workplace
Discrimination occurs when an employee or group of employees are singled out and treated differently or unfairly based upon certain protected characteristics, such as gender, age, race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, pregnancy, color. Current state and federal laws prohibit employers from refusing to promote an employee, demoting an employee, firing an employee, or changing the terms of employment (such as pay or benefits) if the reason for the treatment is that the person is part of a protected group.
At the Work/Environment Law Group, we take great pride in providing aggressive legal representation to clients who have fallen victim to discrimination throughout the San Francisco area. With more than 20 years’ experience practicing law, and numerous discrimination cases successfully resolved for our clients, our attorney works diligently to provide you information and advice that you need to understand your rights, to know your options, and to protect yourself and your job.
To help you recover compensation following discriminatory treatment, employees must take appropriate and timely actions to remedy the situation. We suggest that you:
Write down at home any incidents of suspected discrimination, including dates, times, and witnesses to any incidents;
Keep copies of any letters, emails and tweets that relate to these incidents;
Complain to a manager or supervisor promptly, and in writing, keeping a copy for yourself;
If in doubt, do not sign anything without first obtaining solid legal advice;
Consider your options to file complaints with the state Department of Fair Employment & Housing or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; and
Continue to perform your job in a satisfactory manner as you address these difficult issues.
Illegal Harassment in the Workplace.
Harassment occurs when an employer, manager, supervisor, or co-worker (sometimes even a customer) says or does something that creates an intimidating, threatening or hostile work environment based upon a person’s sex, race or other personal characteristics.
Many harassment cases arise from an employee’s sex or race. Illegal sexual harassment may occur when an employee is pressured to engage in sexual activity or is repeatedly exposed to unwelcome sexual remarks, jokes or visuals at work. Illegal racial harassment may occur when an employee suffers humiliation from racial epithets, stereotypes or visuals. Harassment at work often leads to great emotional distress and humiliation in its victims.
We have handled dozens of sensitive and difficult harassment cases, in and outside of court. We have achieved substantial and favorable results for our clients. We offer detailed advice about what options you have to address these issues. We recommend that you act in a timely and proactive fashion in addressing illegal harassment at your job. We can help guide you.