Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: demoted

Probably; your question does not give me any reason to think otherwise. In mergers and buyouts, the dominant partner customarily reorganizes things in the target (acquired) company, often preferring its own people to those in the acquired entity.

In isolated instances, this might breach a contract (if you had a written agreement to be a store manager, for instance, it would have to be honored or they would have to pay you damages, or maybe a union contract assigning jobs on a seniority basis), or violate a law, e.g., if all black managers were demoted and replaced with all white managers.

Otherwise, I think you have to rely on your own demonstrated talents and abilities to get back on top over time, or use them to find a better job with a new employer.