Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Re: Bypassed for promotion

This response assumes you work for a CA employer within CA. What you have described appears to be commonly called "the glass ceiling". The glass ceiling could exist at your employer's business location for a couple of reasons: gender and age discrimination. If you feel you have been discriminated against, you should probably first lodge a complaint with the HR department of the employer, unless you feel it would be futile to do so. Your next step would be to file a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and possibly the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Either or both of these governmental agencies are equipped to handle this type of complaint for you. But due to their limited resources, they may elect not to help you (proof of the existence of gender and age discrimination is difficult and time consuming due to the burdens of proof placed upon a plaintiff such as yourself), and issue you a "Right to Sue" letter. Alternatively, you may request either or both of these agencies issue you a "Right to Sue" letter intially (which would bypass their investigation stage). Once you obtain a Right to Sue letter, you would then be able to file a lawsuit against your employer for alleged unlawful acts and claim remedies that are available by federal and/or state statutes. In any event, it would probably be wise on your part to seek the advice of a local, competent employment lawyer BEFORE you elect to quit. Good Luck.