Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Lawsuit vs. employer - what 'dirt' can employer use?
I am in the middle of a very large lawsuit against a big company with a lot of resources, including pitbull attorneys.
Among other things, this suit includes sexual harrassment, unpaid overtime, retaliation, intimidation, wage discrimination, fraud (forged documents etc.)
I have been told I have a strong case.
My questions include:
`) Can the defense use my recent credit history (I am in a status of being 'employed' but not getting hours or allowed to show up to work, and therefore have been living on my credit cards)
2) Is it legal for my employer to look up SPECIFIC credit card purchases on my cards? Or are they only allowed simply to look at the credit history?
3) My company DID NOT report me as an employee or my wages to the State for Unemployment (one of many accounting mistakes)
Therefore I'm having to to prove to Unemployment that I actually existed as a F-T employee w/ benifits, to collect overdue unemployment.
Is it possible this company sensed they planned to fire me, or make conditions so miserable I'd have to quit, and so they didn't pay Unemployment to Save Money?
There are more Q's but ultimately I feel the SECOND question is most important to me. Thanks!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Lawsuit vs. employer - what 'dirt' can employer use?
On the wage and hour issues, you would be not only entitled to what you were not paid, but also overtime depending on the nature of your work, and potential penalties.
As to your purchases, unless job-related, they probably are not relevant and it might be harassment as well as seeking information protected by your right to privacy. If you're claiming you lived on your credit cards, it should suffice to give them copies of your credit card statements and redact (cut out) the names of the vendors, leaving only the dates, the amounts, and the last four digits of the account number(s).
Good luck. It sounds like a lot of money is involved and you might be wise to have legal counsel.
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