Legal Question in Employment Law in California

I've been passed over for promotion 3 times and on hold the fourth for over 4 months with reason of boss wanting the "best" candidate; this action and many others after reporting coworker to government agency for DUI while out on leave. Coworker terminated after my reporting them and later committed suicide. My boss was physically watching me daily and reporting her findings to her superior for what she deemed as potential performance issues due to me asking for training to do a duty I had not done in over 4-5 yrs. This was about a month (termed temporal proximity?) after I reported the coworker who was friends with both superiors. I've had duties taken away such as scheduling and given to boss's good buddy. I've not been allowed to move up or out of dept. I've been scheduled to cover 6 out of 7 months of meetings and missed information. I've not been selected for several positions I've applied to even when they "preferred" a bachelor's degree which I hold but, selected their best friends for the jobs. My salary has been kept lower than even those I helped interview and hire. I have emails and proof of many of these actions. Can anyone help me?


Asked on 11/11/13, 3:03 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

Not only are there no laws in CA against poor management, 'unfair treatment', or rude, obnoxious or harassing behavior by management or other employees, but in general, unless an employee is civil service, in a union, or has a written employment contract, they are an 'at will' employee that can be disciplined or terminated any time for any reason, with or without �cause�, explanation or notice. Those rules mean in your case that promotion is not a 'right', and is subject to mgmt discretion and whim.

That is, UNLESS the mgmt conduct is actually based upon discrimination, harassment or retaliation as defined as �illegal� under the ADA [disability], Civil Rights [age, race, sex, ethnic, religion, pregnancy, etc], FMLA [medical leave], Whistle-blower, or similar statutes. Any employee's goal should be to keep their supervisors happy and make them look good to the company, and make the company money. That�s how the company pays employee wages. If you don't, then don't be surprised to be replaced, or at least to be passed over.

Now if the conduct was illegal under the above definitions, feel free to contact me for the legal help you�ll need.

Read more
Answered on 11/11/13, 5:28 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Labor and Employment Law questions and answers in California