Legal Question in Employment Law in California
Hi, my question is in the area of discrimination/employment law.
Husband was employed with a CA company for more than 8 years. He had an untarnished record. All reviews, perfect above standard. He was even promoted to the IT dept about 4 years into his employment(currently was the only african american at the company). So he promotes, and goes through at least four managers. This last manager seemed to show he did not like african american people. He constantly belittled my husband in front of other employees and had regular outbursts towards him. My husband never took a sick day or even a vacaction day. Always the first guy there and the last one gone. His last review with this supervisor said everything was good except I need you to be more proactive. My husband said, "proactive." The supervisor said yes, "you know, you see a piece of paper on the floor and you pick it up." Husband thought that was a little stranger but took it in stride. My husband was abruptly let go from this job on June 13th I believe and was blindsided as he had never been written up or anything. In fact, they had brought someone else in for my husband to train to help with the workload. My husband was actually training a "white' senior position person when my husband was only a "junior" position. They would never move my husband to "senior" because they said he didn't know enough but he knew enough to train this person.
One other thing, although husband was a salary employee an and non-management, he worked far above the 40 hours a week as the company was a 24/7 company and therefore my husband was expected to be but was never compensated. Is this legal? He also once worked 4 days straight without going home from the company and was never compensated. Is this legal?
So basically to sum it up, you have an employee with exemplary, stellar employment record, never being promoted over his white counterparts, but when he was fired, they made him sign a piece of paper saying that he needed to sign this paper in order to get his last paycheck.
What he was signing and in a sense agreeing with because of his signature said:
Reason for termination: Falsifying company records and unacceptable work performance causing company risk
He did not believe a word on that paper but knew he needed his money. He said he never falsified any document and, he was just given a $5000 bonus 2 month earlier. I told him he shouldn't have signed it but he said when you are in that state of mind, the only thing you are thinking about is your money and you need that to survive.
Other company employees have been in meetings where my husbands name was thrown under the bus and blamed by his supervisor for things that were not even his responsibility. Husband has also received derogatory emails from this supervisor as well.
And the kicker to this whole thing is when a friend of my husband from the job emails him and brings to my husbands attention, and says, "think about it, who were the last three employees fired from the IT department?" He went through and named the names of these people and asked my husband, "and what did they all have in common?" They were all black. So now all the blacks in IT are gone.
My husbands friend that works at the company said, "I'm just giving you a heads up because I see what's happening here." So basically urging my husband to do something about this.
What do yo think, do you think he has a case?
5 Answers from Attorneys
I am sorry to hear about your husband's work situation. It sounds as if his race played at least some role in the new manager's decision to go after and ultimately terminate him. That is a clear violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Your husband needs to speak with an attorney soon in order to fully evaluate his case. My firm exclusively represents employees in situations like this, and I would be happy to speak with him and discuss his case. Please have him call my office at (213) 536-4236.
Just to add to Ms. Sarnoff's response, regarding the long work hours, if your husband is an exempt employee, which is probable given his position, he is not entitled to overtime pay. However, if he is non-exempt, he should have been paid overtime rates for any hours worked over 8 per day or 40 per week. It all depends on his status. This is something he can discuss if and when he calls to speak with a lawyer. Please have your husband call us at (213) 536-4236. We can discuss his situation and determine exactly what legal rights were violated.
Depending upon what your husband signed, if it contained 'release' language properly drafted, he may have no further claims he can pursue. If it was only a 'confession' of guilt as you describe, then he MAY be able to pursue discrimination and wage claims. He would have to be able to prove his allegations with witnesses and other evidence. If he is serious about trying to do so, feel free to contact me to discuss the facts.
As I understood the facts, your husband was required to sign the document in order to get his final paycheck, California Labor Code section 206.5 expressly states such a document is void under the law, even if it contained a "release" clause. However, if the document provided for a severence package, such as an additional payment beyond wages, then Mr. Nelson would be correct that any release language may prohibit future claims.
If you want, I would be happy to look at the signed document and let you know. You can email it to me at [email protected].
I would like to review the document and then pursue the wage claim and discrimination claim. This office has over 20 years experience in these matters. Contact me directly.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
