Legal Question in Employment Law in California
I was retaliated against by my employer for speaking up for the employees, representing them in grievances and acting as their Wiengarten representative in my role as union shop steward and based on disabilities. My union staff has not helped. For over a year, I have been suffering discrimination, retaliation and harassment, including change of job assignment, denial of promotions or even lateral transfers, lock out of the office, exclusion from meetings & department wide e-mail, increased scrutiny, sudden poor performance reviews, denial of overtime as well as defamation of character. All of this has caused me mental anguish and emotional distress. I work for a County government agency in California and it appears that the union staff are in bed with management. But I can't seem to find an attorney that will take on the County and/or the union. Where can I turn?
3 Answers from Attorneys
It is probably a poor case unless you're willing to pay. There are definitely attorneys willing to sue the government but not any that will do it contingent on a very risky case.
It can be harder to find a lawyer for a public entity case because there are no punitive damages possible against a public entity employer, and that's one thing that contingent fee lawyers look for to make the case worth the risk. There are a lot of lawyers who do employment law, so keep looking. The California Employment Attorneys Association website, www.cela.org, lists 3 lawyers in your area who do public employee cases -- give them a call. If they can't help you, ask them if they can refer you to a colleague. Good luck.
1. Janean Acevedo Daniels
Law Office of Janean Acevedo Daniels
Phone: (805) 963-4694
Fax:(805) 456-2050
Email:[email protected]
WebSite: http://www.jadanielslaw.com
Practice Area: Public Employees | Employee Benefits/ERISA | Discrimination | Class Actions | Sexual Harassment | Union/Labor Law | Wage & Hour | Whistleblower | Wrongful Termination
2. Dan W. Green, Attorney At Law
Phone: (805) 773-4705
Fax:(805) 922-7979
Email:[email protected]
WebSite: http://www.danwgreen.com
Language: English
Practice Area: Wrongful Termination | Whistleblower | Wage & Hour | Sexual Harassment | Public Employees | Drug Testing | Discrimination
3. Garry M. Tetalman
Law Office of Garry M. Tetalman
Phone: (805) 879-7518
Fax:(805) 456-0561
Email:[email protected]
WebSite: http://www.tetalmanlaw.com
ALL such job issues and retaliation claims for you are covered by your CBU. Your union is supposed to represent and protect you from retaliation. IF the union utterly fails to do ANYTHING AT ALL for you, not even accepting a grievance filing, then you might have a right to sue both the employer and the union in federal court. Expect to have difficulty in finding an attorney willing to do so, and expect to spend substantial fees and costs, with no assurance of success in the case.
You have now learned the harsh reality of union membership and management. You gave up your civil rights when you joined the union.
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