Torrance Employment Lawyer

Employment Law Attorney in Torrance, CA

It can be traumatic to be fired for unlawful grounds or subjected to discrimination at work. In California, you might be able to file a claim to get paid for the losses you suffered as a result of the regrettable event. A Torrance employment lawyer can assist you if you have experienced unlawful discrimination at work.

Our Torrance Attorneys

Raymond E.Hane III

Our Founding Attorney

Nicholas A.Hane, Esq.

Trial Counsel

Meet Our Team

Why Choose California Employment Counsel, APC?

A complex legal system governs the relationship between employers and employees. We provide legal help and representation on a range of workplace issues. Our team assists employees with their claims about wage and hour concerns, retaliation, harassment, and discrimination. When our Torrance employment lawyers pursue legal action in the manner that is most suitable for you, we can help ensure that your rights are upheld.

Our employment lawyers can review the specifics of your case and determine the most appropriate course of action. We can represent you in court if your matter proceeds to trial. The experienced team at California Employment Counsel, APC, is able to advocate for your rights and get you the compensation you are due.

How a Torrance Employment Lawyer Can Help

Like many other states, California is an at-will employment state, meaning that employers are permitted to end employee relationships for virtually any reason. If, however, this firing violates public policy or is prohibited by state or federal law, you may bring a wrongful termination claim to receive compensation.

It is also illegal in California and the rest of the nation to treat someone unfairly or to discriminate against them because they belong to a protected class. In the event that you have experienced discrimination or an unjust termination, an attorney can provide you with the legal help you need to pursue damages. A Torrance employment lawyer can assist you in situations such as wage and overtime violations, workplace discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation, and harassment.

An attorney can investigate your workplace for areas of wrongdoing. If your situation results in a claim, they can assist you through the process by preparing legal documentation, negotiating settlements, representing you in court, helping you receive financial compensation, and providing you with legal guidance while informing you of your rights.

It’s important to note that past case successes do not guarantee future case outcomes.

Workplace Discrimination

It is prohibited by both the country and state to discriminate against an employee in the workplace on the basis of specific attributes, such as religion or age. These protected classes in California include the following:

• Medical condition
• Age
• Political associations
• Veteran status
• Race
• Religion
• Sexual orientation
• Pregnancy
• Gender
• Ancestry
• Sex
• Disability

The EEOC received 88,531 new discrimination complaints in fiscal year 2024 alone, which is nearly 9% more than the total number of violations reported in fiscal year 2023. Furthermore, through the agency contact center, the EEOC collected over 553,000 calls and 90,000 emails from the public, an increase of about 6% and nearly 5%, respectively, from fiscal year 2023.

California At-Will Employment

California is an at-will employment state, which means that any party may terminate an employment relationship at any time, for almost any reason, and with or without notice. Although this system offers freedom to employees, some employers have read these restrictions to mean they have complete control over firing workers for any reason.

Even though employment is at-will, it is still forbidden to fire an employee for an unlawful reason, such as sexual harassment. Workers who were unfairly let go have the right to pursue legal action against their employers in civil court for this behavior.

California Labor Laws

California maintains labor laws to make sure your company is managing all matters and complaints legally. Workers’ rights like pay, breaks, and other benefits are covered by these laws. These rights include, among others:

• Providing reasonable accommodations. The California Fair Housing and Employment Act requires employees to provide reasonable accommodations to those who are pregnant, have a disability, or need religious accommodations.
• Wage and pay. Pay must be equal among those who perform identical jobs. There are also wage laws in place to provide employees with fair compensation, such as minimum wage requirements and overtime pay.
• Protection from retaliation. An employee cannot be retaliated against for filing complaints regarding unfair, discriminatory, or unsafe working conditions. Retaliation can include harassment, termination, or creating a hostile work environment.
• Rest periods, which should last ten minutes and are paid for every four hours worked, are a requirement for employers. Meal breaks, which must last at least 30 minutes for every five hours worked, are another entitlement of employees. Breastfeeding mothers have the right to express milk during nursing intervals. They must also have access to a quiet place where they can do this.
• Leaves of absence. Employers must abide by significant regulations regarding vacation time and leaves of absence. Additionally, California offers Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits. Under PFL, an employee’s income is partially replaced while they tend to a seriously ill family member or establish a bond with a new child. Additionally, employers are required to offer paid sick leave, which allows eligible employees to use up to 40 hours per year for preventative care, personal illness, or seeking assistance for problems related to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.
• Workplace safety. Training on safe workplace practices must be in place to comply with the California Occupational Safety and Health Act (Cal/OSH Act). This requires that employers to provide and maintain a safe and healthy work environment for their employees.

Wrongful Termination

Employers may have their own exceptions to at-will employment. However, you may be able to file a claim if you were terminated under these specific circumstances:

• You were discriminated against. Employers cannot terminate you for the sole reason of your status in a protected class, such as firing you based on your race or veteran status.
• Your political activities. If you were fired for expressing your political views or participating in political-related activities, you may be able to file a claim against your employer for wrongful termination.
• You were retaliated against. If you suffered termination based on speaking up about an injustice at work, you may be entitled to compensation. This also applies to employers who created a work environment so hostile that it drove them to resign.
• The employer practiced fraudulent activity. If your employer hired you based on dishonest methods, such as making promises that were never fulfilled, you may be able to file a claim against them, especially if these fraudulent actions led you to resign.

California Workplace Claims: Understanding Time Limits 

If you have been discriminated against, harassed, retaliated against, denied proper wages, or wrongfully terminated from your job, you do not have an unlimited amount of time to file a claim against your employer. Both California and federal employment laws require claims to be filed within specific time periods, known as statutes of limitations. If you wait too long to file your claim, you could lose your right to pursue compensation.

In California, most employment-related claims for discrimination, harassment, and retaliation are required to be filed first with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). In general, employees have three years from the date of the violation to file an administrative complaint with CRD, and one year from the issuance of a Right-to-Sue notice to file a claim in court.

Federal claims are subject to different statutes of limitations. For instance, certain claims filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) must be filed within 300 days. Wage and hour complaints also involve different limitation periods, depending on the type of violation alleged. California provides three or four years for many wage claims.

Time limits for filing wrongful termination claims vary as well. This depends on whether the termination was due to illegal discrimination or retaliation, a breach of contract, or a violation of public policy. Since many workplace disputes involve violations of multiple laws, identifying the correct statute of limitations can quickly become complex.

Not only can waiting to consult an attorney cause you to miss filing deadlines, but it also makes substantiating your claim harder. Evidence is lost as time passes. Digital records like emails and texts are purged, security footage is overwritten, and witnesses can relocate or simply not remember what happened.

Hire an Employment Lawyer

Employees often delay contacting an attorney because they think things may get better or are afraid of retaliation from their employer. When you hire an employment lawyer early, it can make a difference in your claim.

Your Torrance employment attorney can advise you about how to preserve evidence that may be important for your claim. It also allows your attorney to guide you regarding important details, such as keeping a record of events, saving copies of any important emails or messages, identifying potential witnesses, and following your employer’s internal complaint procedures. These initial steps can make your claim much stronger.

Contacting an employment attorney soon after the wrongful conduct occurs can also protect you from retaliation. Employers are not allowed to retaliate against employees for reporting discrimination, harassment, wage violations, dangerous working conditions, and other violations. If you do experience retaliation, your attorney can take immediate action to protect your rights and may be able to include those damages in your claim as well.

Employment claims typically involve negotiation with your employer, its human resources department, insurance company, and defense attorney. You need an experienced attorney advocating for you. With a skilled lawyer on your side, you can better challenge a large organization.

What Our Clients Say

Melissa M.

Ray and Nick were an amazing team to work with during a very hard time in my life. Both worked diligently on a resolution and I am happy to say…

Angelina M.

I was lost and calling around for advice to help me with my work situations. Nick was there to help me through it all even when he wasn’t my lawyer…

Emily B.

When I first reached out to Ray and Melissa, I had been terminated from my position for complaining of sexual harassment. Immediately I knew I was in good hands with…

Read More Reviews

Damages For Your Claim

You might be able to bring a claim to get compensation for the losses you endured as a result of the abuse or wrongful termination if you were unjustly fired or subjected to unfair treatment at work. The specific facts of your employment case and the supporting documentation you provide determine whether or not these damages can be awarded. Among the damages you could recover are:

• Lost wages. Lost wages include all the payments you would have received had you not been wrongfully terminated. This includes your salary, overtime, bonuses, and any other financial incentives that would have been provided to you. This also includes future lost wages, such as the time between when you were terminated and your impending court or settlement date.
• Lost benefits. In the event of a wrongful termination, you may be entitled to compensation for lost benefits from your job, such as profit-sharing, stocks, pension, retirement options, and health and dental insurance. You can evaluate these losses and determine a damage award that fairly quantifies them in monetary terms with the assistance of an employment attorney.
• Psychological distress. In addition to the financial consequences, experiencing an illegal firing can result in psychological distress, including but not limited to fear, shame, depression, and anxiety.
• Pain and suffering. In some circumstances involving wrongful termination, you might be eligible to pursue compensation for your pain and suffering. This type of compensation would normally only be awarded by a jury if your employer’s actions were so egregious or damaging that they directly caused you to suffer, as confirmed by an assessment from a mental health professional.
• Attorney costs. While this is normally an expense that you would be responsible for, there are some instances where you may be entitled to be reimbursed for this cost. An attorney can inform you if you are eligible to include this in your claim.
• Punitive damages. Punitive damages may be available to you in specific situations, such as when your wrongful termination involves actions that may be considered extremely heinous, such as actions made with intentional malicious intent.This type of damage is not meant to make up for your losses but to serve as a form of punishment to hold your employer accountable and discourage future similar actions. This amount goes above what you need to recover your damages, and the total amount is decided in court on a case-by-case basis.

You are obligated to attempt to mitigate these damages even when seeking compensation for your losses. This means that you must actively try to seek other employment opportunities to overcome the losses. If you waited an extended period of time to look for additional work or never sought employment at all, your total awarded damages may be lowered.

The purpose of this is to prevent employees from gathering lost wages from an employer when it is reasonably believed they would have found a new job to compensate for their losses.

Contact a Torrance Employment Lawyer at California Employment Counsel, APC Today

Suffering workplace mistreatment can be a difficult experience. We know that employment law can also be difficult to understand. If you have been wrongfully terminated or mistreated at work, an attorney at California Employment Counsel, APC, can help. Contact us today for more information.

Torrance Employment Law Resources

• What Are Common California Labor Law Violations?
• How Do I File a Labor Dispute in California?
• What Is California At-Will Employment?
• Can I File a Claim Against My Employer for Favoritism in California?