Practice Areas
Wrongful
Termination
Although the general rule in California is that employment is "at-will,"
the law does provide many circumstances in which an employee may not be
terminated. It is when these circumstances are present that a claim
for wrongful termination may be made. This claim is also referred to
as "wrongful discharge" and may be referred to as "constructive discharge"
if an employee is forced to quit under certain circumstances. The law
of wrongful termination in California can be complicated and it may be
difficult for you to figure out yourself whether you have been subjected to
a "wrongful" termination as opposed to a termination that is simply
"unfair." Not all "unfair" terminations are "wrongful" and this is
where a competent employment lawyer can help you determine whether you have
a claim worth pursuing. If you believe you have a claim for wrongful
termination, please contact us today to see if you qualify for a free
consultation.
Unpaid
Wages (Including Overtime)Unpaid wage claims--especially unpaid
overtime claims--are very common in California at present. This is
likely because (1) California's "wage and hour" laws can be difficult to
apply correctly even for sophisticated employers and (2) many employers
simply try to get away with violations of these laws because they can be
costly to implement. Many employers and employees believe that
simply because an employee is paid on a "salary" basis, the employee is
not entitled to overtime premiums. This is not necessarily true
and this misconception has cost employers millions of dollars.
Perry Smith has obtained judgments and settlements totaling many
millions of dollars for employees who have been wrongfully denied
overtime premiums, other wages, meal breaks and rest breaks and
reimbursement for expenses.
Discrimination/Harassment
The law of discrimination and harassment in employment is often
misunderstood by employees and employers. Unfortunately, many kinds of
discrimination and harassment are still common in the workplace. Some
of the discrimination and harassment is against the law and some of it is
not. A competent employment lawyer can assist you in determining
whether you have been subjected to unlawful discrimination or harassment.
If you believe you have been discriminated against or harassed unlawfully,
please contact us to see if you qualify for a free consultation.
Other
ClaimsThere are many other claims that can arise in an employment
relationship and Perry Smith's law firm has handled just about all of
them (see the cases we do not take, below). These claims include
retaliation, breach of contract, defamation, intentional or negligent
infliction of emotional distress and several other claims. If you
believe you have a case against your employer/former employer, please
contact us to see if you qualify for a free consultation.
Cases
We Do Not TakeWe do not take workers' compensation cases.
We also do not represent employees against government employers such as
states, cities, counties, federal government, etc. We do not
represent these "public employees" because there are different rules and
time limitations that apply to these employees that do not necessarily
apply to employees in the private sector and our practice is focused on
employees in the private sector.