CHAUVEL & GLATT, LLP

Record high temperatures abound throughout California.   The National Weather Service has issued multiple heat advisories and Employers need to know what to do when the California sun shines bright. 

Companies need to protect their employees outside and inside. This includes providing your employees fresh, clean water, access to shade (for temperatures over 80 degrees outside or over 82 degrees indoors), cool down breaks (in addition to their regular rest breaks and meal periods).  The water should be located as close to the work area as possible and free of charge.  If employees request cool down rest breaks, let them take one.   Encourage them to do so in extremely hot temperatures especially when working in direct sunlight.   Make sure supervisors/managers are trained on these requirements and know what heat illness is and keep an eye out for such symptoms and remind your employees to drink water.   

Employers need to make sure their Illness & Injury Prevention Programs (IIPP) are up to date, including implementation of an effective IIPP that includes procedures for providing water, shade, preventative rest periods and observation if symptoms of heat illness arise.    Employers, make sure you address heat illness with your employees, whether inside (restaurants, warehouses, manufacturing facilities for example) or outside (construction, agricultural, transportation, landscaping as examples).

For more information on how to prevent heat illness with these rising temperatures throughout California, understanding what a proper IIPP policy looks like, to ensure your heat illness injury prevention policy is up to date, call the Employment Lawyers of Chauvel & Glatt.

Litigation, put simply, is the process of taking legal action. Employment litigation is when it takes place in the wide gamut of employment disputes as a last resort. At Chauvel & Glatt, our goal is consistent: to resolve employment disputes and associated claims as quickly as possible and by exhausting all other methods, such as mediation or arbitration when a valid arbitration agreement is in place.

An Employment Litigation Attorney Seeks to Avoid Litigation.

Most employment disputes are resolved without going to trial; however, there are times when going to trial is unavoidable. So; how to choose an employment lawyer? Do your homework, and select a firm that knows federal and California employment laws inside and out. At Chauvel & Glatt, we do.

Our history is steeped in experience navigating employment law for our clients so that each and every client has the best chance of success in avoiding litigation – and successfully arriving at the most favorable resolution when litigation is necessary.

The Employment Litigation Process Can Be Long.

The discovery phase is when the parties seek to uncover pre-trial issues that may arise in the trial phase. It should help the parties to avoid surprises by collecting sound evidence in support of our client’s position. Essentially, anything that can lead to admissible evidence in the case will be ferreted out during this phase.

The employment litigation process can also involve motion practice, which equates to rules-based requests that happen prior to going to trial, written and filed with the hope of NOT going to a full trial. They happen when the parties involved disagree on various aspects of the claim, or complaint.

Examples of motions include motion for a preliminary injunction, defendant’s motion to dismiss, discovery motions , pre-trial and trial phase motions involving evidentiary objections (think of an attorney saying, “I object,” to potential violations of evidence or testimony presented in a trial).

There is a statute of limitations employment lawsuits are governed by for various types of employment disputes, which some businesses and organizations may not be familiar with, which is yet another reason to work with an employment litigation attorney rather than try to go it alone.

Examples of Employment Litigation Cases

Wage and Hour Disputes: These are among the most common types of employment disputes and can occur when there are claims against employers by employees related to overtime pay, meal and rest breaks and minimum wage requirements.

Employment Discrimination Claims: Employers cannot discriminate against employees based on race, age, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, gender identification or sex. California laws under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) are created with the intention of protecting employees from experiencing a hostile work environment due to discrimination for any of the reasons mentioned above.

Sex-based wage discrimination is yet another form of discrimination that may result in claims against employers. According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website, “The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work.” This applies to all categories of pay and benefits.

Workplace Harassment Claims: Discrimination is one form of potential harassment. Others include bullying, unwelcome advances or touching, offensive language or insults, verbal abuse, threats, quid pro quo requests, inappropriate emails or social media posts – behaviors by the employer or a co-worker/s that make another employee feel that they are receiving persistent, unwanted attention that is impacting the employee’s ability to perform their responsibilities in a non-hostile work environment.

Wrongful Termination Disputes: According to the usa.gov website, “Wrongful termination happens when your employer fires you for an illegal reason.” Reasons may include discrimination, violation of a federal or state labor law, reporting or refusing to participate in harassment, reporting or refusing to conduct an illegal act or safety violation, or failure to follow the company’s or organization’s termination policies.

Retaliation Claims: An employer cannot retaliate in any adverse way against an employee for reporting violations or becoming involved in employment investigations that are protected by workplace rights. These include but are not limited to suspected harassment, safety violations, discriminatory practices, or disability accommodations. A company’s first line of defense should be to engage with an employment law firm that understands the situations in which this can happen, how to avoid them, the nuances, and the repercussions if violations occur.

Employment Contract Disputes: Chauvel & Glatt is an employment law firm with much experience in negotiating executive compensation and severance agreements. That means that when there is an employment contract dispute, we understand how to arrive at a successful resolution.

How Employment Litigation Can Best Be Avoided

The best defense against the above mentioned claims is to have legally created policies, procedures, and mandated training methods in place. This requires in-depth knowledge of both state and federal anti-discrimination laws and guidelines, as well as the criteria for what is required for employers of specific sizes of employee populations. At Chauvel & Glatt, we are well-prepared to prepare businesses and organizations of any size well. If the unfortunate situation of a discrimination claim arises, our employment litigation experience is incredibly solid, and we will navigate the way to the very best outcome possible.

We believe our success rate in employment law speaks for itself, but we would also like for potential clients to see what other clients that have engaged us have to say about our expertise in employment law. Here is just one example:

“We have been dealing with April and her team and have nothing but good things to say. They get back to us quickly, and help us with legal compliance and HR on a myriad of issues. We use Chauvel & Glatt to maintain our employee manual, which has come in handy many times. They are responsive, often extremely so, (same day turn around, etc), and the costs of the service have been in line with our expectations (No surprises!). I highly recommend their firm for employers needing legal support for managing their employee relationships and many other business legal issues.” – Alexander H