Oakland Personal Injury Attorney Blog

When a Single Racial Slur May Be Enough to Give You a Successful Discrimination Case in California

November 25, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

Having to endure racial slurs or epithets at work can be an extremely troubling thing, even if the word was used exactly once. In some situations, even just a single use of certain slurs or epithets can be enough to constitute the evidence you need for a successful workplace discrimination lawsuit under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. If that is something you’ve had to deal with at work, a favorable judgment and a substantial award of compensation may be within your reach, so contact an experienced Oakland employment discrimination attorney without delay.

Back in September, the Court of Appeal issued a ruling in an employment discrimination case that, while bad news for the employee who sued, represents potentially very good news for other workers who’ve heard certain slurs at work.

T.B., a Black woman who was an investigative assistant with a Bay Area district attorney’s office, became startled when a mouse ran through the area in which she was working. A coworker mocked her, saying, “you… is so scary.” There was, however, a word between “you” and “is.” That word was that profoundly toxic slur, the “n-word.”

A Tragic Chain Reaction Crash in Contra Costa County Kills 2 California Drivers

November 12, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

As a recent accident in Contra Costa County tragically demonstrated, chain reaction crashes are situations where minor problems can turn deadly in the blink of an eye. If you’ve been hurt – or have lost a loved one – due to one of these crashes, getting the compensation you need is of paramount importance, but proving your case can be particularly tricky. That’s why it is so important to be sure, when it comes time to litigate your chain reaction crash injury case, that you have the legal representation you need from a skilled Oakland car accident attorney.

California is home of three of the biggest chain reaction crashes ever. Two were in Southern California; one was near Fresno. In all three, weather conditions (foggy conditions and one dust storm) were key factors. However, in a lot of chain reaction crashes, including this recent one from Contra Costa County, the cause(s) for the accident relate to human judgments and errors rather than weather conditions.

The recent accident, which occurred near Hercules, was precipitated by a flat tire, CBS San Francisco reported. The driver of a Honda Accord stopped the vehicle in the furthest left travel lane of the freeway. The next driver in the left lane brought their Volkswagen to a stop behind the Accord. A second Honda Accord didn’t stop in time, though, and rear-ended the Volkswagen. The driver of a Honda Civic then rear-ended that second Honda Accord, the report indicated.

What the ‘Fair Chance Act’ and Its New Regulations Mean For California Job Applicants with Criminal Convictions in Their Past

October 29, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

People with criminal convictions in their past face many challenges as they seek to rebuild their lives and return to participating fully in society. One of the bigger challenges they face is discrimination in the job application process. Fortunately, the State of California enacted the Fair Chance Act in 2018, which significantly restricts what employers can do in terms of asking about your criminal history. If you’ve been removed from an employment applicant pool because of your past conviction, that employer may have broken the law. Contact an experienced Oakland employment attorney to learn more and find out what you can do.

The Fair Chance Act is a kind of “Ban the Box” law. The “box” in question is the one next to a job application question asking you about whether or not you have a criminal history. The Fair Chance Act bans this kind of question, requiring employers to forego seeking applicants’ criminal histories prior to extending a job offer.

Along the way, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has enacted various regulations that implement the Fair Chance Act, including some that were composed only recently and went into effect October 1, 2020.

A Motor Vehicle Crash Claims the Life of Yet Another California Bicyclist

October 15, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

Bicycle accidents in California are very dangerous and, many times, deadly. On average, roughly three bicyclists died each week in traffic crashes in 2018. If you’ve been hit by a car, truck or van while riding your bicycle, it is essential that you obtain legal representation from a skilled Oakland bicycle accident attorney as soon as possible. The sooner you obtain legal counsel, the sooner your attorney can begin amassing the evidence that may be critical to proving that the person who hit you was also legally liable and that you are entitled to receive compensation.

Crashes where a vehicle – especially a large one like a commercial truck or van – strikes a bicycle can often inflict massive, or even fatal, injuries on the person aboard the bicycle. A 67-year-old Oakland woman’s recent death is yet another tragic example.

The woman was riding her bicycle on Second Avenue near her home in the Eastlake district. As she proceeded southbound, a delivery driver behind the wheel of U-Haul van turned left from East 12th onto Second and into the bicyclist’s path. The van struck the bicyclist, and the local woman was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, the Mercury News reported.

A Tragic Truck Accident in California Takes the Life of a 12-Year-Old Child

September 30, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

A truck accident that occurred right here in the East Bay recently makes for a grim reminder of just how catastrophically harmful accidents involving semi-trucks can be. It also makes for a potent reminder of how important it is to get the right legal representation if you’ve been hurt in a big rig accident. The right Oakland injury attorney can help you make sure you’re getting everything you should from your injury lawsuit.

In that nearby accident, a Chevrolet Tahoe was traveling westbound on Interstate 580 near Airway Boulevard in Livermore when it and a “truck-tractor combination” collided, according to a Mercury News report. The collision caused the SUV to careen out of control and overturn, which ejected two children, a 12-year-old and an 8-year-old. The 12-year-old boy died, and the 8-year-old child suffered major injuries, the report stated.

Unfortunately, these kinds of accidents are not uncommon here in California. This state logged nearly 28,000 truck accidents that triggered almost 9,700 injuries and more than 350 deaths. This number represents a distinct upward trend, as there were only 296 deaths in 2015 and 259 in 2013.

What to Do When You Have Been Subjected to Discriminatory Humiliation and Abuse on the Job in California

September 15, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

About four years ago, a Fresno-area employment attorney wrote a blog post about a workplace discrimination case in which he gave employers the free advice of “don’t be a jerk.” OK, he didn’t use the work “jerk,” but you can still absorb the author’s main idea. Employers being jerks can do themselves quite a bit of damage. They may cause good employees to leave, good candidates to stay away and, sometimes, they may run afoul of discrimination law, particularly when it comes to creating hostile work environments. When you’ve faced that kind of harm on the job, it is important to reach out to an experienced Oakland employment attorney promptly.

Some employees may face bigger hurdles than others. For example, if you work for an employer that’s a church or church-related entity (such as, for example, a Catholic school,) then you may find that the discrimination you suffered at work may not be something upon which you can sue. That’s because of something called the “ministerial exception.” In fact, a U.S. Supreme Court case that recently ruled against two Catholic school teachers (one fired due to age and one fired due to disability,) made it clear just how broad the ministerial exception is.

Even when the hurdles are high, such as working for a religious employer, it is important to seek out capable legal advice before you decide to abandon your case. Sometimes, the totality of the facts in your case may still provide you with some legal avenue for compensation. For example, a religious employer may be able to demote or fire you because of your disability, age or sex, under the protection of the ministerial exception but, as one recent case illustrates, may be liable if it so humiliated, harassed and belittled you as to create a hostile work environment.

A Bank Executive in California Wins a $17M Wrongful Termination Judgment After Proving the Bank Fired Him to Avoid Paying Him a Bonus He’d Earned

August 27, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

Obviously, being a worker with duties that include the supervision and management of others is something that carries certain risks. One of those risks is that underperforming employees may become disgruntled at facing discipline for their deficiencies. One thing that shouldn’t be a risk of your job is being fired due to a false accusation lodged by a disgruntled subordinate. If that happens to you, you may have very good case for wrongful termination and the opportunity to recover very substantial amounts of compensation, so be sure to act promptly in retaining an experienced Oakland employment attorney.

The case of a bank vice president, and the multi-million dollar award he received, is a good illustration of what you can do… and how you can win. The employee, T.K., was a Sacramento-area senior vice president for a major national bank. In 2012, T.K. informed K.T., one of his subordinates, that he intended to place her on a “performance improvement plan,” which is a type of employment discipline against a worker with job-performance deficiencies.

Shortly after the vice president made the comment, K.T. complained to human resources about T.K.’s supposed gender discrimination and harassment. Less than two months later, the bank, having completed its investigation, fired T.K.

I Was Harassed on the Job But Didn’t Report It at Work. Can I Still Win a Harassment Case in California?

August 14, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

Workers who suffer discrimination and harassment on the job respond to it in different ways. Some may confront the harasser directly, others may approach their immediate supervisor, others may take the problem to their employer’s human resources (HR) department while still others may say nothing to people at work. If you are someone who falls into that last group, does your failure to speak out at work automatically mean that you cannot win a Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) case? No, it doesn’t… not even if your employer has policies about reporting discrimination and harassment! So, if you’ve been the target of workplace discrimination or harassment – whether or not you reported it or confronted it internally – you may be entitled to significant compensation, so be sure to reach out an experienced Oakland employment attorney without delay.

As an illustration of this aspect of California law, there’s the recent case of R.M., a worker at a major aerospace company’s El Segundo facility. The worker, during his nearly two decades with the company, allegedly endured comments and jokes that were blatantly racist. These included crass and offensive things like jokes about R.M. missing work to go to the zoo and visit his relatives there.

R.M. allegedly did not report the offensive comments to supervisors or to HR. He allegedly reached a breaking point one day in 2017 when a white coworker threw a piece of rope at him that was tied into the shape of a noose.

What You Can Do in California if Your Employer Has Punished You for Being a Caregiver for Family Members

July 27, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

With the challenges that have been created by the current pandemic, more and more people are wearing the dual “hats” of employee and caregiver for children or seniors. Whether you are a man or a woman, it is possible to face employment discrimination because you care for those family members, whether they’re your kids, your grandchildren, parents or other elders. While the Fair Employment and Housing Act does not currently list family responsibilities discrimination as a specific cause for suing and collecting damages, that doesn’t mean that you cannot win a case based on the workplace discrimination you suffered due to your family responsibilities. There potentially may be avenues available under the FEHA, so be sure to reach out to an experienced Oakland employment attorney about your situation.

D.R. was someone who allegedly faced this difficulty. She was an account executive for an insurance brokerage firm in San Diego, and was also a mom to two young children. According to a New York Times report, when the governor issued a statewide stay-at-home order, the executive began working from home. At home, she managed her work duties and also tended to her children (for whom she could not find childcare due to the stay-at-home order.)

Allegedly, the executive’s supervisor was not happy with D.R.’s juggling work and kids, and took several discriminatory actions, such as assigning her several tasks with “rush” deadlines (even though those tasks weren’t actually urgent) and frequently scheduling conference calls during the lunch hour, even though the supervisor knew that D.R. would be either nursing her youngest, feeding her oldest or putting the younger child down for a nap. The supervisor allegedly did this even after the executive stated that afternoon calls would be better as the younger child would be napping during that period, according to the Times report. D.R.’s supervisor reprimanded her after her children were heard on a call with a client, calling it “unprofessional,” and later told D.R. to “take care of your kid situation,” in addition to making many other sexist statements that demonstrated a clear bias against mothers, according to the mother’s lawsuit.

Coronavirus and How Your Employer’s Response May Have Violated Workplace Disability Discrimination Laws in California

July 14, 2020 | by Stephen M. Fuerch

The state of California set a bleak milestone recently as it surged past 300,000 total cases of coronavirus, according to Deadline. The Mercury News reported that, on July 12, Alameda County was added to the state’s coronavirus “watch list.” There are many ways that coronavirus can hurt you, but one way you perhaps hadn’t considered is the possibility of contracting the virus and recovering, only to be faced with discrimination when you try to return to work (due to your having had the virus.) If that happens to you, California’s discrimination laws may have options for you to obtain compensation for the harm you suffered, so be sure to contact an experienced Oakland employment attorney right away.

One of the first things that you should understand is, if you have tested positive, there are certain things that California’s law forbidding certain forms of workplace discrimination (the Fair Employment and Housing Act) says your employer can do, and other things it cannot.

The law in California may allow an employer to make certain demands of employees in order to ensure that the employee in question is capable of doing the job and doing it safely. These are called “fitness for duty” exams, and they typically include a medical examination and a certification from a medical professional that any safety concerns related to that worker’s return to the job no longer exist.