At Eldessouky Law, our commitment to protecting the rights of Compton, CA employees is unmatched throughout the State of California. With more than 96,000 people calling the Los Angeles County city home, it is important to our Compton employment lawyer that anyone who has concerns about the circumstances or conditions of their employment has a trusted resource they can contact.
The California labor and employment laws specifically protect the rights of employees in Compton and preserve their entitlement to a workplace free of unlawful employment behavior. Our Compton employment firm works tirelessly to ensure that employees in this city understand their rights and how a hostile work environment counters their productivity.
Wrongful termination and retaliation are not the only trying conditions in the workplace. Wage and hour claims are still a concern in several industries across the US, and disability discrimination continues to be a challenge that faces workers in this community.
If you have questions about your rights as an employee in California or wish to discuss your case confidentially with one of our experienced California employment attorneys, contact our office at 714-409-8991 or fill out one of our contact forms online.
Economy and Top Employers in Compton, CA
Whether you are working in retail, industry, manufacturing or in education, all employees deserve to spend their days in a hostility-free work environment. No matter how large or small an employer is, these rights apply to all workplaces.
The largest employers in Compton, CA include:
- Compton Unified School District
- IPS
- Food 4 Less
- Murray Company
- Guildcraft of California
- Visionaire Lighting
- AVC
- Gourmet Foods
- Techmer PM
It is immaterial if you have three or three hundred co-workers in your workplace, California employment laws are designed to protect you from unlawful activity. If your employer is breaking the law, we want to hear about it. Contact Eldessouky Law to schedule a free consultation to explain your rights and options for redress.
Standing Up for the Employment Rights of Compton CA Workers: Eldessouky Law Practice Areas
Employment law is our key focus at Eldessouky Law. Our Compton employment disability discrimination attorney prides himself on providing solutions for employees who are suffering from the instability that comes along with an unlawful situation at work.
We routinely protect employees focusing on the following practice areas:
- Discrimination
- Hostile work environment
- Severance agreements, terms, and enforcement
- Sexual harassment
- Wage and hour cases, including overtime pay discrepancy claims
- Wrongful termination, including retaliation cases, including whistleblower claims
If you are enduring an unlawful experience at work, including discrimination, unpaid wages or a lack of access to breaks and meals during the workday, our Compton labor attorney wants to hear from you today. All California employees are entitled to the expectation of a safe, fair and just workplace environment and it is our legal obligation to ensure this is true for everyone.
What’s the Interactive Process in California?
Getting doctor notes while on a medical leave and sending them to human resources has historically created problems for both employees and employers.
Suffering a disability is difficult under most circumstances. But having to deal with a disability while still being expected to work to the standard of non-disabled employees is even more difficult. Under California and federal laws, employers are expected to take reasonable measures to enable challenged employees perform their job more effectively.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodation” to qualified employees or applicants with disabilities. For instance, a teacher who was terminated because she was unable to reach above shoulder level to write on a board was held to have required reasonable accommodation.
Whenever the fact of this disability comes to their attention, they are expected to immediately engage in a timely, good faith interactive process to determine the needs of qualified employees.
The simple purpose of the interactive process is to ensure that employers take the initiative in protecting the workplace rights of challenged or impaired employees. Since many of these employees may either have an incomplete understanding of their rights or may not know how to broach the subject, employers should take the lead.
The employer should determine the need for reasonable accommodation and do their best to provide such accommodation by:
- Ascertaining the need for an accommodation
- Establishing legal rights and responsibilities
- Conducting an interactive dialogue
- Deciding whether accommodations are reasonable
- Considering a health examination
- Selecting an accommodation
According to the California Court of Appeals, “the interactive process is a mandatory, rather than a permissive obligation on the part of employers…” Jensen v. Wells Fargo Bank, 85 Cal.App.4th 245, 261
Under the Disability Regulations published by the Department of Fair Housing and Employment, the obligation to engage in the interactive process is triggered when:
- The employee requests for reasonable accommodation;
- The employer becomes aware of the need for an accommodation, either by observation or through a third party; or
- An employee with a disability exhausts the leave provided under some other law, such as pregnancy disability leave, and remains unable to work.
Importantly, the disability discrimination laws do not require that an employee make a special request for accommodation. In fact, they do not need to use words such as “accommodation” or “disability” in making their request. All that is required is to make knowledge of their difficulties or limitations regarding their job duties known to the employer. Smith v. Midland Brake, Inc., 180 F.3d 1154, 1171-1172 (10th Cir. 1999)
What Happens When the Interactive Process is Triggered?
As soon as the fact of an employee’s disability comes to the notice of the employer, the obligation to begin a discussion is triggered. The Disability Regulations specify in sec. 7294.0 that when this happens, both the employer and employee, or their representatives must exchange essential information without delay or obstruction of the process.
Circumstances that will amount to obstruction or delay include:
- The employer starting the interactive process and abandoning discussions halfway through
- Failure to undergo the process in good faith on the part of the employer
- Overseeing only a superficial process that does not really address the employee’s challenges or concerns
- Intentionally proposing measures that are either ridiculous or inappropriate in the situation
If you believe your employer has become aware of your challenges but has failed to engage in the interactive process or done so in bad faith, let our disability discrimination lawyer at Eldessouky Law know. We can help you hold them accountable for their failure and recover compensation for the harm done to you.
Reach Out to Eldessouky Law for an Understanding of Your Rights
Do not let the unlawful situation you are enduring continue. For a proper understanding of your rights and options for redress, contact the Compton employment lawyer at Eldessouky Law at 714-409-8991 today.
