Los Angeles Employment Lawyer

Earlier this year, Brenda Biesterfield was working as a library aide in Lindsay, CA. On February 28th, she claims, she caught a library patron viewing child pornography on one of the public-access computers. Her supervisor instructed her not to call the police, to instead slip the patron a note telling him not to view pornography on that computer. Biesterfield complied, but the next day she went to the local police station to report what she had seen. She claims this decision cost her her job. Her supervisor claims that Biesterfield never specified that the patron was viewing child pornography, which is illegal.

If you have lost your job for following the law, you could be a victim of wrongful termination. For further information, contact Los Angeles employment attorney Perry Smith at (888) 356-2529.

Whitehall, a jewelers located in Fairfield, California recently settled a religious discrimination suit out of court. Plaintiff Shereen Attia filed the suit in July 2007 after being turned down for a job, allegedly because she wears a head scarf. Attia claims that she had previously worked at another jewlers owned by Whitehall until she lost her job when the store closed in April 2006, before she began wearing a head scarf. She had always been praised for her work there.

By the time she applied for the new position at Whitehall, she had begun wearing her head scarf on a daily basis. Her friend, who was not wearing a scarf, applied with her and was hired. Attia also claims that her former manager told her she was “shocked when I saw you with that head thing.” Attia also reports that the stores district manager commented “Oh no, not another one,” referring to another employee who also wears a head scarf.

If you have been the victim of discrimination while applying for a job, you need an experienced Los Angeles employment lawyer. Contact Perry Smith at (888) 356-2529.

A judge’s ruling in a Minnesota employment lawsuit against Wal-Mart could mean large fines for the enormously successful retail chain.

The recent decision in a wage and hour lawsuit filed by four female employees in September 2001 holds that Wal-Mart owes some $6.5 million to 56,000 employees for violations which include failing to give workers their promised rest breaks and shorting workers out of their 15-minute breaks.

Judge Robert R. King, Jr. said that Wal-Mart had violated state law in failing to keep records of over 325,000 shifts, as well as failing to appropriately modify time records for employees who were undergoing in-store training.

King did rule in favor of Wal-Mart on several issues, including an allegation that Wal-Mart managers made employees work off the clock during normal hours.

If Wal-Mart is ordered to pay the maximum $1,000 fine per violation for some 2 million offenses in which it deducted workers’ pay for going over allotted break time and denied over 70,000 meal breaks, it faces a financial penalty of $2 billion.

Has your employer violated wage and hour laws in the way they calculate your wages or time on the job? If so, contact Los Angeles employment lawyer Perry Smith at 888-356-2529 today.

The cost to employers who provide health insurance to their employees is increasing at an alarming rate, according to a recent study conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLP, an industry research firm.

A number of factors, including rising hospital fees, underfunding of public health programs, a growing number of uninsured Americans, and high prescription drug prices, are set to contribute to an expected 10% increase in health care costs for employers - nearly double the expected rate of inflation.

As health care costs go up, many employers are beginning to consider scaling back on their sponsored insurance policies, passing more costs onto employees, or eliminating the programs altogether.

For more information on issues relating to employee’s rights, contact Los Angeles employment attorney Perry Smith at 888-356-2529 today.

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund has filed a class-action suit on behalf of a practicing Sikh musician whose job application was rejected by Walt Disney World Co. in 2006.

According to the lawsuit, Sukhbir Channa, a Sikh American, was told by Disney officials that he was not the right applicant for the job because he lacked the “Disney look.” Channa claims that the statement was an insulting reference to the turban which he is required to wear by his religion.

The suit seeks $1 million in damages and a court order forbidding Disney from discriminating against Sikh employees and applicants.

If you have been the victim of discrimination on the job, contact Los Angeles employment lawyer Perry Smith at 888-356-2529 today.