California Employment Law Blog
Fired After Reporting a Work Injury in California? How to Prove Retaliation
If you were fired after reporting a work injury in California, there is a real possibility what happened to you was illegal retaliation. This scenario shows up over and over again. An employee gets hurt on the job, reports the injury as the law requires, and suddenly...
Fired After Being Injured on the Job in California: A $500,000 Case Study
Fired after being injured on the job is something no California employee expects to happen, but it happens every day. You get hurt doing your job. You report the injury. You need medical treatment or time off to recover. And instead of support, things change. The...
Can My Employer Change My Commission After the Sale in California?
You closed the deal. The customer signed. The revenue hit the books. Then your employer changed your commission after the sale and acted as if that was perfectly normal. Maybe they said the deal was “too big,” maybe they suddenly discovered “discretion” in the plan,...
Closed the Deal, Lost the Commission: California Law on Post-Sale Commission Theft
You did everything right. You sourced the lead, ran the process, dealt with the demos, the internal approvals, the legal reviews, and the procurement delays. You closed the deal. Then, after the fact, the commission you expected to be paid either vanished or was...
Fired for Refusing Unsafe Work: A California Retaliation Case Study
When an employee refuses unsafe work and is then terminated, California law takes that seriously. When the employer responds by offering an explanation that does not hold up under basic scrutiny, the law tends to respond even more seriously. I’m Matt Ruggles and I’ve...
How Executives Negotiate Severance After a Merger or Layoff
How executives negotiate severance after a merger or layoff is rarely discussed openly, even though mergers are routinely sold as exercises in efficiency, synergy, and strategic alignment. For corporate executives, however, mergers often carry a quieter subtext:...
How We Tripled a California Enterprise Sales Executive’s Severance
California severance negotiation is rarely straightforward for high-earning enterprise sales executives. When compensation is driven by commissions tied to large, long-cycle deals, severance discussions often intersect with disputes over earned commissions, clawback...
What Is and Is Not Workplace Harassment Under California Law
What is (and what is not) workplace harassment under California law is a question many employees struggle with when work becomes tense or uncomfortable. Workplaces are full of friction. Deadlines, office politics, pressure, personalities, power dynamics, and stress...
Fired While on Medical Leave in California? What to Know About Return to Work Dates
How Indefinite Return-to-Work Dates Can Make or Break a California Disability Discrimination Claim If you were fired while on medical leave in California, you may be wondering whether what happened to you was disability discrimination under state law. That is a fair...
Will My Employer Revoke a Severance Offer If I Try to Negotiate in California?
You’ve been offered severance. You read it once. Then again. And the same thought keeps coming back: this feels low. It is not generous. It does not reflect your time, your role, or the way things actually ended. You suspect you may have leverage to ask for more, but...
My Boss Touched Me Inappropriately at a Work Event: What Should I Do First Under California Law?
If your boss touched you inappropriately at a work event, it can be shocking, confusing, and deeply unsettling. Many women question whether it “counts” because it happened at a holiday party, conference, offsite retreat, client dinner, or team happy hour. Under...
Large Unpaid Wage Claims in California: How to Recover When Your Employer Won’t Pay
Large unpaid wage claims in California arise when an employer fails to pay an employee what they have already earned and the amount owed is significant (tens of thousands of dollars or more). This is not about a small payroll mistake or a missed hour of overtime. It...
Negotiating Severance for California Finance and Fintech Employees
If you work in finance, fintech, or financial technology and were just laid off in California, you are probably staring at a severance agreement and wondering what happens next. Questions about bonuses, RSUs, and equity come up immediately, especially when your...
Did My Employer Follow the FEHA Interactive Process? A California Employee’s Guide
When you tell your employer you have a disability, you expect cooperation. Instead, many California employees get pushback. HR stops returning calls. Managers get annoyed. Suddenly your job duties change, your schedule shifts, or you start getting treated like a...
Wrongful Termination Lawyer for Executives Falsely Accused of Harassment in California
California Executives Falsely Accused of Sexual Harassment: How to Protect Your Career and Fight Wrongful Termination If you’re a California executive falsely accused of sexual harassment, you already know how quickly your career can go from steady to freefall. One...
California Disability Discrimination in Employment: A Guide to Your Rights Under the FEHA
California disability discrimination in employment happens more often than most employees realize. If you’re dealing with a temporary or permanent disability or medical condition, the law expects your employer to work with you to identify solutions that keep you...
Severance Negotiation for California Entertainment Industry Executives
If you work in California’s entertainment industry and you see the writing on the wall, you already know what’s coming. When a studio, streamer, production company, or agency decides to make a change, it happens fast. One week you’re developing a slate, running a...
Severance Negotiation for California Healthcare Executives
If you are a California healthcare executive and you were just handed a severance agreement, you already know how fast the ground can shift under you. One day you are leading a hospital division, overseeing clinical operations, managing compliance risk, or guiding a...
Severance Negotiation for California Sales Executives: How to Protect Your Bonus, Commission, and Equity
If you are a sales executive in California and your company just terminated your employment and handed you a severance agreement, you are already in the middle of the fight. Severance negotiation for California sales executives is never simple, because your...
RSUs After a Layoff in California: Can I Retain Them?
The status of RSUs after a layoff in California raise immediate questions for employees in the technology, startup, fintech, and enterprise sales sectors. Restricted stock units have become a major part of compensation, and companies use RSUs to recruit talent,...
Appeal Deadlines for Labor Commissioner Decisions: What California Employees Must Know
If you recently won a wage dispute in front of the California Labor Commissioner and your employer is now threatening to appeal, the next step is understanding how appeal deadlines for Labor Commissioner decisions actually work. Your hearing is handled by the Division...
California Severance Negotiation Lawyer: How We Increased a Two-Week Offer to Six Months of Pay
If you’ve just been handed a lowball severance offer and you’re wondering whether there’s any realistic way to increase it, you’re not imagining the problem. Employers don’t hand out more severance out of goodwill. They only increase an offer when they’re worried...
Driving a Company Vehicle in California? You May Be Owed Pay for Commute Time
Many employees driving a company vehicle in California are underpaid without realizing it. If your workday begins the moment you leave home in a company truck or van, whether you are picking up tools, following a required route, or heading straight to your first stop,...
Can I Challenge an Arbitration Agreement in California After I’ve Signed It?
Many California employees wonder whether they can challenge an arbitration agreement in California after they’ve signed it. Employers often require workers to sign these agreements when they start a job (or even months later) stating that any disputes must go to...
California Workplace Harassment Case Study: How One Employee Fought Back
Being harassed at work is one of the most isolating experiences a person can go through. You start questioning yourself. You wonder if anyone will believe you or if speaking up will only make things worse. Maybe you have already complained to HR and been brushed off,...
What to Do If Your Boss Sexually Harasses You at Work in California
If your boss is sexually harasses you at work in California, it can feel like you’re trapped. You depend on your job for your income, your reputation, and your future. When the person controlling those things crosses the line, it’s more than uncomfortable. It’s an...
Proactive Severance Negotiation in California: 13 Mistakes to Avoid
Most executives sense their role is unstable long before termination, but most wait too long to act. Executives convince themselves that the reorganization will settle or that loyalty will be rewarded. By the time they recognize the signs (or are actually terminated),...
California Severance Payment: 5 Tricks and 5 Treats
A California severance payment can look like a gift, but it often hides a few surprises. When a severance agreement lands on your desk, it can feel a little like Halloween. Some offers are genuine treats, while others come wrapped as tricks. Employers know that when...
California Severance Negotiation After Layoffs: What to Know Before You Sign
If you were just laid off, you may still be trying to process what happened. One day you were part of a corporate team, and the next you were told your position was eliminated and handed a severance package you are expected to review quickly. In moments like this,...
Executive Severance Negotiation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Executives often underestimate how costly executive severance negotiation mistakes can be when exiting a California company. Understanding where these mistakes occur, and how to avoid them, is critical to protecting compensation, equity, reputation, and long-term...