What We Do

Our team is committed to defending workers' rights and firmly opposes all forms of workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

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Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation

At LOYR, APC, we believe workers’ rights matter, and discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in any form at the workplace is unacceptable.

Discrimination

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Discrimination in the Workplace

Discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee or job applicant unfairly because of their protected characteristic. In California, employees are protected from discrimination if they fall within protected categories, including but not limited to the following:

Disability
Race
Gender
Age
Sexual Orientation
Religion
Pregnancy

Employers are prohibited from making employment decisions based on any of these factors. This includes decisions regarding hiring, firing, pay, promotions, job assignments, and other conditions of employment.

Harassment

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Workplace Harassment

Harassment is unwanted and offensive conduct based on a protected characteristic, which creates an intimidating, hostile, or abusive work environment. This can include:

Verbal Abuse: Slurs, jokes, and derogatory comments about your race, gender, disability, or other protected status.
Physical Harassment: Unwanted physical contact or behavior that makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable.
Visual Harassment: Displaying offensive images, signs, or materials that degrade your protected characteristic.

California law prohibits workplace harassment under FEHA. The law protects you from being harassed because of your race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or any other protected status.

Retaliation

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Retaliation for Exercising Your Rights

Retaliation occurs when an employer punishes an employee for engaging in a legally protected activity. This can include:

Filing a discrimination or harassment complaint
Participating in an investigation or lawsuit
Opposing discriminatory practices

Under California law, retaliation is illegal. If you’ve been fired, demoted, denied a promotion, or otherwise mistreated because you reported discrimination, participated in a workplace investigation, or took action to protect your rights, you may have been the victim of unlawful retaliation.

Wage & Hour

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Wage and Hour Violations

Wage and hour violations occur when employers fail to compensate workers fairly for the hours they’ve worked. These violations can take many forms and can happen in both large and small workplaces. Common types of wage and hour violations include:

Unpaid Overtime: Most employees are entitled to overtime pay at a rate of one and a half times their regular hourly wage for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek or eight hours worked in a day.
Minimum Wage Violations: If you are paid less than the state minimum wage, your employer is violating the law. In some cases, tips, commissions, or other forms of compensation can be used to meet minimum wage requirements, but these must be calculated correctly.
Off-the-Clock Work: Employers cannot require or allow employees to work “off the clock,” or without compensation, for tasks such as answering emails, attending meetings, or finishing work after hours.
Meal and Rest Break Violations: You are entitled to meal and rest breaks if your shift lasts long enough. If your employer fails to provide mandated rest or meal breaks or forces you to skip them, this could be a violation.
Misclassification of Employees: Employers sometimes misclassify workers as independent contractors or exempt employees to avoid paying overtime or providing benefits. If you are misclassified, you may be entitled to the benefits and protections of a non-exempt employee.
Failure to Pay for All Hours Worked: You should be paid for all the time you work. If your employer fails to compensate you for time spent on the job, such as time spent in training, preparing for work, or completing tasks after clocking out, this may be a violation.

Class Actions

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Class Actions

At LOYR, APC, we are dedicated to protecting the rights of workers who have been unfairly denied the wages and benefits they are entitled to under the law. If you are part of a group of employees who have experienced wage theft, unpaid overtime, misclassification, or other violations of wage and hour laws, you may be entitled to compensation through a wage and hour class action.

Unfortunately, many employers engage in practices that violate federal and state wage and hour laws, including:

Unpaid Overtime: Most employees are entitled to overtime pay at a rate of one and a half times their regular hourly wage for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek or eight hours worked in a day.
Minimum Wage Violations: Employers who pay less than the legal minimum wage or fail to compensate workers for all hours worked.
Off-the-Clock Work: Employers who require or encourage employees to work off-the-clock, without compensation for time worked before or after their shifts, or during unpaid breaks.
Meal and Rest Break Violations: Employers who deny employees legally required meal and rest breaks during their shifts.
Misclassification of Employees: Employers sometimes misclassify workers as independent contractors or exempt employees to avoid paying overtime or providing benefits.
Failure to Pay for All Hours Worked: If your employer fails to compensate you for time spent on the job, such as time spent in training, preparing for work, or completing tasks after clocking out, this may be a violation.

What is a Wage and Hour Class Action?

A wage and hour class action allows a group of workers who have suffered similar wage violations to come together in a single lawsuit against their employer. By pooling resources and evidence, a class action can increase the efficiency of the legal process, as well as give workers the power to hold employers accountable for widespread illegal practices.

Wrongful Termination

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Wrongful Termination

Wrongful termination occurs when an employee is fired or laid off in violation of federal or state employment laws, or the terms of their employment contract. Not all dismissals are unlawful, but when your termination involves discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract, or violation of public policy, you may be entitled to compensation.

We handle a variety of wrongful termination cases, including, but not limited to:

Discrimination: If you were fired because of your race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or other protected characteristics, you may have experienced unlawful discrimination.
Retaliation: If you were terminated for engaging in protected activities—such as reporting workplace harassment, whistleblowing, or filing a workers’ compensation claim—you may be the victim of retaliation. Employers are prohibited from firing employees as a response to protected actions.
Breach of Employment Contract: If you have a written or implied contract that provides for job security or specifies how you can be terminated, and your employer violated these terms, you may have a claim for breach of contract.
Violation of Public Policy: If your termination was based on your refusal to engage in illegal activities, exercising your rights under the law, or taking leave that was protected under state or federal law (such as Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)), you may have a case for wrongful termination.
Constructive Discharge: If your employer created a work environment that was so intolerable that you were forced to resign, this can be considered a form of wrongful termination.

Whistleblower

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Whistleblower Retaliation

Whistleblower retaliation occurs when an employer punishes an employee for reporting illegal or unethical behavior, engaging in activities protected by law, or refusing to participate in unlawful conduct. Retaliation can take many forms, including firing, demotion, pay reduction, unfair disciplinary actions, or creating a hostile work environment to force an employee to quit.

Federal and state laws protect whistleblowers who report violations related to:

Fraud or financial misconduct
Health and safety violations
Discrimination or harassment
Unlawful practices under federal or state labor laws

If your employer has retaliated against you for making a good-faith report about illegal activities, you may have grounds for a whistleblower retaliation claim.

Sexual Harassment

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Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is defined as any unwelcome or inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. It can happen in many different forms and may involve both physical and verbal actions. Sexual harassment is not limited to direct interactions between supervisors and employees—it can also involve coworkers, clients, customers, or anyone in the workplace or other professional settings.

Sexual harassment can take two primary forms:

Quid Pro Quo Harassment: This occurs when an employee is subjected to sexual advances or demands by someone in a position of authority, with the expectation that job benefits (such as promotions, raises, or job security) will be granted in exchange for sexual favors, or threats of adverse consequences (such as termination or demotion) for refusing.
Hostile Work Environment: This occurs when an individual is subjected to unwelcome sexual behavior, comments, or conduct that interferes with their ability to perform their job or creates an intimidating or abusive work environment. Examples include inappropriate jokes, sexual comments, unwanted physical contact, or the display of sexually explicit materials.

Common Forms of Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment can take many forms, including:

Unwanted physical contact, such as groping, touching, or other forms of physical advances
Sexual comments or jokes that create a hostile or uncomfortable atmosphere
Sexual propositions or requests for sexual favors
Verbal or written communication of a sexual nature, including inappropriate emails, text messages, or social media messages
Sexual gestures or suggestive looks that make you feel uncomfortable
Retaliation for rejecting sexual advances, including demotion, firing, or other adverse employment actions
Displaying sexually explicit materials, such as pornography, in the workplace or shared spaces
Persistent and unwelcome invitations for dates, even after you’ve made it clear that you are not interested