Practice areas
Experienced California Employment Attorneys
This is the full map of what we do, and we only do it for one side. RMD Employment Law represents employees, never employers. If what happened to you was unfair, you deserve an honest answer about whether it was also illegal, even when the answer is no.
Below is every claim we take, grouped the way problems actually happen at work. Find your branch, or let the six-question review sort it for you.
Wrongful Termination and Layoffs
California is an at-will state under Labor Code section 2922, so a firing can be for any reason or none. It cannot be for an illegal reason, and it cannot breach public policy.
Quitting can still count. Constructive discharge covers conditions made so intolerable you resigned, the WARN Act sets notice rules for mass layoffs and plant closures that California writes more strictly than the federal version, and we read severance agreements before you sign one.
Discrimination
Under the Fair Employment and Housing Act it is illegal to treat you worse because of a protected trait. FEHA covers employers with five or more employees, and unlike federal law its damages are not capped.
Disability is the largest complaint category at the California Civil Rights Department, and failing to accommodate you is a violation on its own, separate from the firing. We also handle pregnancy, age, race, gender and sex, LGBTQ, religion, national origin, and AI hiring discrimination.
New: California’s civil rights regulations now cover hiring algorithms and other automated decision systems, effective October 1, 2025. If software screened you out, that can be discrimination too.
Harassment
For harassment, one employee is enough. The five-employee threshold does not apply under Government Code section 12940(j), and the individual harasser can be held personally liable.
A single severe incident can qualify. We take sexual harassment cases and hostile work environment cases, where severe or pervasive conduct changes the conditions of your job.
Retaliation and Whistleblowers
The rule is short. If you were punished for speaking up, whether reporting harassment, refusing to break the law, or disclosing fraud, that can be illegal retaliation under Labor Code section 1102.5.
Whistleblower claims under section 1102.5 need no agency filing, run three years, and shift the burden to your employer once you show the protected activity.
Wage and Hour
Unpaid overtime, skipped breaks, off-the-clock work, late final checks, unreimbursed expenses. The Labor Code puts a number on every one. California’s minimum wage is $16.90 an hour in 2026, and higher in many cities and in the fast-food and health-care sectors.
Unpaid overtime starts after 8 hours in a day, doubles after 12, and covers the seventh consecutive day. We also handle meal and rest break premiums, misclassification, off-the-clock work, final paycheck waiting time penalties, expense reimbursement under Labor Code 2802, and equal pay.
Run the numbers: overtime · break penalties · waiting time penalties
Leave of Absence
California’s CFRA covers employers with just five employees, where the federal FMLA requires 50. Being denied leave you were entitled to, or punished for taking it, is a violation.
CFRA and FMLA violations cover denied leave, a request left to stall, and a demotion waiting for you on your return. Pregnancy disability leave runs up to four months for a pregnancy-related disability and sits separate from CFRA.
Class Actions and PAGA
When an employer shorts a whole crew the same way, one employee can sometimes stand up for everyone. California’s Private Attorneys General Act lets employees pursue Labor Code penalties on the state’s behalf, and the 2024 reforms under AB 2288 and SB 92 changed how these cases work and what employees recover.
These cases matter even when an individual claim is small. A $200 pay-stub violation is not worth litigating alone. Multiplied across 400 employees and several pay periods, it becomes a case an employer has to take seriously, and it fixes the practice for everyone still working there.
Representative claims cover Labor Code penalties, and class treatment applies where the same policy hit the same group the same way.
How Do I Know Which Claim Is Mine?
Usually it is more than one. Retaliation rides along with almost everything. A discrimination case often has a retaliation claim attached, and a wage case can too.
You do not have to figure out the combination. That is what the review is for.
What Deadlines Apply?
FEHA discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims generally must be filed with the Civil Rights Department within three years. Most wage claims run three years. A few claims run just one year. Miss the deadline and the claim can be gone, no matter how strong.
Employment Law Resources
- California Civil Rights Department, FEHA claims including automated decision system rules effective 10/1/2025: calcivilrights.ca.gov
- California Labor Commissioner’s Office, wage and hour law: dir.ca.gov
- Labor Code 2922, at-will employment: leginfo
- California Labor & Workforce Development Agency, PAGA overview: labor.ca.gov
Tell Us What Happened
One business day for a response. You pay nothing unless we win.