Practice Areas and Legal Definitions

Labor Laws:
Historically, labor laws have focused on such matters as eliminating unsafe workplace conditions, securing a living wage for employees, and eliminating, or at least, tempering the strife that often occurs between employees and employers. 

Labor and Employment attorneys can provide guidance with the following:

• Assisting with federal and state wage and hour law issues and claims, including unpaid overtime and meal/rest period violations
• Representing employees before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state human rights agencies
• Representing employees in litigation against employers for violations of anti-discrimination laws.

Employment Law:
Employment law is a well-established body of statutes and judicial decisions covering all rights and obligations within the employer-employee relationship, including current employees, job applicants and former employees.  It covers a wide range of legal issues, ranging from employment discrimination and wrongful termination to matters involving wages and workplace safety.  Many employment law issues are governed by applicable federal and state employment law, but a number of issues are determined according to basic contract law.

Employee Rights:
All employees have basic rights arising from both state and federal laws. Some of these rights include: the right not to be subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, skin color, gender, pregnancy, religious beliefs, disability, age, and in California, marital/registered domestic partner status, sexual orientation, or gender identity; the right to a workplace free of harassment; the right to be paid at least the minimum wage as provided by federal or state law; the right to overtime wages as provided by federal or state law; the right to meal and rest periods; the right to a safe workplace and the right to take leave to care for a personal or family member's serious illness, or following the birth or adoption of a child.

Employment Discrimination:
Discrimination generally occurs when an employee is intentionally treated differently because of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, gender, age, and in California, marital/registered domestic partner status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Employment discrimination claims may be prosecuted under various state and federal statutes. Even if the employee’s evidence is sufficient to show discrimination, an employer may be able to justify a particular job action by demonstrating that such treatment arose out of business necessity, or that a legitimate job qualification required consideration of factors that had an unintentional discriminatory effect. When the employer makes such a legitimate justification, the employee must show that discrimination, not the employer’s justification, was the true reason for the action.

Age Discrimination:
It is unlawful for an employer, employment agency or labor union to discriminate in employment on the basis of age (age 40 years or older). This includes refusing to hire an individual or firing an employee. It also includes an individual’s compensation, the terms, conditions, and privileges of his or her employment, and all employee benefits.

Disability Discrimination:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protect individuals with disabilities from employment discrimination. An individual with a disability is defined as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that limits a major life activity, has a record of having such a physical or mental impairment, or is regarded as having such impairment. The term is broadly defined to include any physiological, mental or psychologically-based impairment, but it does not include mere physical characteristics or cultural, environmental, or economic impairment—the impairment must cause a limitation to a major life activity. Temporary conditions, such as a broken arm or the flu, would not be considered limitations amounting to a disability entitled to statutory protection.

Wrongful Termination:
Termination of employment cannot be classified as "Wrongful Termination" unless it is in violation of some fundamental public policy, as set forth in a state or federal statute, regulation or constitutional provision.  Examples of Wrongful Termination include situations where:

• An employee is discharged for failure to comply with an order to perform an act that violates some law, ordinance or regulation, or
• An employee is discharged in retaliation for complaints about conduct by the employer that he or she believes to be unlawful, e.g., failure to pay overtime, or failure to comply with safety regulations.

Sexual Harassment:
Sexual harassment is any unwanted and unwelcome sexual behavior. It involves a broad range of conduct, including such verbal harassment as derogatory comments, explicit sexual comments and descriptions of sexual exploits, leering or requesting sexual favors. The term also describes physical harassment, ranging from inappropriate touching to outright sexual assault. In order to be classified as illegal the conduct in question must be both unwelcome and offensive to the victim.

Sexual harassment is a form of sexual discrimination, prohibited in employment settings under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title IX of the 1972 Education Act makes sexual harassment in schools or other educational settings unlawful. The Federal Fair Housing Act also provides protection against sexual harassment, and most states have enacted legislation making it unlawful, including California which expressly prohibits all harassment in the FEHA.

Overtime Compensation:
Employers are required to pay additional compensation to eligible employees who work, for example, more than eight hours in a day or forty hours during any seven-day period. For every hour over an eight hour day or forty hour workweek the employer must pay the eligible employee at least one and one-half times the employee's ordinary hourly rate.

Retaliation:
Retaliation claims under federal nondiscrimination laws and California’s FEHA arise when an employee suffers an adverse employment action because they engaged in the "protected activity" of opposing discrimination/harassment or participating in an investigation or other proceeding involving a claim of discrimination/harassment.

Whistleblower Claims:
Whistleblower Claims involve employer retaliation, sometimes to the extent of Wrongful Termination, against an employee who reports the unlawful conduct of another employee or of management itself which is prohibited by a law that creates a public benefit. It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against a "whistleblower."

If you or someone you know in the Bay Area or throughout California needs the assistance of an experienced San Francisco Employment Attorney, call Susan G. Bluer today at 866-343-6605, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.

• U.C. Berkeley, B.A., 1983
• University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D., 1986

• California

• Bar Association of San Francisco, Labor Law Referral Panel (October 2001-Present)
• California Women Lawyers, Board Member (2001-2003)
• City College of San Francisco, Guest Speaker in Human Resources Classes (2000-present)
• San Francisco Barrister's Club Committee on Diversity, Panelist on presentation titled "Practicing Law in a Dot Com World: Is the Grass Greener or Withering?" (December 2000)

Mark J. Bluer

EDUCATION:

• U.C. Santa Barbara, B.A. in Business Economics and History, 1984
• University of Santa Clara, J.D., 1990

JURISDICTIONS:

• California