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LEGAL SERVICES IN LOS ANGELES - QUALITY! EXPERIENCE! REPUTATION!

How to Sue an employer - Legal aid in Los Angeles

Many state and federal laws protect American workers from being mistreated on the job. These same laws also help employees and job applicants seek justice if they have been treated unfairly or subjected to illegal discrimination. Once your legal rights have been violated, you have every right to sue an employer. Perhaps you were discriminated against during the hiring process, targeted for an unfair layoff, sexually harassed on the job, or wrongfully terminated. Regardless of the injury, you can seek redress by bringing a lawsuit.

Record your impressions of the incident. Whether you were terminated, harassed, or denied the ability to use medical leave, write down all the circumstances of the incident while they are still fresh in your mind.

Create a timeline of events: when you were notified and who contacted you. Document the names of everyone involved. Keep copies of all communications.
Be sure to have a copy of any communication that relates to the incident, including emails, notes, and letters. If you can get a copy of voice mail messages, do so.

Secure a copy of your personnel file. If you were terminated or denied promotion, you should have a copy of your personnel file. Ideally, you will already have kept a record of all official communications, such as prior reprimands or commendations, as well as informal comments and information about raises.

Employers sometimes like to hustle people out of the building immediately after being terminated. You may not have time to return to your office and make copies of these documents to take home with you.
Store copies of annual reviews, correspondence, emails, and employee handbooks at home. In this way you will have easy access to this material.
Keep pay stubs and financial records. If your lawsuit relates to pay, then you will need to prove how much you have lost in money. Pay stubs will help establish the amount of wages you lost.

Speak to co-workers. Someone may have witnessed the incident and could act as a witness. Reach out to them and ask them if they remember the incident. If they are willing, have them write out a description of the incident.

Try to get personal contact information as well. Employees often leave jobs, and your witnesses may leave before your lawsuit ever gets to trial. By maintaining current personal contact information, you can always reach them in case you need them to testify.
Don’t record people without their permission.

Send a follow-up email to your supervisor. If you are fired or denied a promotion in person, follow up with an email to your supervisor summarizing the contents of the discussion. This might be the sole record of the meeting that you have.
Stay professional and don’t send the email until you can avoid being argumentative. The purpose of the email is simply to document the discussion.
If you do not feel comfortable sending an email, then simply make notes about the conversation as soon as possible.

This is a short tips for case preparation. If You want more information - call us to make appointments with the employment attorney (lawyer).