Glendale Legal Blog

Members of the gamer community in California might dream of working at companies such as Blizzard. However, a former Blizzard employee has spoken out about the allegedly discriminatory treatment he experienced while he was working on the Hearthstone esports circuit.

According to the man's social media post, the culture of inclusion at the company only applies if people are not people of color. The man, who is of Hispanic heritage, reports that he was repeatedly tormented over the fact that he was Mexican by a female team member.

When employees in California witness or experience inappropriate or discriminatory behavior in the workplace, they may want to take action but be concerned about the potential to face retaliation. In fact, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission noted that retaliation is a common form of discrimination in and of itself. Equal employment laws prohibit workers or even job applicants from being punished or targeted because they complained about discrimination or asserted their rights regarding workplace harassment. Employers that fire workers, cut their hours or deny them raises as a result of raising these issues are violating the law.

There are a number of protected activities for which employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees. These include filing a complaint with the EEOC, participating in an investigation or pursuing a lawsuit; witnesses are also protected. It is also illegal to punish employees for answering questions during a harassment investigation at the company. Workers have the right to refuse to follow discriminatory orders, to refuse sexual advances and to proactively intervene to help others being targeted for harassment and discrimination. Employees also have the right to ask other workers about their wages, as this is a mechanism to uncover discrimination in pay that may go otherwise unrevealed.

A public records request to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has brought to light a gender discrimination complaint against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. A woman who had worked for Goldman Sachs for 15 years alleges that the company fired her for taking a four-month paid leave after the birth of her third child. A company spokesman said that her termination resulted from strategic business decisions. Her case remains in arbitration as she pursues damages of $1.5 million.

The woman had been a vice president in the Los Angeles office when she went on leave. She had expected her supervisor to accept her growing family because he had four children himself. However, he called her during her leave and dismissed her.

If your employer is not paying you overtime wages you have earned, isn't paying you the appropriate minimum wage, is forcing you to work off the clock or is deducting inappropriately from your paycheck, that's less money you have to take home to your family, pay your bills and get a secure financial foothold for your future. That's not only isn't fair, it's against the law.

It can be scary to think about filing a complaint, wondering if you could be fired, demoted or worse. You may even fear that an employer could turn you in to immigration in retaliation for reporting a valid issue. It's important to understand that even if your immigration status makes you vulnerable, you are still protected by the law. It is illegal for your employer to use your immigration status as a weapon if you assert your employment rights. More specifically, your employer cannot: