Los Angeles is a beautiful city in California. It has one of the highest rates of reported employment discrimination claims in California. In fact, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing processes thousands of complaints from Los Angeles-based employees every year, and wrongful termination is a major chunk of that.
If you’ve suffered real harm, be it emotionally or financially, you could be entitled to full compensation. So you should waste no time in talking to a discrimination law firm in Los Angeles, because you have solid legal backing, and you should never take discrimination lightly.
Eligibility Criteria for Filing an Employment Discrimination Claim
These criteria can help you figure out if you are eligible to file an employment discrimination claim:
Retaliation
Not all discrimination is about who you are; sometimes it’s about what you did. Maybe you filed a complaint, supported a coworker who did, or raised concerns. If your employer came down on you afterwards, that’s called retaliation, and it’s illegal.
Retaliation might look like being excluded from projects, written up for things that were never a problem before, given fewer shifts, demoted, or even fired. It doesn’t have to be loud or obvious; sometimes it’s subtle, like suddenly being left out of meetings or not getting performance reviews.
Even if your original complaint doesn’t result in a legal finding of discrimination, retaliating against you for making it is still unlawful. The same goes if you were involved as a witness in someone else’s case or if you requested reasonable accommodations for a disability or pregnancy.
Full-time/Part-time Employment
Discrimination protections don’t only apply to full-time employees. Part-time staff, seasonal workers, temps, interns, job applicants, and even former employees can all file claims if they were treated unfairly based on a protected trait.
And in California, you’re protected from the moment you apply for a job. If your resume was rejected because of your name, age, or any other protected detail, that’s grounds for a claim.
The same applies to interviews, onboarding, promotions, and even what happens after you leave the company, like if a former boss tries to tank your future job prospects out of spite. If you’re not sure whether you’re covered, chances are you probably are. California law is written to give workers the benefit of the doubt.
Deadline timeframe
There’s a clock ticking on your ability to take action. If you want to file with the EEOC, you generally have 180 days from the date the discrimination happened. If you’re also covered under California state law, and most people in L.A. are, you get up to 300 days.
The timeline matters, actually. If the discrimination happens more than once, the deadline usually starts from the most recent incident. But you can’t wait forever. Once the time runs out, you lose the legal right to make a claim.
There are some exceptions. For example, with Equal Pay Act claims, you can go directly to court instead of filing with an agency, but even then, the deadline is usually two years, or three if the violation was intentional.
Whatever the situation, don’t assume you have more time than you do. It’s better to get things moving early.
Immediate termination
Some dismissals are considered automatically unfair, no matter how long you have been on the job. For example, if you were fired because you were pregnant, took maternity leave, raised a health or safety issue, or reported illegal activity at work, you’re likely protected under both state and federal law.
In cases like whistleblowing, you may even be eligible for interim relief, which could get you temporarily reinstated while your case is pending. But these cases move fast. Sometimes, you only have seven days to act. That’s why it’s critical to speak to a lawyer who understands the process quickly.
