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Service & Support Animals at Work: Know Your Rights

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibit employers from discriminating based on disability. Employers must engage in an interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations that allow a disabled employee to work successfully. Often, an employee will want to bring a service...

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Understanding Your Right to Maternity Leave in California

Preparing to have a baby is hard enough without the challenge of navigating the developed world’s worst maternity leave policies. Fortunately, in California, expecting and new mothers may take more maternity leave than in the rest of the country. Some of it is even paid! While this is a...

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A Primer on the Federal False Claims Act

The federal False Claims Act (FCA) is one of the most powerful tools in the federal government’s fraud-fighting arsenal. The FCA was passed during the Civil War to “root out fraud against the government.” Since 1863, Congress has updated the law several times to give it more teeth and...

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Working with Multiple Sclerosis: Your Right to Accommodations

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease. People who live with MS often experience patterns of exacerbation and remission. When symptoms are in remission, people with MS may be able to work with minimal accommodations. But when symptoms are exacerbated, these employees may require significant accommodations. Unfortunately, employees in...

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Can I Be Fired for Filing an EEOC Complaint?

Many people who make discrimination complaints to the EEOC feel like they have a target on their back. Their employers treat them differently and try to make them quit. Sometimes, employers make up excuses to fire people who complain of discrimination. So is your employer allowed to fire you...

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Is Workers’ Compensation Retaliation Illegal?

What is workers’ compensation? Workers’ compensation is payment to compensate an employee if the employee suffers an injury or ailment resulting from their work. It may include money for wage replacement, medical treatment, rehabilitation, and other benefits. Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance. An employer pays a premium...

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A Primer on the Civil Litigation Process for Employment Plaintiffs

On TV, a case may be resolved in a single episode. People have their day in court just hours or even minutes after the case is filed. Unfortunately, this is not realistic. The real legal system is sometimes disorganized and involves backed-up court systems (especially because of COVID, which...

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Are Mental Health Disorders Disabilities? A Q&A

One in five adults in the United States experiences mental illness each year. 5.2% of adults report having “serious” mental illness that “substantially interfered with or limited one or more major life activities.” This means that 50+ million people per year report experiencing mental illness. Since mental health issues...

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Is Weight Discrimination Legal?

Many people are familiar with laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on race, gender, and age. But few are familiar with laws that prohibit sizeism. This is probably because only one state, Michigan, lists size as a protected class. A few other jurisdictions prohibit discrimination based on “appearance,” which encompasses...

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How to Choose an Employment Attorney

You may have been harassed, wrongfully fired, or otherwise mistreated by your employer. Your finances may be in disarray, and your mental health may have deteriorated. All you want is a calm, confident, winning attorney to take your employment law case—but when you Google “employment law attorneys,” all you...