The Watkins Firm has decades of experience providing proven employer defense in retaliation claims and all employer defense related matters. What constitutes employer retaliation?  What can you do as a California employer to reduce the risk of retaliation while effectively managing employees?  California employer retaliation laws are quite complex and it is important to work with our attorneys to gain a thorough understanding of your responsibilities as an employer under federal, state and local laws.  For example, it is against California law to punish or take action against an employee for protected activities such as:

• Filing a claim with the California Labor Commissioner
• Filing a lawsuit alleging discrimination
• Refusal to take part in or reporting illegal activities
• Whistleblowing
• Filing or cooperating with an external agency investigation
• Reporting suspected fraud
• Filing a complaint regarding workplace related harassment or discrimination

Proven employer defense in retaliation claims in San Diego begins with a the construction of a thorough, well documented chronology of events and a mastery of potential damages. You can take comfort in the fact the Watkins Firm has more than 40 years of experience in these complex cases. We are able to resolve the vast majority of our retaliation and employer-related cases through effective, leveraged negotiations.  This is the fastest and least expensive path to protect our clients and resolve the matter.

The Watkins Firm has a long, well-established track record of winning our employer defense cases, going all the way back to a trial involving a local manager for a major national employer.  That case garnered national news coverage and resulted in the exoneration of our client – total victory.  We represent employers in all legal venues including, but not limited to:

• Negotiation
• Mediation
• Settlement Conferences
• Arbitration
• Trial

Pro-Tip: “It’s often some chronic, intermittent leave. I’m sick today. Then, you see them outside or they’re on social media. Whatever they’re doing at the beach, they’re never at work and they’re always letting you down and you want to let them go because they’re always letting you down. And then they come to you and say, but my doctor says I have anxiety, or I have this and I have that. How do you get around that as an employer? Well, we know. We do this all the time. It’s not easy. It’s delicate, but we counsel many of our employer clients around this exact type of employee every month, and it happens in every workplace. There’s always somebody working the system. They’re probably out working two jobs, who knows? It’s very trendy right now.

So how you handle it and how you communicate before it even gets to a lawsuit phase is important.  And we will help with that. We can ghost write your communications to that individual employee. It doesn’t mean we only draft agreements for everybody. We’ll draft stuff for you for one employee just to get you through this problem so that it would be very difficult for them, even though they’re trying to set you up to get one of these bounty hunter lawyers to take their case, because sometimes these bounty hunter lawyers, they coach their potential clients into setting you up. So if they’re being coached, you should be coached too. The difference is, we can and will shut them down.

Now, California is technically and legally an “employment at will” state, but there’s so many exceptions that they can say, I’m in a protected class. I think everybody’s in a protected class now. I think we are. No matter who you are, I’m in, I got a toothache, and that’s a disability, and they will stick it to the employer every time. So yeah, if you are a San Diego employer and you don’t have somebody taking advantage of your payroll policies and your sick leave and all that, then you’re the one. The rest of us have this. And don’t let them sucker you into a lawsuit that, because then they’ll just go on disability for six months or a year thinking they got it made, and they’ll collect their disability check and their plaintiff’s lawyer will tell them, you’re going to get a bunch of money.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

We review every aspect of employment including your records for the employee, the employee handbook and your existing policies and procedures.  We work with you to ensure your policies are well crafted while ensuring they are enforceable.  Next we work with you and your management team to ensure consistent application of all policies, disciplinary action, employee reviews and other related activities.  You can prevent retaliation claims from developing through effective policies, documented actions and consistent and fair application of these across all employees.

We invite you to review our podcast Episode 10 – The Importance of a Strong Corporate Attorney as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today if you are concerned about an issue which might lead to a retaliation claim.  Be cautious and seek the advice of our “lawyers for employers” when approaching issues of discipline, termination, reduction of pay, or employee reviews.  This is especially true if your employee(s) qualify under any of the specific protections listed above.  Be cautious about workload as well as the consideration of requests for leave or accommodation.

Our proven employer defense in retaliation claims is rooted in our commitment to representing and protecting the interests of San Diego employers and business owners.  We do not represent employees.