An Employment Discrimination Lawyer Who Fights For Equal Rights

An adverse employment action is an action or course or pattern of conduct that, taken as a whole, materially and adversely affected the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. An adverse employment action includes conduct that is reasonably likely to impair a reasonable employee’s job performance or prospects for advancement or promotion. However, minor or trivial actions or conduct that is not reasonably likely to do more than anger or upset an employee cannot constitute an adverse employment action.

Source: Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions, Instruction No. 2529

Termination, demotion, pay cut, cut in hours, lateral transfer, paid or unpaid suspension, reduction in retirement benefits/contributions, reduction in benefits, denial of raise or promotion, refusal/failure to hire, refusal/failure to provide training opportunities offered to other employees, reduction in authority and responsibilities, and negative performance reviews.

• Lost wages and benefits
• Emotional distress
• Other economic losses like medical expenses, moving expenses, and job search expenses
• Attorney’s fees
• Reinstatement
• Punitive damages to punish private employers in extreme cases

Yes. California law was recently updated to protect unpaid volunteers and interns from discrimination and harassment due to race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or veteran or military status.

Source: Government Code section 12940(c) and (j)

Generally speaking, no. However, workers are frequently “misclassified,” meaning that the employer calls them independent contractors when in reality they are actually employees. Therefore, you should not assume you are an independent contract just because your employer claims that you are one. You should speak with an employment lawyer to learn whether you were properly classified.