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Employee Discrimination & Harassment

San Francisco Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Lawyers

Despite progress in civil rights, employment discrimination and sexual harassment still occur in the workplace. The Dolan Law Firm and its employment law attorneys have secured millions of dollars for clients in the Bay Area who have been discriminated against and/or harassed in the workplace.

We handle cases involving discrimination against protected classes, such as:

We handle harassment cases, usually sexual harassment but employees sometimes are harassed for pregnancy, for taking medical leave, or for political activity (such as union organizing). We have also handled cases of independent contractor harassment.

A History of Results in Employment Law Cases

Our San Francisco discrimination and sexual harassment lawyers have successfully sued some of the largest Fortune 500 companies as well as state, city and county governments in the San Francisco Bay area, in Alameda, Oakland, San Mateo, Marin and Contra Costa County in the Silicon Valley.

The Dolan Law Firm has obtained more than $70 million in verdicts and settlements for clients in age discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, failure to provide medical leave, racial harassment, sexual harassment and discrimination, and gay/sexual orientation discrimination cases.

  • $60 million dollar verdict — the highest recorded verdict in California and U.S. history — for a race discrimination case against FedEx Ground on behalf of two Arab Americans who were harassed on the job.
  • $750,000 settlement on behalf of a man who was denied employment because he was an amputee.
  • $540,000 for a one-handed construction worker who was harassed and then later denied employment because of her disability and the perception that she could not perform her job.
  • $545,000.00 settlement for an employee who was refused medical leave by his employer — a major, national financial institution — in order to seek psychiatric care for severe depression.
  • $650,000 settlement for a pregnancy employee who was called a “fat cow” and told she was worthless because she was pregnant and could not work hard in a case against a construction equipment supplier.
  • $450,000 settlement for a person with AIDS who was unlawfully denied housing.
  • $235,000 for a gay employee who suffered harassment and wrongful termination due to his sexual orientation.

If you have been discriminated against in employment or housing, or harassed in the workplace, you may be entitled to damages. Contact The Dolan Law Firm for a free case evaluation.

Discrimination Law

Discrimination and harassment are different legal concepts. Discrimination is the denial of employment or termination and / or alteration of the terms and conditions of employment based on a protected classification. Terms and conditions can include wages, hours, bonuses, and job assignments. Protected classification include race, age, sex, national origin, religious affiliation, marital status, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, transgenderism, and (in San Francisco) height and/or weight. This law is encoded in California Government Code Section 12940.

Discrimination can be direct or indirect. It can be targeted at a single individual or a group of individuals. It is often shown by conduct and statements but can sometimes be demonstrated by statistics when a policy affects one class of people differently than others.

Only employers / companies can be sued for discrimination, even if a supervisor or manager was the one that carried out the discrimination.

Statute of Limitations

You have a limited time period in which to bring a claim of discrimination or sexual harassment. In most situations, you have only one year to file a complaint with the proper authorities. In California, an individual who has suffered unlawful conduct in violation of their rights under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (such as discrimination and or harassment based on membership in a protected classification) must file a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), generally within one year of the conduct (there are limited exceptions in some cases).

You must file a claim before you can file a lawsuit.

Oakland • San Francisco • Sacramento

Contact Our Attorneys

Contact the discrimination attorneys of the Dolan Law Firm for a free case evaluation and assistance in filing your claim.

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