Palmdale Employment Law Attorneys

It depends on what really drove the clearance action. Courts generally will not second-guess a substantive clearance decision under the Egan doctrine, but they will look at whether the employer's stated reasons were a pretext for discrimination or retaliation, and at process violations like skipping required FEHA accommodation steps before pulling someone off classified work. If you were reporting fraud, safety problems, or harassment when your access was suspended, Labor Code § 1102.5 and the federal Defense Contractor Whistleblower Protection Act (10 U.S.C. § 4701) may protect you in parallel with FEHA.

California requires daily overtime after 8 hours and double time after 12 hours under Labor Code § 510, unless your employer has validly adopted an alternative workweek under § 511 with a secret-ballot election and a properly identified work unit. Many alternative workweek schedules in aerospace are invalid because procedural requirements were skipped. You are also owed pay for required pre-shift activities like badging through controlled-access points, gathering issued tools, and donning PPE. Off-the-clock unpaid minutes accumulate fast across rotating shifts.

California law obligates employers with five or more employees to engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process under Gov Code § 12940(n) and to provide reasonable accommodation for a known disability under § 12940(m), absent undue hardship. 'No light duty available' is a conclusion, not a process. Your employer should have explored modified duties, schedule changes, transfer, or extended leave. If they simply terminated you or parked you on indefinite leave, you may have failure-to-accommodate and disability-discrimination claims, plus a Labor Code § 132a retaliation claim if your workers' compensation activity is part of the picture.

Under FEHA, Gov Code § 12940(j), employers are strictly liable for harassment by supervisors and liable for co-worker harassment they knew or should have known about. The conduct does not need to be physical or threatening; severe or pervasive verbal slurs can create a hostile work environment. Document specific incidents with dates, witnesses, and exact words; report in writing through HR and any anonymous hotline; and keep copies. If the employer fails to take prompt and effective corrective action, that failure itself supports the claim.

The Labor Commissioner's Office takes wage claims for Palmdale and Lancaster at the Van Nuys District Office, 6150 Van Nuys Boulevard, Room 206. You can recover unpaid minimum wage, overtime, missed-break premiums, waiting-time penalties under Labor Code § 203, and wage-statement penalties under § 226. You may also bring a civil action and pursue PAGA penalties under § 2698 et seq. The choice between Berman hearing and civil court depends on the size of the claim and whether multiple employees are affected.

Palmdale is part of Los Angeles County but is not within the City of Los Angeles, so the LA city minimum wage, paid sick leave, and Fair Work Week ordinances do not apply. Workers in unincorporated LA County are covered by the county minimum wage and the county Fair Chance Initiative for criminal background checks. Within Palmdale city limits, state law sets the floor: California minimum wage under Labor Code § 1182.12 and statewide paid sick leave under § 246. Federal contractors at Plant 42 must also comply with Executive Order minimum wage and sick-leave rules.

Both the federal WARN Act and California WARN (Labor Code §§ 1400-1408) require 60 days' advance written notice of mass layoffs, relocations, and plant closings by covered employers. California WARN covers any 'covered establishment' that has had 75 or more employees in the preceding year, with a lower numerical trigger than federal WARN. If the company fails to give compliant notice, affected employees can recover back pay and benefits for each day of violation, up to 60 days, under Labor Code § 1402. Program-end layoffs in aerospace are a frequent source of WARN disputes.

For FEHA discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, Gov Code § 12960 generally gives three years from the unlawful act to file with the CRD, and you have an additional year after the right-to-sue notice to file suit. EEOC charges must be filed within 300 days. Wage claims have three years for most Labor Code violations and four years if brought under the Unfair Competition Law. Labor Code § 1102.5 whistleblower claims are typically three years. Because these deadlines are unforgiving, do not wait to consult with counsel.