Santa Clara Employment Law Attorneys

California claims go to the Civil Rights Department, which accepts intake online and through its Oakland regional office at 555 12th Street, Suite 2050, Oakland, CA 94607. Federal claims under Title VII, the ADA, or the ADEA go to the EEOC's San Francisco District Office at 450 Golden Gate Avenue, 5 West, San Francisco, CA 94102. You generally have three years from the unlawful act to file with the CRD under Gov Code § 12960 and 300 days to file with the EEOC. If you want to sue, you first request a right-to-sue notice from the CRD and then file in Santa Clara County Superior Court's downtown San Jose civil division at 191 North First Street.

Probably, depending on the head count. The California WARN Act, Labor Code §§ 1400-1408, applies to employers with 75 or more employees in the preceding 12 months and is triggered by a mass layoff (50 or more in 30 days at a single establishment), plant closing, or relocation of operations more than 100 miles. Federal WARN under 29 U.S.C. § 2101 applies to employers of 100 or more. If proper 60 days' notice was not given, you can recover back pay and benefits for each day of violation up to 60 days under § 1402. Severance offered at termination does not automatically waive WARN claims; the calculus depends on what the release language says.

Several layers of law apply. The Immigration and Nationality Act at 8 U.S.C. § 1324b prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, and recruiting by most employers. Title VII and FEHA at Gov Code § 12940(a) prohibit national origin discrimination, and FEHA at § 12940(h) and Labor Code § 1102.5 prohibit retaliation. Department of Labor H-1B rules require employers to pay the higher of the actual wage or prevailing wage, and the LCA-based wage-and-hour complaint process at 20 C.F.R. § 655 et seq. is open to current H-1B workers. Threats to revoke sponsorship in response to protected complaints are often documented in emails or Slack messages and can become powerful retaliation evidence.

Maybe. Under California law, vested wages and equity become wages owed under Labor Code §§ 200-204. Unvested RSUs are generally treated as contingent equity, not wages, but California courts (including Schachter v. Citigroup and its progeny) recognize claims where the forfeiture mechanism is a vehicle for unlawful retaliation or discrimination, where the employer breaches the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, or where the equity plan documents support a constructive vesting theory. If your termination was wrongful (FEHA, § 1102.5, or breach of contract), lost RSUs that would have vested but for the wrongful conduct can often be recovered as front pay or contract damages.

Possibly. California's computer professional exemption at Labor Code § 515.5 requires a minimum hourly rate (currently in the $50+ per hour range, indexed annually by the DIR), and that you primarily engage in work requiring theoretical and practical application of highly specialized information to computer systems analysis, programming, or software engineering. Production support engineers, QA testers, and operations engineers whose work is heavily script-following, ticket-driven, or supervised may not qualify. Misclassified engineers can recover unpaid overtime under Labor Code § 1194, missed meal-and-rest premiums under § 226.7, wage statement penalties under § 226, and PAGA penalties under § 2698 et seq.

No, in most cases. Business and Professions Code § 16600 voids any contract that restrains a person from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business, with limited exceptions for sale-of-business and partnership dissolution contexts. AB 1076 and SB 699 (effective 2024) clarified that California voids non-competes regardless of where signed or where the employee worked when the contract was made, required employers to notify employees by February 14, 2024 that any existing non-compete is void, and created statutory remedies for affected employees including attorneys' fees. Customer non-solicits are also generally unenforceable. Trade-secret and confidentiality obligations under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act still apply.

FEHA at Gov Code § 12940(h) prohibits retaliation against employees who oppose practices forbidden by FEHA, including sexual harassment. SB 1300 (codified in Gov Code § 12923) makes clear that a single severe incident can be enough to support a hostile-environment claim, that hostile-environment claims are not subject to a 'stray remarks' brush-off, and that employers have an affirmative duty under § 12940(k) to take reasonable steps to prevent and correct harassment. PIPs initiated shortly after a protected complaint, especially with shifting metrics or by a manager involved in the complaint, are classic retaliation evidence. Damages can include lost wages, emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees.

Generally yes for work-issued accounts and devices, but with important limits. Penal Code § 632 prohibits recording confidential communications without all-party consent, and CalECPA at Penal Code § 1546 et seq. constrains government access. Recent amendments to Labor Code § 96(k) and AB 2188 protect off-duty lawful conduct. Monitoring used to surveil protected activity (union organizing, harassment complaints, whistleblower reports) can support NLRA, FEHA, and § 1102.5 claims. Best practice is to assume any work device is monitored and never use it for communications about a legal claim against your employer.