PRACTICE AREAS
Dhaliwal Law negotiates, arbitrates, and litigates employees’ cases challenging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage theft, wrongful termination, and other workplace abuses.
The firm also provides advice and counsel to individuals navigating employment law issues in their current workplaces. Please see below for more about the firm’s practice areas, as well as links to legal education and self-advocacy resources.
DISCRIMINATION
A constellation of federal statutes and their California analogue, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), safeguard employees from workplace discrimination based on protected characteristics, which include race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, and national origin. An employer may not make employment decisions (such as the decision to hire or fire) or engage in other unfair treatment against you based on your protected status(es).
Dhaliwal Law is committed to advocating for clients facing all forms of unlawful discrimination, including intersectional discrimination, or unfair treatment based on multiple, interlocking identities. If you are concerned you have experienced discrimination at work, contact Dhaliwal Law for a confidential case review.
You can learn more about your rights to a discrimination-free workplace through these resources from the California Civil Rights Department and Legal Aid at Work.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT & OTHER UNLAWFUL HARASSMENT
Although workplace harassment based on employees’ protected traits is both immoral and illegal, it remains widespread. Unlawful sexual harassment includes unwanted physical contact, inappropriate comments or jokes, and promises of employment benefits in exchange for sexual favors (“quid pro quo” harassment). Federal and state law also prohibits workplace harassment, including slurs and physical violence, based on protected traits like race, religion, and national origin.
Dhaliwal Law strives to provide survivor-centered, trauma-informed legal representation to workers subjected to sexual harassment and other unlawful harassment at work. Pawanpreet Dhaliwal co-authored a chapter on California Harassment Law for a legal treatise, and has extensive experience counseling survivors of egregious workplace harassment based on sex, race, religion, national origin, and other protected characteristics.
If you believe you have experienced harassment based on your protected traits at work, contact Dhaliwal Law for a confidential consultation.
DISABILITY JUSTICE
Federal and state laws require employers to make work accessible to people with physical and mental disabilities by granting “reasonable accommodations.” An employer must provide disabled employees with “reasonable accommodations,” such as changes to job duties, changes to work schedules, leave for medical care, and assistive equipment, unless doing so would pose an “undue hardship” on the employer.
Dhaliwal Law is dedicated to disability justice, and bolstering clients’ self-advocacy efforts, as appropriate for a given case. The firm works behind-the-scenes with employees as they navigate requests for accommodations or leave in their workplaces, and zealously challenges disability discrimination when it occurs. If you would like support requesting reasonable accommodations or challenging disability discrimination, contact Dhaliwal Law for a confidential initial call.
For more information on disability in the workplace in California and self-advocacy resources, see this guide from Disability Rights California.
FAMILY & MEDICAL LEAVE
Family and medical leave laws guarantee job-protected leave to covered employees to care for their own medical condition or a family member’s medical condition, or bond with a new child. Generally, the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its California counterpart, the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), require employers to provide eligible employees with 12 weeks of unpaid leave. The CFRA’s protections exceed the FMLA’s, and include more robust safeguards for medical privacy than the FMLA’s.
An employer may not unreasonably deny a request for job-protected leave, interfere with such a leave, or retaliate against an employee for invoking their rights under these statutes. If you would like support navigating a request for leave or believe your employer has violated your leave rights, contact Dhaliwal Law for a confidential consultation.
For more information and self-advocacy resources related to job-protected leaves, you can visit this guide from Legal Aid at Work. Additionally, this resource from the California Civil Rights Department highlights some of the key differences between the FMLA and the CFRA.
PAY EQUITY
In California, equal pay for equal work is the law. Under California’s fair pay law, an employer cannot pay an employee less than a co-worker of another sex, race, or ethnicity performing substantially similar work, irrespective of motivation. Dhaliwal Law is passionate about prosecuting California’s robust pay equity statute to help close gender and racial pay gaps.
If you believe your employer is violating your rights to fair compensation, contact Dhaliwal Law for a confidential case assessment.
These resources from Legal Aid at Work and the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement provide more information about California’s strong pay equity and transparency laws.
WHISTLEBLOWER RETALIATION
California boasts strong and broad anti-retaliation protections for employees who blow the whistle on illegal activity and unsafe working conditions at work, or refuse to participate in violations of law. An employer may not terminate or take other adverse action against an employee for engaging in protected whistleblowing.
Dhaliwal Law takes pride in advocating for whistleblowers and prosecuting California’s vital anti-retaliation statutes. If you would like support with making a protected report or challenging whistleblower retaliation at work, contact Dhaliwal Law for a confidential initial call.
For an overview of many of California’s anti-retaliation protections, see this resource from the California Labor Commissioner.
WAGE THEFT
State and federal laws outlaw wage theft, the illegal practice of employers withholding or failing to pay workers their legally entitled wages. Some examples of wage theft include unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest breaks, failure to pay all wages owed, incorrect classification of workers as independent contractors or as overtime “exempt,” and failure to pay commissions earned.
If you believe that your employer has not paid you all of the wages you are legally owed, contact Dhaliwal Law for a confidential consultation.
COMPLIANCE & INVESTIGATIONS COUNSEL FOR MISSION-DRIVEN ORGANIZATIONS
Dhaliwal Law provides preventative and proactive pre-litigation advice and counsel to mission-driven organizations to ensure that their policies and practices comply with both employment and labor law and their own social justice values. Dhaliwal Law also conducts neutral investigations in response to workplace civil rights complaints. If you are interested in compliance or investigations counsel, please contact Dhaliwal Law for an initial consultation.