Sometimes an employer knows it is wrong to fire an employee, so the employer makes the employee so miserable that the employee has no other choice but to quit. In those cases, the employer has constructively terminated the employee. The law treats employees who have been constructively terminated as though they had been fired
definition
Hostile Work Environment
By Kristine Keala Meredith on
Posted in Employment
A hostile work environment is one in which the harassment has become so frequent or horrible that the victim’s working conditions are changed for the worse. For there to be a hostile work environment, the harassment has to be aimed at a protected class.
For example, if a supervisor at a tech company frequently makes …
Wrongful Termination
By Kristine Keala Meredith on
Posted in Employment
An employee is wrongfully terminated if he or she is fired for an illegal reason. The reason may be illegal because it violates an established law or because the firing goes against a public policy.
A firing may constitute a wrongful termination because it violates the law prohibiting discrimination based on protected classes. Even if …
Disparate Treatment
By Kristine Keala Meredith on
Posted in Employment
Disparate treatment means “different treatment.” Disparate treatment is illegal when it is aimed at an employee or independent contractor because of their membership in a protected class.
Most often, illegal disparate treatment results in an employee not getting a raise, being passed over for a promotion, being assigned an undesirable shift or job duties, or …
Employer
By Kristine Keala Meredith on
Posted in Employment
One who hires others to do something is an employer. An employer can be a person or a business. An employer has the right to control how an employee performs their work. The employer does not have control over how independent contractors complete their work.
See, Labor Code, § 2750.