Filing An Employment Lawsuit In Los Angeles


Right-To-Sue Letter

Filing an employment termination lawsuit is not a novel thing few employees have done. Prior to bringing certain types of workplace lawsuits, administrative remedies for discrimination have to be exhausted with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment. Between 1997 and 2008, filed with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment, there were 60,009 sex discrimination complaints, 38,172 mental or physical disability discrimination complaints, 37,829 race and national origin complaints, 29,295 age discrimination complaints, 14,022 national origin/ancestry complaints, 4,363 denial of Family & Medical Care Leave complaints, 3,176 sexual orientation discrimination complaints, 3,000 religious discrimination complaints, 2,692 medical condition discrimination complaints, and 1,313 marital status discrimination complaints, Blas & Doherty, FEHA by the Numbers, California Labor & Employment Law Review, September 2009. In administrative complaints filed with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment, termination was the leading cause of the complaint, 49.9% of the time followed by harassment 24.6% of the time. Refusal to accommodate comprised 3.8% of the complaints with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment.

Where to get a Right-To-Sue Letter?


If a right-to-sue letter is needed, the Employment Lawyers Group will file your complaint with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment, and obtain a right-to-sue letter so that we can pursue your employment case in court. Whether your employment lawsuit will be in state court, or federal court depends on whether your employer is California based, and whether an individual is going to be sued for sexual harassment or another form of harassment prohibited by the FEHA. If there is a defendant in your employment lawsuit who is a resident of California, we will file your employment lawsuit in state court. Under circumstances, your Federal Employment Rights will have to be used if you are suing a religious organization, or you never obtained a California Rights to sue letter for violations of the California version of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). If not, your employment lawsuit will be heard in federal court. Still, some employers require that employment cases be decided by binding arbitration. If that is the case, your employment dispute will be heard by an arbitrator and not in court. If you hire us to be your employment attorney, your case will be heard somewhere. We will not simply take your case and try to settle your employment lawsuit without giving you the justice of the employment lawsuit being filed in a tribunal.

Important Employment Lawsuit Statistics

Studies vary on whether it is more advantageous to file your employment lawsuit in state versus federal court. The win rate for employment lawsuits was reported to be almost the same in state court as federal court, Thomas Cohen, U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2nd Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies Paper, June 28, 2006. Cohen also reported that the win rate for plaintiffs is nearly the same in state court as in federal court. However, the damage awards were substantially higher in federal court. This could be because employment cases filed in federal court often involve large corporations juries are not afraid to punish through large damage awards. Cohen also determined that employment cases take longer in state court than federal court.

Case Wins & Settlements in Los Angeles:

  • $305,000 Sexual Harassment of Pizza Delivery Lady
  • $216,575 Leave of absence Termination
  • $182,500 Cancer Discrimination Termination
  • $175,000 Wrongfully Terminated Controller
  • $165,000 Sexually Harassed 18 Year Old
  • $150,000 Wrongful Termination of Waitress
  • $150,000 Race Harassment at Oil Refinery