January 2005
WIN AT WORK MONTHLY
A Community Service of SESSIONS KIMBALL & TURNER LLP, Employee Rights Attorneys
Win at Work	Employee Rights Update
ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATION Unfair treatment isn’t necessarily evidence of discrimination. Employees have complained to me of all sorts of perceived discrimination in the workplace. “There’s a double standard here.” “He just doesn’t like me, and criticizes me in front of others.” “She acts like a drill sergeant with me, and like a den mother with my co‑workers.” But in evaluating discrimination that violates law, you should be more interested in examining why rather than how it occurs. Unless you can show that the intent of any perceived discriminatory treatment is based on age, sex, race, religion or other categories established by law, it’s not illegal discrimination. Then is there legal discrimination? Yes! Laws don’t prohibit discrimination outside those specified areas. You can be legally discriminated against for your physical attributes, likeability, or for that matter, the color of your shoelaces. Discrimination can be based on absolutely any feature imaginable. But if you intend to claim illegal discrimination, you must know its limitations.	NEW MANDATORY SEXUAL HARASSMENT PREVENTION TRAINING Beginning January 1, 2006, employers with more than 50 employees must provide their supervisors with at least two hours of sexual harassment prevention training every two years. Training must occur by means of a classroom setting or other interactive forum, and must be conducted by a qualified trainer. Businesses that contract 50 or more people also must provide training. For those supervisors employed as of July 1, 2005, training must occur by January 1, 2006. For all supervisors hired or promoted after July 1, 2005, training must occur within six months after hiring or promotion. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) has authority to enforce this new law, and require that employers provide training. Therefore, if you are a supervisor at a company with 50 or more employees, do not be alarmed if you are asked to attend sexual harassment prevention training. Michael S. Ahmad, Attorney
Update on our attorneys: Don Sessions begins teaching his law school course on Wage & Hour Law at Western State University School of Law. Both Don Sessions/James Peters, Stephen Kimball/Jenifer Anderson Pearl attorney groups, and Peter Taylor have set new records for recovery of money for their clients in 2004.
Look for our answers to employees’ questions in the “Life and Work Q & A” column of the Orange County Register’s "Business Monday" magazine. E-mail us at info@job-law.com to have your address added or removed from our monthly mailing list. For more employee rights information or for past issues of Win at Work Monthly, click here for our website, job-law.com; here to order our book, Employee Rights in California; or contact our office directly at 23456 Madero, Suite 170, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, (949) 380-0900, (800) 774-7494, info@job-law.com. The Win at Work portion of Win at Work Monthly is from our ongoing syndicated column, which appears in the Los Angeles Times’ “Career Builder Magazine” and elsewhere. Win at Work Monthly is intended for general information and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion. Readers in need of legal advice should promptly retain the services of an attorney. ©2005 by Sessions Kimball & Turner LLP.