Practice areas
I represent California employees, and only employees, in the situations below. Real cases usually touch more than one — a disability case becomes a retaliation case the day you complain about how the disability was handled. Find whatever's closest, or just tell me what happened, and we'll sort out where it belongs.
Targeted, or punished for speaking up
You reported harassment or fraud, refused to break the law, filed a complaint, took a leave you were entitled to — and your employer made you pay for it. Retaliation is the heart of what I do, and often the strongest claim on the table, because the timeline tells the story: years of good reviews, then a complaint, then everything goes off the rails. They'll come back and say it was performance, or a business decision — and the dates answer them. One more thing people get wrong: you don't have to be right about what you reported. The law asks only that you raised it in good faith.
Read more →Treated worse because of your race, sex, age, religion, disability, or national origin — or made to work in a hostile environment, including sexual harassment, whether it's a quid-pro-quo demand or a workplace allowed to turn toxic. Here's what most people get wrong about proof: you don't have to prove what's in your manager's heart. You have to prove what they did — who got the promotion, whose numbers were suddenly a problem, how the explanation shifted between HR and the deposition. The jury gets to read between the lines. That's built from details, and the details are usually already sitting in your inbox.
Read more →Getting pregnant should not cost you your job, your role, or your standing. Demoted, passed over, written up out of nowhere, or pushed out after you announced — or after you came back to a job that had quietly shrunk. California's pregnancy protections are stronger than most employers act like they are, and in these cases the timing usually does the talking.
Read more →Disability, accommodation, and leave
This is the work I most want to be known for. If you have a disability — physical, a mental-health condition like anxiety, depression, or PTSD, or neurodivergence like autism or ADHD — your employer owes you a real, good-faith conversation about accommodations. And you don't have to say any magic words to start it. "Man, these fluorescent lights are driving me crazy — could I move to the corner desk?" can be a request for accommodation, and the law treats it as one. Too often, what starts instead is a sudden "performance problem," right after you disclose or ask for help. I know that pattern, and I know how to prove it.
Read more →Some people think being on medical leave means they can't be laid off. That's not true — it depends, in large part, on who chose the people that got laid off, and why your name was on the list. What is true: a leave you're entitled to — for your own health, a new baby, or a family member — is a right, not a favor you repay. Denied the leave, punished for taking it, or brought back to a job that's gone, changed, or quietly made impossible — that's often unlawful interference or retaliation. The return is where a lot of these cases are actually decided.
Read more →Your job is ending — or you can see it coming
Two kinds of people find this page. One was just fired for a reason that doesn't add up. The other still has the job — but the write-ups have started, the performance plan has goals no one could hit, and the calendar invites have stopped coming. Both are worth a conversation, and the second one is worth more: what you do — and don't do — in the days around a firing can change everything. The earlier we talk, the more options you have.
Read more →Sometimes you're handed a severance agreement and a short deadline. You need to know what you're signing away before you sign. Other times it's quieter and stranger: you want out, your employer wants you gone, but neither side will say it. You can't just quit without losing your leverage, and they're afraid to fire you. So everyone stays stuck and unhappy — until someone steps in, names the obvious, and negotiates an exit that puts real value on your experience and lets everyone move on. That's work I do often, and some of the work I enjoy most.
Read more →Even if your employer is the government
A case against a city, county, school district, or the state is a different game: different rules, shorter deadlines, and claim-filing requirements that can end a case before it starts if they're missed. A lot of lawyers won't touch these — the procedure scares them off. I take them. I know the traps, and I know how to get you through them.
Read more →Most people aren't, and it doesn't matter. Tell me what happened, and we'll sort out where you stand — free, confidential, and no cost unless we win.