Arbitration

A private alternative to court in which a neutral arbitrator hears the evidence and decides the dispute, usually with a binding award.

Many business and employment contracts require it. It's generally faster and more private than a trial, discovery is more limited, and the grounds for challenging an award are narrow. That makes the arbitration clause itself worth reading before a dispute starts.

Business litigation and dispute resolution

At-will employment

The presumption that a job with no fixed term can be ended by the employer or the employee at any time, on notice.

Labor Code section 2922 sets the presumption, and it has limits. An employer still can't fire someone for a discriminatory or retaliatory reason, or in violation of public policy. A contract or policy promising termination only for good cause can override it, which is why handbooks usually restate at-will status in plain words.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 2922

Employment law

Bodily injury liability coverage

The part of a driver's auto policy that pays for injuries that driver causes to other people, up to the policy limit.

If another driver hits you, this is the coverage your claim is paid from, not your own policy. The limit caps what the insurer pays for one crash, and a serious injury can go past it. When it does, the usual next steps are the at-fault driver's other assets and your own underinsured motorist coverage.

MedPay vs. bodily injury coverage

Breach of contract

Failing to do what a contract requires, without a legal excuse.

The plaintiff generally has to show a contract, its own performance or an excuse for not performing, the other side's breach, and resulting damages. Money damages are the usual remedy. In California, the deadline to sue is four years for a written contract and two years for an oral one.

Source: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 337; § 339

Business litigation and dispute resolution

Business interruption insurance

Coverage that replaces lost business income and certain continuing expenses when operations stop because of a covered loss.

Most policies tie it to direct physical loss of or damage to property, which is why so many pandemic closure claims were denied and then litigated. The waiting period, the period of restoration and the exclusions in the policy decide what's owed.

Insurance and bad faith litigation

California False Claims Act (CFCA)

A state law that lets the government, and private whistleblowers on its behalf, sue anyone who submits false claims for payment to California or a local government.

A private person who files is called a qui tam plaintiff. The complaint is filed under seal, and the government decides whether to take over the case. If money is recovered, the whistleblower receives a share set by statute, which depends in part on whether the government stepped in.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12652

California False Claims Act

California Family Rights Act (CFRA)

The state law giving eligible employees of employers with five or more employees up to 12 workweeks of job-protected family and medical leave in a 12-month period.

To qualify, an employee needs more than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months. It covers the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, and the employee's own serious health condition. It can be unpaid, and the employee has a right to return to the same or a comparable position.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12945.2

Can an employer deny unpaid time off?

Catastrophic injury

An injury serious enough to cause permanent disability or end someone's ability to work, such as a severe brain or spinal cord injury.

No single California statute defines the phrase. Lawyers and insurers use it for injuries with lifelong consequences. What sets these claims apart is the future: ongoing care, lost earning capacity and changes to a home have to be projected years ahead, usually with medical and economic experts.

What is a catastrophic injury?

Charge of discrimination

The formal complaint a worker files with the EEOC alleging job discrimination, harassment or retaliation.

It has to come first, before a Title VII lawsuit. The deadline is 180 days after the alleged act, or 300 days when the worker first went to a state or local agency with authority over the claim, as California workers usually can. The employer gets notice and is usually asked for a written response, called a position statement.

Source: 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5

Sample response to an EEOC charge

Civil Rights Department (CRD)

The California agency that enforces FEHA and investigates discrimination and harassment complaints. Until 2022 it was the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).

SB 189 renamed the department in 2022, so older documents and articles still say DFEH. A worker files with the CRD before suing under FEHA and can ask for a right-to-sue notice right away or let the department investigate. It's a state agency, separate from the federal EEOC, with its own deadlines.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12925(b)

Wrongful termination deadlines

Comparative negligence

California's rule for shared fault: an injured person's compensation is reduced by their own share of the blame, but not wiped out.

The California Supreme Court adopted the pure form of the rule in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. Someone found 30 percent at fault still recovers the other 70 percent of their damages. Even a person who was mostly at fault can recover the part of the harm caused by others. Insurers raise it often, which is why early evidence about how a crash happened matters.

Source: Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804

When a rear-end collision is not your fault

Contingency fee

A fee arrangement where the lawyer's fee is a percentage of whatever is recovered for the client instead of an hourly charge.

California requires the agreement to be in writing and signed by both the lawyer and the client, who gets a copy. It has to state the rate, explain how case costs affect the fee and the client's share, and say the fee is not set by law and can be negotiated. Claims covered by the separate caps in Business and Professions Code section 6146 follow those limits instead.

Source: Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 6147

California personal injury attorney fees

Copyright

Federal protection for original creative works fixed in a tangible form, such as writing, music, film, photographs and software.

Protection begins when the work is created. Registration with the U.S. Copyright Office isn't needed to own a copyright, but it's generally required before suing over a U.S. work. Copyright protects the expression, not the idea behind it.

Technology law and social media

Cost of defense settlement

A settlement priced at about what it would cost to defend the case, paid to end it without any admission that the claim has merit.

Businesses consider it when a claim looks weak but the legal fees to win it would exceed the payment. The trade-off is the signal it sends to other potential claimants. A written agreement with a release and a no-admission clause is standard.

Cost of defense settlements

Cross-complaint

A claim a defendant files back against the plaintiff, or against others, in the same lawsuit. Federal courts call it a counterclaim.

Related claims against the plaintiff generally have to be raised this way. If a defendant doesn't plead a related claim it already has when it answers the complaint, it usually can't bring that claim later in a separate case.

Source: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 428.10; § 426.30

Counterclaims against a frivolous lawsuit

Damages

The money a court can order one party to pay another to make up for a legal injury.

In an injury case they come in two main groups: economic losses you can document with bills and pay stubs, and non-economic losses such as pain and emotional distress. Punitive damages are a separate kind. They punish serious misconduct rather than compensate a loss. The injured person has to prove each category.

Types of damages in personal injury cases

Defamation

A false, unprivileged statement of fact, communicated to others, that harms someone's reputation. Libel is written; slander is spoken.

California defines libel in Civil Code section 45 and slander in section 46. Statements of opinion and true statements aren't defamation. Some statements are privileged, so a complaint made through proper channels isn't automatically grounds for a lawsuit.

Source: Cal. Civ. Code § 45; § 46

Suing over a false harassment allegation

Discovery

The pretrial stage in which each side obtains evidence from the other through written questions, document requests and depositions.

California allows discovery of any matter, not privileged, that's relevant to the subject of the case. It's usually the most expensive stage of a lawsuit, which is why the scope of requests is so often disputed and why early document preservation matters.

Source: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2017.010

Cost to defend an employment lawsuit

Duty of care

The legal obligation to act with reasonable care so you don't injure other people.

Civil Code section 1714 states the general rule: everyone is responsible for injuries caused by a want of ordinary care or skill in managing their property or person. Drivers owe it to everyone else on the road and property owners owe it to visitors. Duty is the first of the four things a negligence claim has to prove.

Source: Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a)

Can you sue an employee for negligence?

Economic damages

Losses that can be measured in money and backed by records, such as medical bills, lost earnings and repair costs.

California law describes them as objectively verifiable monetary losses and lists medical expenses, lost earnings, burial costs, repair or replacement of property, and lost employment or business opportunities. Future losses count too. A surgeon's estimate of later treatment or an economist's projection of reduced earning capacity is how those get proved.

Source: Cal. Civ. Code § 1431.2(b)(1)

Compensation for medical bills after an injury

Employee handbook

A written collection of an employer's policies, from pay and leave to conduct and complaint procedures.

California requires employers to put several policies and notices in writing, and a handbook is the usual place to keep them together. It also helps an employer show it applied the same rules to everyone. An outdated handbook can do the opposite, so it needs regular review as the law changes.

Writing a California employee handbook

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

The federal agency that enforces federal workplace discrimination laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Its process starts with a charge of discrimination. The EEOC can investigate, offer mediation, dismiss the charge or issue a right-to-sue notice. In California, the same facts often lead to a parallel complaint with the Civil Rights Department, and an employer may be answering both at once.

How employers win an EEOC complaint

Exclusive remedy

The rule that workers' compensation is usually an injured employee's only remedy against the employer.

Labor Code section 3602 calls compensation the sole and exclusive remedy against the employer, with narrow exceptions such as a willful physical assault by the employer or fraudulent concealment that makes the injury worse. The rule protects the employer, not everyone else. A negligent driver, property owner or equipment maker can still be sued in a third-party claim.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 3602

Common types of personal injury cases

Exempt employee

An employee who isn't entitled to overtime because the job meets both a duties test and a salary test.

For executive, administrative and professional employees, the monthly salary has to equal at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work. The employee also has to be primarily engaged in exempt duties and regularly use discretion and independent judgment. A title alone doesn't make anyone exempt, and misclassification drives many overtime claims.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 515(a)

Defending wage and hour claims

Expense reimbursement

An employer's duty to repay employees for necessary costs they incur doing their job.

Labor Code section 2802 covers all necessary expenditures or losses an employee incurs as a direct consequence of doing the job. With remote work, the question comes up constantly for home internet, phones and equipment. An employee who has to sue to recover can also recover reasonable attorney's fees.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 2802

California remote employee laws

Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)

California's main law against discrimination, harassment and retaliation in employment and housing.

Most of its employment rules apply to employers with five or more employees, but the ban on harassment covers employers with one or more. A worker has three years from the alleged violation to file a complaint with the Civil Rights Department, then one year from the right-to-sue notice to file a lawsuit.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12926(d); § 12940(j)(4); § 12960(e); § 12965(c)

FEHA statute of limitations

Government claim

A written claim that has to be presented to a public entity before you can sue it; for injury or death, the deadline is six months.

Government Code section 911.2 requires claims for death or personal injury to be presented no later than six months after the claim accrues. Most other claims get one year. No lawsuit can be filed until the entity acts on the claim or it's deemed rejected. The rule reaches cities, counties, transit agencies and school districts.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 911.2; § 945.4

Injury claims against a government entity

Harassment prevention training

The sexual harassment training California requires of every employer with five or more employees.

Supervisors get at least two hours and other employees at least one hour, repeated once every two years. New employees have to be trained within six months of hire, and new supervisors within six months of taking the role. Records of completed training are often an employer's first exhibit in a harassment case.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12950.1

California sexual harassment law

Hostile work environment

Harassment serious enough to change the conditions of someone's job and create an abusive working environment.

California has set some of the rules by statute. The worker doesn't have to prove their productivity dropped, and a single incident can be enough to reach a jury if it unreasonably interfered with their work or created an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12923

Types of workplace sexual harassment

Independent contractor

A worker who runs an independent business rather than working as an employee. In California, the hiring business has to prove that status under the ABC test.

Under Labor Code section 2775, a worker is treated as an employee unless the business shows all three: the worker is free from its control and direction, the work is outside the usual course of its business, and the worker is customarily engaged in an independent trade of the same kind. The test comes from Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court. Some occupations fall under exceptions judged by the older Borello standard.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 2775

Employment law

Insurance bad faith

An insurer's unreasonable handling of a claim, such as denying or delaying payment without a proper reason, in breach of the duty of good faith it owes its policyholder.

Every insurance policy carries an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. A policyholder who proves bad faith can recover more than the policy benefits, including harm the unreasonable denial caused. Insurance Code section 790.03(h) separately lists unfair claims settlement practices.

Source: Cal. Ins. Code § 790.03(h)

Insurance litigation in California

Interactive process

The timely, good-faith discussion an employer and employee must have to find an accommodation that works for a known disability.

Failing to engage in it is its own FEHA violation under Government Code section 12940(n), separate from whether an accommodation was ultimately possible. It usually starts with the employee's request. Keeping a written record of each step protects both sides.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12940(n)

Responding to an accommodation request

Malicious prosecution

A lawsuit against someone who brought an earlier case without probable cause and with malice, after that case ended in the defendant's favor.

It can't be filed inside the original case. It has to wait until that case is over and decided in the defendant's favor. The elements are demanding on purpose, so that people aren't discouraged from bringing honest claims.

Counterclaims against a frivolous lawsuit

Meal and rest breaks

California's required breaks: a meal period of at least 30 minutes for a work period over five hours, a second one past ten hours, and paid rest breaks.

Labor Code section 512 sets the meal period rules. If the workday is no more than six hours, the first meal period can be waived by mutual consent. Rest break rules come from the Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders. Missed breaks are among the most common items in wage and hour claims.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 512

California lunch break rules

Mediation

A confidential negotiation led by a neutral mediator who helps the parties reach their own settlement but can't impose one.

Under Evidence Code section 1119, what's said and written for a mediation generally can't be used as evidence or obtained in discovery later. That lets both sides talk frankly about weak points. Many disputes settle at mediation, including cases already set for trial.

Source: Cal. Evid. Code § 1119

When an employee threatens a lawsuit

Medical lien

A claim by a hospital, doctor, health plan or public program to be repaid out of an injury settlement or judgment for treatment it provided or paid for.

Liens are paid from the recovery before the client's share, so they shape what the injured person actually receives. Many can be negotiated down. Medi-Cal and Medicare follow their own repayment rules, and the order of payment is usually set out in the settlement statement.

Does a settlement include medical bills?

Medical payments coverage

Optional auto coverage that pays medical bills for you and your passengers after a crash, whoever caused it.

Limits tend to be small, but it pays fast because fault doesn't matter. It can pick up deductibles and copays your health plan leaves behind. Some policies let the insurer seek repayment from a later injury settlement, so the wording of your own policy matters.

Does health insurance cover auto accidents?

Negligence

Failing to use the care a reasonably careful person would use in the same situation, and causing harm to someone as a result.

A negligence claim has four parts: a duty of care, a breach of that duty, causation, and damages. Most car accident and slip-and-fall claims rest on it, as do many claims against third parties after a workplace injury. If one part is missing, the claim fails even when the injury is real.

Common types of personal injury cases

Non-economic damages

Compensation for harm that has no receipt: pain, suffering, emotional distress, inconvenience, humiliation and loss of companionship.

Proposition 51 added a rule for cases with more than one defendant. Each defendant pays non-economic damages only in proportion to its own percentage of fault. Because there's no invoice to point to, these damages rest on medical records, testimony and how the injury changed the person's daily life.

Source: Cal. Civ. Code § 1431.2

How to value a personal injury claim

Overtime

Premium pay for extra hours. In California that's one and a half times the regular rate for work over eight hours in a day or 40 in a week.

Labor Code section 510 also requires time and a half for the first eight hours on the seventh day of work in a workweek, and double time for work beyond 12 hours in a day or beyond eight on that seventh day. Exempt employees and approved alternative workweek schedules follow different rules.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 510

California wage and hour laws

Pain and suffering

The physical pain and mental distress an injury causes, which California treats as a form of non-economic damages.

No statute sets a formula. A jury weighs the type of injury, how long recovery takes, whether the pain is permanent and what it does to ordinary life. Treatment notes, the injured person's own account and testimony from family or coworkers are the usual evidence.

What you may be entitled to after a car accident

Patent

A right granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to stop others from making, using or selling an invention for a limited time.

A utility patent generally lasts 20 years from the filing date. To qualify, an invention has to be new, useful and not obvious. Unlike copyright, the right exists only once the patent is issued.

Intellectual property

Personnel file

The records an employer keeps about an employee's performance, training or grievances, which current and former employees can inspect.

Under Labor Code section 1198.5, the employer has to make the records available no later than 30 calendar days after a written request, unless both sides agree in writing to a later date within the limits the statute sets. Write-ups and reviews end up here, which is one reason to write them carefully.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 1198.5

How to write up an employee

Premises liability

The responsibility of a property owner or occupier for injuries caused by unsafe conditions on the property.

It's a form of negligence. Typical cases involve wet floors, broken stairs, poor lighting or inadequate security. The question that decides most of them is whether the owner knew, or should have known, about the hazard in time to fix it or warn people.

Slip-and-fall accident claims

Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)

A California law that lets an employee sue an employer for civil penalties for Labor Code violations, on behalf of the state and other employees.

Before filing, the employee has to give written notice online to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and by certified mail to the employer, naming the provisions allegedly violated and the facts behind them. Penalties recovered by employees are generally split 65 percent to the agency and 35 percent to the affected employees.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 2699; § 2699.3

Employer defense in Los Angeles

Protected characteristic

A personal trait that can't lawfully be the basis for a job decision, such as race, sex, religion, age, disability or national origin.

FEHA's list is longer than federal law's. Among others it includes ancestry, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, reproductive health decisionmaking, and military and veteran status.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12940(a)

How employers win a discrimination case

Punitive damages

Damages meant to punish a defendant and deter similar conduct, available only with clear and convincing proof of oppression, fraud or malice.

The statute limits them to obligations not arising from contract, so a plain breach of contract doesn't qualify. To hold an employer liable for an employee's conduct, the plaintiff also has to show the employer knew the employee was unfit, authorized or ratified the conduct, or was itself guilty. For a corporation, that has to trace to an officer, director or managing agent.

Source: Cal. Civ. Code § 3294

How much you can sue for after a car accident

Reasonable accommodation

A change to a job, schedule or workplace that lets an applicant or employee with a known disability do the work.

FEHA requires employers to provide one unless the employer shows it would cause undue hardship. Modified schedules, equipment, time off for treatment and reassignment to a vacant position are common examples. The right answer depends on the job and the person, which is why the law also requires an interactive process.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12940(m)

Responding to an accommodation request

Retaliation

Punishing an employee for protected activity, such as opposing discrimination, filing a complaint or testifying in an investigation.

FEHA bars discharging or otherwise discriminating against anyone who opposed practices the Act forbids or who filed a complaint, testified or assisted in a proceeding. A retaliation claim can succeed even when the original complaint doesn't. The timing between the complaint and the job action is often the main evidence.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12940(h)

Defending a retaliation lawsuit

Rideshare insurance

The insurance that Uber, Lyft and other transportation network companies must carry for crashes involving their drivers.

From the moment a driver accepts a ride request until the ride ends, the required coverage is primary and set at $1 million for death, personal injury and property damage. Much lower minimums apply while the driver is logged in but waiting for a request. Which of those periods the crash fell in often decides which policy pays.

Source: Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 5433

Uber and rideshare injury claims

Right of publicity

A person's right to control commercial use of their name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness.

Civil Code section 3344 makes a person who knowingly uses those for advertising or selling products without consent liable for the resulting damages. It matters for performers, influencers and the brands that work with them, and it's why release forms exist.

Source: Cal. Civ. Code § 3344

Entertainment, publicity and privacy law

Right-to-sue notice

A notice from the Civil Rights Department, or the EEOC for federal claims, that lets a worker take a discrimination or harassment claim to court.

Under FEHA, the worker then has one year from the date of the notice to file suit. A worker who doesn't want an investigation can request the notice immediately. Federal claims run on a shorter clock: 90 days after the EEOC's notice.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12965(c); 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5

Sexual harassment lawsuits

Sexual harassment

Unwelcome conduct because of sex at work, including sexual advances, gender harassment and harassment based on pregnancy or childbirth.

Under FEHA, harassing conduct doesn't have to be motivated by sexual desire. An employer is liable for harassment by a co-worker if it knew or should have known and didn't take immediate, appropriate corrective action. Supervisors are held to a stricter standard. The individual harasser can be personally liable too.

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12940(j)

Workplace sexual harassment claims

Spinal cord injury

Damage to the spinal cord that interrupts signals between the brain and body, often causing loss of movement or feeling below the injury.

A complete injury means no function below the injured level; an incomplete one leaves some. Where on the spine it happens matters as much as the type: the higher the injury, the more of the body is affected. These claims usually involve a lifetime care plan, which is why they're treated as catastrophic.

Spinal cord injury claims

Statute of limitations

The deadline for filing a lawsuit. For most personal injury and wrongful death claims in California, it's two years.

The two-year period comes from Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 and usually runs from the date of the injury. Other claims have their own deadlines, and a claim against a public entity needs a government claim filed within six months first. Once the deadline passes, a court will usually dismiss the case however strong it is.

Source: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1

How to file a personal injury lawsuit

Strict liability for dog bites

Liability that doesn't depend on proof of carelessness. In California it applies to a dog owner whose dog bites someone in a public place or lawfully on private property.

The owner is liable regardless of the dog's past behavior or what the owner knew about it, so California has no one-free-bite rule for bites. Narrow exceptions cover police and military dogs in certain situations. Harm from a dog that knocks someone down without biting falls outside section 3342 and is usually pursued as negligence.

Source: Cal. Civ. Code § 3342

Dog bite laws in California

Subrogation

An insurer's right to step into its policyholder's shoes and recover what it paid from the party who caused the loss.

After a crash your health or auto insurer may pay first, then seek repayment from your settlement or directly from the at-fault driver's insurer. The right comes from the policy or plan, and some employer health plans are governed by federal law. The plan documents decide how much has to be paid back.

How settlements are paid out

Summary judgment

A ruling that decides a case without a trial because there's no real dispute about the important facts.

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 437c, the motion is granted when the papers show no triable issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Defendants often bring it after discovery to end claims the evidence doesn't support.

Source: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 437c(c)

Lawsuit vs. litigation

Trade secret

Information that has value because it isn't generally known, and that its owner makes reasonable efforts to keep secret.

The California Uniform Trade Secrets Act covers formulas, programs, methods, processes and compilations such as customer lists. Misappropriation means acquiring a trade secret by improper means, such as theft or breach of a duty of secrecy, or using or disclosing it without consent. Reverse engineering or independent development alone isn't improper means.

Source: Cal. Civ. Code § 3426.1

Intellectual property

Trademark

A word, logo, slogan or other sign that identifies the source of goods or services and sets them apart from competitors'.

Rights start with using the mark in commerce. Federal registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office adds notice across the country and stronger enforcement tools. Infringement cases turn on whether a competing use is likely to confuse consumers.

Registering and protecting IP rights

Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Damage to the brain from an outside force, like a blow to the head in a crash or fall, ranging from a concussion to a permanent injury.

Symptoms can show up late and a normal CT scan doesn't rule one out, so memory lapses, headaches, mood changes or trouble concentrating after an accident deserve a medical evaluation. In a claim, the diagnosis and long-term effects usually rest on findings from neurologists and neuropsychologists.

Traumatic brain injury claims

Unfair Competition Law (UCL)

California's broad law against any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice, and against deceptive advertising.

Because unlawful covers violations of other laws, the UCL lets a plaintiff borrow a violation of almost any statute. Remedies are mainly injunctions and restitution. It has a four-year limitations period, which is why it appears in competitor disputes and in wage claims alike.

Source: Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200; § 17203; § 17208

Wage and hour statute of limitations

Uninsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM)

Coverage in your own auto policy that pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance, or too little.

California requires uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage in auto liability policies unless the policyholder waives it in a signed agreement using specific language. Underinsured vehicles are included in the definition. Because the claim is against your own insurer, a disagreement about fault or amount goes to arbitration before a single neutral arbitrator.

Source: Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2

Whose insurance to call after a rear-end crash

Waiting time penalty

A penalty an employer owes when it willfully fails to pay all final wages on time to an employee who quits or is fired.

Under Labor Code section 203, the employee's wages continue as a penalty from the due date until paid, for up to 30 days. When final pay is due depends on whether the employee was let go or quit, and whether they gave notice.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 203

Wage and hour statute of limitations

Whistleblower retaliation

Punishing an employee for reporting a suspected violation of law, which Labor Code section 1102.5 prohibits.

The protection covers reports to a government or law enforcement agency, or to a person with authority over the employee who can investigate or correct the problem. The employee needs reasonable cause to believe the information shows a violation, even if reporting is part of the job. Refusing to take part in an illegal activity is protected too.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 1102.5(b), (c)

Employment litigation

Workers' compensation

California's no-fault system that pays medical care and disability benefits to employees injured on the job, regardless of who was at fault.

The injured employee doesn't have to prove negligence. In exchange, the employer is generally shielded from a civil lawsuit over the injury. Disputes go to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board rather than superior court, and the employer's insurer usually handles the claim.

Source: Cal. Lab. Code § 3600

What a workers' comp defense attorney does

Workplace discrimination

Treating an applicant or employee worse because of a protected characteristic, in hiring, pay, promotion, discipline or firing.

FEHA makes it unlawful to refuse to hire, to discharge, or to discriminate in compensation or in the terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of a protected characteristic. Most cases turn on one question: was the employer's stated reason the real one?

Source: Cal. Gov. Code § 12940(a)

Workplace discrimination defense

Wrongful death

A lawsuit brought by certain family members when a person dies because of someone else's wrongful act or neglect.

Section 377.60 lists who may sue: the surviving spouse or domestic partner, children and the children of deceased children, or, if there are none, the people who would inherit under intestate succession. Some dependents, such as parents or stepchildren who relied on the person, can also qualify. The two-year deadline in section 335.1 applies.

Source: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60

Chances of winning a wrongful death suit

Wrongful termination

A firing that breaks a law, a contract or public policy, as opposed to one that just seems unfair.

The common theories are discrimination or retaliation under FEHA, breach of an employment contract, and termination in violation of public policy. At-will status doesn't block these claims. It means the employer doesn't need a reason, not that every reason is lawful. For an employer, records showing the real reason for the decision are usually the core of the defense.

Wrongful termination defense

Wrongful termination in violation of public policy

A claim that an employee was fired for a reason that violates a fundamental public policy, such as refusing to break the law.

The California Supreme Court recognized it in Tameny v. Atlantic Richfield Co., where an employee said he was fired for refusing to take part in an illegal price-fixing scheme. The policy has to come from a statute or constitutional provision. It's a tort claim, so tort damages can be available.

Source: Tameny v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (1980) 27 Cal.3d 167

Wrongful termination deadlines