Beverly Hills Labor and Employment Attorney

California gives workers significantly stronger protections than federal law. Under Government Code §12940, employers cannot fire, demote, or underpay you because of your race, religion, disability, age (40 or older), gender identity, or more than a dozen other characteristics. Retaliation for reporting violations is separately prohibited under §12940(h) and Labor Code §1102.5. California’s statewide minimum wage rose to $16.50 per hour on January 1, 2025, and any salaried employee classified as “exempt” who earns less than $68,640 per year may now be legally owed overtime regardless of their job title. Workers have three years to file a discrimination complaint with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), far longer than the federal 300-day window, but the clock starts on the date of the last harmful act.

Wrongful Termination in an At-Will State

California is an at-will employment state under Labor Code §2922, which means an employer can generally end the employment relationship at any time and for any reason. That rule has a hard limit, however: employers cannot terminate for an unlawful reason. Unlawful reasons include discriminatory motives under Government Code §12940, retaliation for opposing a FEHA violation under §12940(h), and retaliation for reporting illegal activity under Labor Code §1102.5. At-will does not mean employers can do whatever they want.

Consider this illustrative scenario: a warehouse supervisor in Beverly Hills reports to HR that her manager is paying female employees less than male employees in identical roles. Two weeks later, she is terminated for an alleged “attitude problem.” Even though California is an at-will state, the timing and circumstances could support both a FEHA retaliation claim under §12940(h) and a whistleblower claim under Labor Code §1102.5. A frequent employer defense in cases like this is that performance, not retaliation, drove the termination. The key question courts examine is whether the stated reason is pretextual and whether the adverse action followed protected activity in close temporal proximity.

Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Under FEHA

Government Code §12940 covers far more ground than most workers realize. Prohibited adverse actions include not just termination but also demotion, failure to hire, pay cuts, denial of promotion, and hostile work environment harassment. The protected categories under FEHA include:

• Race, color, and national origin or ancestry
• Religion
• Sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression
• Sexual orientation and marital status
• Physical or mental disability and medical condition
• Genetic information
• Age (40 and older)
• Military or veteran status

“Gender expression” and “genetic information” are categories that workers frequently overlook. If your employer took an adverse action related to how you present your gender, or because of a hereditary health risk revealed through a test, FEHA likely applies.

Retaliation and Whistleblower Claims

Two separate statutes address retaliation, and they can apply simultaneously. Section 12940(h) protects employees who oppose practices forbidden by FEHA, such as complaining about a supervisor’s discriminatory comments or filing an internal HR complaint. Labor Code §1102.5 reaches further: it prohibits retaliation against any employee who discloses, or refuses to participate in, activity the employee reasonably believes to be unlawful, even if the underlying conduct does not involve a FEHA violation. Both protections can arise from the same set of workplace facts, which matters when building a claim. If you have experienced retaliation at your Beverly Hills workplace, understanding which statute governs your situation affects both the deadline and the remedies available to you.

Wage and Hour Violations

Wage theft takes many forms beyond an employer simply paying less than agreed. As of January 1, 2025, the statewide minimum wage is $16.50 per hour for all employers regardless of size, confirmed by the California Department of Industrial Relations. Because California pegs the exempt salary threshold at twice the minimum wage, a salaried employee in an administrative, executive, or professional role must earn at least $68,640 per year to be validly classified as exempt. An employee earning $60,000 per year in a role titled “manager” may be owed unpaid overtime, regardless of what their offer letter calls them.

The Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) allows employees to act as private enforcers of the Labor Code and recover civil penalties on behalf of themselves and coworkers. PAGA was significantly reformed in 2024, and employers may now cure certain violations for a penalty reduction of up to 85 percent. Even with reform, PAGA remains a meaningful enforcement tool, particularly for wage violations affecting large workforces. Workers interested in understanding the full scope of California wage protections, including remote work implications, should also review the rules governing work-from-home employees under California labor law.