PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL (PAGA) LAWYER

Today the judge approved a Private Attorney General (PAGA) settlement of mine. She thanked me for the papers I wrote and said they were the most thorough explanation she had seen, and they answered a lot of questions the other judges in the courthouse had about PAGA. P.S. this is the back entrance to the Los Angeles Superior Court building.

#PAGALawyer #wagelawyer

View East onto Wilshire Boulevard. I stepped outside today for one minute at lunch and walked right back in. I am doing a meal and rest break binding arbitration for four healthcare workers. If we win we will do a Labor Code Section 2699 (PAGA) trial. This is a very intense arbitration that will actually transpire on Saturday. Arbitrations are harder than court because the days are longer.

#mealbreaklawyer #workerlawyer

LOS ANGELES PREVAILING WAGE LAWYER

The halls of justice, a place where equal justice is supposed to happen to all. It was a lovely morning appearing before a judge who had to decide who a prevailing wage case would be tried. Long story, but the trial got continued.

#prevailingwagelawyer #wagelawyerforjustice

Century City as seen in the foreground from what is left of Little Santa Monica Boulevard just east of Sepulveda. Today a Bakersfield prevailing wage client of mine was questioned in a nearby Los Angeles 90025 office building. Cases in which the employer is in Los Angeles and some of the work was done in Los Angeles can be filed in the downtown Los Angeles court. This case involves multiple employees and Private Attorney General (PAGA) allegations for absent employees. Due to its importance I sincerely appreciate my client's drive from Bakersfield to West Los Angeles right after his shift which ended at 6 AM.

#prevailingwagelawyer #WestLosAngeleswagelawyer

LOS ANGELES UNPAID MEAL BREAK LAWYER

Lunch break during a sexual orientation harassment deposition. The food court at 725 S. Figueroa remains a nightmare. Not a place for normal, healthy food, open tables, or quick waits. Responsible high-rise office development should include cafeterias that can accommodate the workforce. I will say our building on 7th Street has a downstairs restaurant that does not seem to get overrun by tenants. They do, however, tend to run out of fruit and other sides by a certain time during the day.

#Mealbreaklawyer #lunchbreaks

This is the lunch area of JAMS in downtown Los Angeles. Many employment lawsuits are either mediated or arbitrated at JAMS. It is in a fancy building and they bring in lunch. Today I was on a case in which one of my clients was retaliated against and fired for questioning whether he was paid prevailing wage. Otherwise, the clients had labor violation claims on behalf of themselves and similarly aggrieved employees. The JAMS official presiding over the case was a retired judge. A lot of retired judges work at JAMS.

#prevailingwagelawyer #LosAngeleslaborlawyer

LAWYER FOR OFF THE CLOCK WORK

Today a ruling occurred on a case I won. Each Plaintiff subject to wage theft for off-the-clock work, meal breaks, and rest breaks is owed approximately $7,500.00. Obviously this ruling, and the win, has implications for a large group of workers; over 140.

#wagetheftlawyer #winningwagelawyer #employeecasewin

I spent today in a complicated mediation following a four employee win on a meal, rest, and off-the-clock arbitration that goes to trial on Private Attorney General Act penalties if a settlement cannot be reached. These days, more days than not, I am involved in complex wage and hour issues that effect groups beyond my mere clients. These cases involve a lot of responsibility and mathematical calculations. Settlements on cases in which one employee or several employee represents a larger group require court approval which adds to the work involved in employee wage cases not merely affecting one worker.

#employeewagelawyer #WageattorneyLosAngeles

MINIMUM WAGE LAWYER IN LOS ANGELES

Judging from the cars in this rooftop parking lot, attached to a Wilshire Boulevard highrise in West Los Angeles, I doubt these are the work mobiles of minimum wage workers. Nonetheless, I parked up here today to mediate a wrongful termination case in which my client who was a lead advised management it was illegal to not compensate massage therapists at minimum wage for all of the work they did for a retail massage clinic. This is the second Riverside County case I have had to mediate in Los Angeles due to a lack of qualified Riverside County employment law mediators. With all of these $15 an hour minimum wage rallies and $15 an hour minimum wage laws signed into law that do not go into effect for years uncompensated pay at minimum wage for every hour worked will continue to be a problem for workers paid on a piece-rate for their work.

#minimumwagelawyer #pieceratelawsuit #wagelawyerLosAngeles

L.A. baby. My sketch looking South onto 6th Street near Central Civil West on Commonwealth where I appeared today on a wage and hour class action.Mid-Wilshire is one of my favorite parts of Los Angeles. Not because I went to law school there because I hated law school.Los Angeles moved West via Wilshire Boulevard. It was our 20th Century transformation of the great Western American city just like London transformed years earlier by turning residential lots into commercial lots. Gaylord Wilshire paved the road to the Pacific. In doing so some of the best deco architecture in Los Angeles was created, and the first department stores with parking in the back.

#Mid-Wilshire #wagelawyer #LosAngelesWageLawyer

Goodbye Christmas 2015 and 2015. Just when I thought there would not be anymore Christmas displays in Los Angeles County office towers to critique I chanced upon this yesterday at a successful mediation of a controlled standby wage and hour class action in the Gas Company Towers where I was told I did not have permission to photograph the building right after I took this picture. Happy 2015 to all, and enjoy this evidence of tenant pass-throughs only those wearing Google glasses (or me with my BlackBerry) are lucky enough to capture.

#Goodbye2015 #LosAngeleswagelawyer

I took this picture while on a lunch break during a wage and hour class action for paystub errors, unpaid wages, etc. This particular shot has significance to me because I proposed to my wife at the Bonaventure. As to the Union Bank building it was the first highrise after Bunker Hill was demolished which is important to a Los Angeles history buff like me, but I should also add my downtown office was in that building until earlier this year when we moved to our present address on 7th Street which has a spectacular view of downtown Los Angeles. Moreover, our Penthouse suite is kept in immaculate condition. Amongst other things, they paint the walls every few months.

#LosAngeleswagelawyer #LosAngeleslaborlawyer

There are some cases in which I feel like a kid in a candy store. Bring on the cases in which the employee is not paid overtime, not paid meal breaks, not paid rest breaks, told to work 24/7 on-call without pay. Make it a class action, or Private Attorney General (PAGA) case and then two or three or twelve people decide to sue on the same case.

#wagelawyer #overtimelawyer