Kutztown Employment Attorney

When Winning Is the Only Option

Employment Attorneys » Kutztown

What Is Your Case Worth?

We get big settlements

Workers in all sorts of industries could be victims of wrongful terminations, workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, or other illegal actions by their employers.  Our lawyers stand up for these workers and fight their bosses to get them compensation for what happened to them and other benefits, potentially including punitive damages to punish their employer’s illegal actions.

If you were the victim of any kind of illegal discrimination or adverse employment actions at work, our attorneys may be able to help with your case.  We handle a broad range of employment law cases, and our attorneys are prepared to handle new and unique legal situations as well.

For a free case assessment, call our employment attorneys at Leeson & Leeson today at (610) 890-6332.

Leeson & Leeson: Lehigh Valley Lawyer Fighting for Maximum Compensation

What Our Clients Have To Say

Workplace Discrimination Cases in Kutztown

One of the biggest areas of employment law violations that you might have faced is discrimination.  Discrimination can occur in many ways, some of which are less obvious than others – and thus more likely to fly under the radar or go on for years without complaints from victims.  Our attorneys can investigate your case, analyze what protections apply to you, and collect evidence to show that you were treated differently than other employees who were similarly situated.

The law has various “protected classes” – categories of person or traits that it is illegal to discriminate against someone for.  Under federal and state law, you are protected from being discriminated against based on religion; race and color; sex, gender, and sexual orientation; pregnancy status; disability and age; country of origin; and other classifications.  When an employer’s negative decisions are based on these traits, it can be difficult to prove as much, but that is where our employment attorneys come in.

We can collect evidence of disciplinary records to help show that other workers outside your protected class who did the same things were not treated as harshly.  We can also potentially show that disciplinary records drawn up to support eventual firings or disciplinary measures were for false or pretextual reasons rather than legitimate excuses.  We can also potentially analyze widespread negative effects of facially neutral policies on employees of color or other protected workers in your workplace.

Leeson & Leeson: Lehigh Valley Lawyer Fighting for Maximum Compensation

Examples of Adverse Employment Actions in Employment Law Cases in Kutztown

Whether your case is based on discrimination, retaliation, refusal to go along with sexual harassment, or other grounds for an employment law claim, you usually need to prove that your employer did something negative to you to constitute a violation. As mentioned, this can involve a disparate impact across many people in your protected class, but it often comes down to individual cases of discipline or termination, including any of the following “adverse employment actions”:

Termination

Firing someone for an illegal reason often constitutes grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit, and termination is often the adverse employment action that gets workers mad enough to call a lawyer.

Pay Cuts/Hour Reductions

If your pay was cut or your hours were cut back to punish you, that is usually squarely within the category of “adverse employment actions” that our employers need to show. These issues are also quite easy to document with pay stubs, W-2s, and bank statements.

Demotions

Losing rank at work because of a legitimate cause is legal, but being demoted for a discriminatory reason, as retaliation, or for another illegal cause is quite clearly illegal and is certainly “adverse.”

Transfers

Being moved to another job might not always be “negative,” but it can constitute an adverse employment action in some situations. First, if the transfer makes it harder to get to work, includes a demotion, or has other hardships associated (such as having to relocate), then that could be considered adverse. Similarly, if the transfer was to a secondary location or a less prestigious branch, that could also be considered negative. Some transfers are known to be bad for workers, with fewer opportunities for growth or expansion, and this could also be considered “adverse,” depending on the facts of your case.

Denied Opportunities/Access

Some jobs are all about grabbing opportunities when they arise, whether that be participating in trainings, development programs, management tracking, or simply getting access to discuss ideas and opportunities with the right superiors. If you are denied these opportunities in a systematic way while others are given these opportunities, that could be enough to constitute an adverse employment action, too. This is especially clear in discrimination cases where, perhaps, the only people given access to closed-door meetings with the boss are white or male employees or in cases where disabled workers are barred from trainings and retreats on the assumption it would be “too hard” for them to attend.

Discipline/Write-Ups

Being written up or formally disciplined is obviously an adverse action even if it has no immediate effect and only comes up later when you are eventually demoted or fired. In many cases, we see employees in a protected class facing more write-ups than similarly situated employees outside that class, even when there is no difference in behaviors or actions. Often, these disciplinary actions are put on record so that your employer can use them as a pretextual reason to fire you later so that they can claim it was for tardiness or excessive absenteeism rather than your race or sex.

What Can I Do About Mistreatment in the Workplace in Kutztown?

Whether you are facing sexual harassment, other kinds of harassment, or discrimination at work, there are many steps you can take to protect your rights and potentially seek damages.  In any case, you should talk to our attorneys first before making these moves, as you may face illegal retaliation for speaking out, potentially cutting off income and benefits for some time.

Often, there are state and local agencies you can report discrimination and other mistreatment to, such as the EEOC.  You can also file lawsuits directly in many cases to seek monetary damages for economic and non-economic harms.  Sometimes reporting what happened to HR and documenting it is a necessary first step to show that the employer was on notice and failed to reform their behavior, so talk to our lawyers about any actions you might need to take through your workplace’s official channels.

Leeson & Leeson: Lehigh Valley Lawyer Fighting for Maximum Compensation

Call Our Kutztown Employment Attorneys Today

For help with a potential case, call (610) 890-6332 to speak with Leeson & Leeson’s employment attorneys today.