Do I Need an Employment Law Attorney?

Answer:

Some of the clients that we talk to during the week are clients that have already started the process of bringing a claim here in California against their employer. Sometimes it’s for a client that’s filed a workers’ comp case, and they’re nervous because they feel like the employer’s putting pressure on them to resolve their case, or the insurance carrier just wants to close out their case and the employee is still injured. In those types of situations, as in most workers’ comp cases, it’s important for you to reach out to an attorney to help you with that process and ensure that somebody’s advocating for you. A lot of times, this is your one shot to become whole, with regards to that injury.

Outside of workers’ compensation, we also get calls for employees that have gone to the DFEH or the EOC – or another agency called the DLSE, depending on the type of claim – and those agencies are trying to put pressure on them to resolve their case. The employer is offering them money and the employee is saying, “Well, that doesn’t seem like enough.” A lot of times, it’s not enough. I look at the numbers being thrown around and ask, “Do you think that makes you whole?” The employee often says, “No. No way.” The reality is California is set up so that employees can represent themselves, so you don’t actually necessarily need to hire an attorney to bring a claim to a governmental agency. You don’t even need to bring an attorney with you if you want to file a lawsuit in superior court or federal court. In my personal experience, doing this is extremely dangerous. You’re dealing in a venue or a forum that is completely unfamiliar to you. You’re going to be litigating against attorneys that are going to be aggressive and see you as being outnumbered and outmatched. They’re going to wait for you to blow deadlines, and they’re going to wait for you to provide inadequate responses, and then they will take that opportunity to try and get the case dismissed. As to the question of whether you can file a lawsuit by yourself or file a claim with a state agency by yourself, I would encourage you to talk to an attorney to see if they can help you out with that process before doing any of that. They can help you figure out if going to a state agency is actually the best step for you. If you’ve already filed with a state agency and you’ve got questions, I think it’s important for you to talk to an attorney to figure out where you’re at in the process with the state agency, and whether or not your claim has more value or whether or not there’s more claims out there to be added to your ultimate claims to try and fully compensate you for the harm caused to you by the employer here in California. If you are about to file a claim with a state agency or even the superior court, or if you’ve already filed a claim with a state agency, I would encourage you to talk to a law firm about what rights you have. If I can address any of those issues, feel free to give us a call. I’m more than happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thanks.