San Francisco · employee side only
We represent employees. Only.
Wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and unpaid wages — reviewed confidentially, with your deadlines mapped before you decide anything.
California gives you real rights with real deadlines attached. We tell you exactly where you stand — confidentially, before your employer knows anything — and the next move stays yours.
The instrument
Know your deadlines
- to file most FEHA claims with the California Civil Rights Department
- 3 years
- to file most federal claims with the EEOC
- 300 days
- for most California wage and hour claims
- 3–4 years
What we handle
Where we stand in
Wrongful Termination
Terminations that follow a complaint, a leave, or a protected disclosure are rarely coincidences. We reconstruct the timeline.
Learn more about Wrongful TerminationDiscrimination
FEHA and Title VII claims through the CRD and the EEOC, from intake through litigation in state or federal court.
Learn more about DiscriminationHarassment Claim
Hostile-environment and quid pro quo claims, documented properly before your employer knows you called.
Learn more about Harassment ClaimUnpaid Wages
Misclassification, unpaid overtime, missed breaks and final-pay violations — individually and under PAGA.
Learn more about Unpaid Wages
Review to resolution
What a confidential review looks like
Confidential review
You tell us what happened; we date-check every deadline that could apply and tell you plainly whether there is a case, a negotiation, or nothing to pursue. Your employer is not contacted and is never told you called.
Strategy
Evidence, leverage and goals, mapped in writing: what a claim is worth, what a negotiated exit looks like, and what each path costs — including staying put with your rights documented.
Negotiation or claim
Most matters resolve by negotiation — a negotiated exit, a settlement, corrected pay. When they don’t, we file with the CRD, the EEOC or in court, and litigate like we mean it.
Employee-side litigators
Your advocates
Clara Foltz
Partner
Clara has litigated employee-side cases in California for sixteen years, including trials in San Francisco Superior Court and the Northern District of California. She is admitted in California and speaks plainly about odds, deadlines and leverage.
Louis Brandeis
Partner
Louis leads the firm’s wage-and-hour and whistleblower practice. In fourteen years on the employee side he has recovered unpaid wages for workers from line cooks to staff engineers, and briefed retaliation appeals in the Ninth Circuit. He is admitted in California and the Northern District of California.
In their words
From people who pushed back
“They mapped my deadlines in the first call and negotiated a severance three times the opening offer — while I was still employed.”
“Two years of unpaid overtime, written off as “that’s how the role works”. One letter and two weeks later, the company corrected it.”
“The review was honest enough to tell me I didn’t have a case — and exactly what to document if it happened again. I came back a year later and we won.”
Straight answers
Asked confidentially, answered plainly
Can I talk to you while I still work there?
Yes. Consulting a lawyer is protected activity, the conversation is privileged, and your employer is not told. Many of our clients come to us before anything has formally happened.
What deadlines apply to my situation?
The big ones: generally three years to file with the California Civil Rights Department for FEHA claims, 300 days with the EEOC for federal claims, and three to four years for most wage claims. Some are much shorter — which is why we date-check every intake first.
I reported harassment to HR and nothing happened. Is that a case?
Often, yes — and the unanswered report is part of it. An employer that knew and did not act is exposed on both the harassment and its own response. Keep your own copy of what you sent and when; we will tell you what else to preserve.
What if they retaliate for me speaking up?
Retaliation for a complaint, a wage claim or a protected disclosure is itself unlawful — and often easier to prove than the original problem. Document dates and keep copies at home; we will tell you exactly what to preserve.
I am owed wages but I was called a contractor. Does that end it?
No. What the paperwork calls you does not decide it — California looks at the actual working relationship. Misclassification is one of the most common ways unpaid overtime and missed breaks go unpaid, and it is provable from schedules, instructions and who controlled the work.
What does this cost?
Termination, discrimination, harassment and wage cases are usually contingency — no fee unless you recover. Where a matter is better handled as a fixed-fee review, we quote that up front. Either way, you know the arrangement before we start.
Visit
Find us at Embarcadero Center
Address
One Embarcadero Center, Suite 2210San Francisco, CA 94111USHours
- Monday–Friday: 09:00–18:00