Discrimination happens in nearly every human interaction. However, it’s a violation of state and federal law when discrimination happens at a Florida workplace. If someone loses out on job opportunities, promotions or suffers other indignities — just because of his or her skin color, race, religion, gender, national origin, sexual preference or another reason — that person can seek justice and financial restitution in court.

Proving discrimination is not necessarily easy

One of the most insidious problems with racial discrimination is the fact that it often slips under the radar. Let’s say, for example, that you were fired from your job and your boss said it’s because of your “bad performance.” There isn’t always an easy way to know if it was really due to your performance or if it was actually due to your race or religion.

Nevertheless, in some cases, the discrimination is obvious, and that’s when you can fight back in court. Perhaps a prospective employer asks you a lot of suspicious questions about your race, and decides not to hire you. These race-oriented questions could serve as evidence in a discrimination lawsuit.

Also, hiring trends could serve as proof of discrimination. Perhaps you live in a predominantly Latin American neighborhood, but every employee of a company is conspicuously not Latin American. Or, perhaps company records prove that female employees with better educations and qualifications are regularly passed up in order to hire lesser qualified male employees. These facts can be presented in court, and they can be used as evidence to support a discrimination claim.

Were you discriminated against? An employment law attorney can help

If you’re unsure about whether you are the victim of workplace discrimination, talk to a Florida employment law attorney. Most lawyers will review your case and inform you of your legal rights and options in a free, first-time legal consultation.

Source: FindLaw, “Racial discrimination in the workplace,” accessed April 19, 2017

Florida workplaces are fraught with instances of sexual harassment that never get reported. Part of the problem is because many people don’t think the problem is “bad enough” to warrant making a complaint.

Let’s say you go to work one morning and your boss asks you out to dinner. Maybe the request seemed genuine to you, but you weren’t interested, so you said, “No.” The next day, the same boss asks you out again. This time, he makes a subtle comment about how you look, and you feel a twinge of discomfort. It’s your boss after all, a person you’re not supposed to talk back to. A person who you’re supposed to do whatever he says. Again, you say, “No.”

The very same night you start to get texts from your boss, and they have nothing to do with work. The texts take a sexual turn, and you feel even more uncomfortable. Over the next couple weeks, the compliments about your appearance become sexual too. You try to be polite, while subtly letting him know again and again that you don’t like the comments. Nevertheless, he laughs them off, and says he’s just joking around with you.

Eventually, you decide that enough is enough, so you talk to your boss’ boss or the human resources department at your office to tell them about what’s going on. However, nobody seems to care. Nothing is done to correct the situation and the harassment continues.

Harassment like this is so common for people during their daily life that, when it happens at work, employees might not recognize how extremely inappropriate it is. They also might fail to recognize the immense stress and strain it puts on their lives. If you’re being sexually harassedin any way at your Florida workplace, reach out to an employment law attorney to put a stop to the problem.

A Florida car salesman has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against a Nissan car dealership in Lakeland. The suit was filed on March 27. The lawsuit alleges that the car dealership breached the duties of good faith and fair dealing that it owed to its employee when it wrongfully terminated the man on Mar 28, 2016.

Court papers indicate that the car dealership allegedly terminated the salesman on false pretexts. The salesman says that he was terminated because of his religious observances.

Allegedly, the car dealership normally provided the man with Sundays off so he could attend church services. However, on Easter Sunday in 2016, the car dealership ordered the man to report to work or face termination. The man alleges that his employer did not provide him with reasonable accommodations for his religious practices.

In the lawsuit, the salesman asked for a jury trial in addition to a judgment against the defendant. He further requested compensation for financial injuries. He has asked for compensation relating to back pay, lost wages, punitive damages, attorneys fees, costs and other damages.

Unfortunately, wrongful termination related to religious discrimination is not uncommon in Florida. If you believe that you lost your job because of your religion, an employment law attorney may be able to help you seek financial relief.

By discussing your case and the circumstances of your termination with an experienced lawyer, you can determine the viability of your potential claim for compensation. In some wrongful termination cases, you may even be able to return to your former job if you choose to.

Source: Florida Record, “Car salesman alleges religious discrimination against Jenkins Nissan,” Jenie Mallari-Torres, April 01, 2017

Some Miami employers take the position that their employees are lucky to have a job, and therefore they should have to put up with not getting appropriately paid for their work. On the other side of the equation, there are some workers who think they deserve more than their fair share. Regardless which side of this debate you happen to be on, the Law Offices of Gary A. Costales is here to help.

Have you been working more than 40 hours a week? Were you paid time and a half for any hours that exceeded 40? Interestingly, numerous Florida employees have been working for years and not getting paid the overtime they deserve. Once an experienced wage and hour law attorney takes a look at their information, however, it becomes clear that the employee has a viable claim to seek payment for those unpaid wages from their employer.

In many of these situations, everything can be resolved with a well-drafted letter from an attorney who is familiar with the law. The law is clear in these matters. If you have worked the hours, and you haven’t been paid the overtime that’s required by law, simply asking for the money you’re owed is often enough. That’s because, when your employer takes your letter to his or her lawyer, the lawyer will confirm that you’re on the right side of the law.

Every Florida wage and hour law matter is different. By consulting with an employment law attorney, you can determine whether you have a viable case to seek your unpaid wages, and identify the most appropriate strategies for getting the money you deserve.

As in most problems that plague society, like drunk driving, domestic violence, sexual violence and other bad behavior — one of the most powerful tools that can be used to stop sexual harassment in its tracks is, you guessed it, education.

Sometimes, it also becomes important to recognize the underlying problems associated with harassment or violent behavior. Most domestic sexual violence cases can be attributed to deep-rooted mental health or substance abuse problems, which can be tackled with a custom recovery program, provided the right interventions happen. Action against the abuser should first be taken, and the victim(s) protected. Once this is done, further steps can be formulated. Besides that, spreading awareness is another important facet of sexual abuse prevention.

When Florida communities can educate the victims of sexual harassment — as well as would-be sexual harassers — about what sexual harassment looks like, how to identify it and what to do to stop it, we begin to put a spanner in the gearbox of this ugly engine of disgusting behavior.

One new program in Central Florida is doing just that. It’s an education initiative aimed at servers and bartenders, which will help people in the service industry identify sexual harassment and intervene when it occurs. The program is called “Drink Safe Florida. It was created by two women who have worked in the adult beverage industry in downtown DeLand for many years.

The women said that in their program, servers receive training on how to assess different circumstances — especially situations that are happening between the patrons of bars. They learn how to identify instances of sexual harassment or sexual assault, as well as how to de-escalate these situations, so the abuse gets put to a stop.

According to the founders, their training program works to protect everyone: men, women and members of the LGBTQ community. They said that no matter what gender or sexual orientation you identify as, the program will hep you navigate situations where you become the victim of sexual harassment and also situations where you need to intervene because someone else has become the victim.

Any place where alcohol is consumed — such as a bar — can become the breeding ground for sexual harassment. However, some might experience even worse sexual harassment in a Florida office place. If you’re being victimized right now and no one is listening to your complaints, a Florida employment law attorney can provide information on your available legal options. Remember: You have the power in this situation, and you can make it stop immediately.

Source: Beacon Online News, “Program trains drink servers about identifying, combating harassment,” March 22, 2017

An employment contract that isn’t court enforceable is virtually worthless. That’s why it’s important for Miami employees and employers alike to review their employment contracts carefully to ensure that they conform to Florida law. That said, it’s difficult — if not impossible — for the average layperson to evaluate the legal issues contained in the average employment contract; therefore, if you need to draft such a contract, you might want to get help from an experienced employment law attorney.

At the Law Offices of Gary A. Costales, we regularly assist both employees and employers to write and analyze their future and existing employment agreements. Whenever we review an employment agreement, we look at the following issues and more:

— Severance pay

— Terms describing employment benefits

— Confidentiality agreements

— Non-compete clauses

— Executive compensation

Our most important concern is that we review vital concerns in your employment agreement to ensure that no complications could develop in the future. If we identify a potential challenge, we will notify our client of the issue and the most appropriate way of resolving it. Above all else, our principal objective in employment contract reviews is to prevent and/or limit the chances that our clients could face any liability issues later on down the road.

If you have any questions about your employment contract related legal issues — no matter how big nor how small — the Law Office of Gary A. Costales can assist you in professionally navigating the matter. If we are unable to settle your matter in out-of-court negotiations, then we will be prepared to take your case all the way to trial if necessary.