Suing Your Employer While Still Employed
In most cases, suing the employer while you are still employed with them is problematic and might not be worth it for you. Since no wrongful termination claim can be made, which would be the main basis for wage loss and other damages, this type of case will be of low or limited value, unless the evidence of discrimination or harassment is truly egregious (i.e. racial slur, violence or threats of violence, etc.) In the absence of such evidence, bring a lawsuit to address technical violations, such as isolated unfair comments that might or might not be discriminatory or delays in disability accommodation would be an overkill.
Further, a lawsuit will not force the employer to be nicer to you. In fact, the opposite is likely - they will likely try to retaliate and get rid of you for any petty reason. Even though that would be illegal, an employer still can choose to violate the law and do that.
If you believe that you will soon be wrongfully terminated, as it often happens shortly after an employee complains to your HR or to EEOC/DFEH about harassment or discrimination, you should keep track of all the events and documents so that when the time comes, you are fired and your cases is ripe for filing, you will have better evidence and better chances of winning that case. You should also make sure that you don't give your employer an independent, lawful reason for terminating you, such as saying or e-mailing something rude, or being otherwise insubordinate.
We advise our potential clients who are facing termination, but who haven't yet been terminated, to keep in touch with us, and then - once they are fired, we can start working on moving forward with filing lawsuit.
The other option is filing a lawsuit against your current employer without waiting to be fired and hoping that you will somehow strong-arm them into treating you nicer and more fairly. The problem with this strategy is that it rarely workers. Further, the majority of attorneys will have to charge an hourly fee in that kind of situation, since no wrongful termination claim can be made. This means that this kind of litigation can be quite expensive, while positive results are speculative.
Further, a lawsuit will not force the employer to be nicer to you. In fact, the opposite is likely - they will likely try to retaliate and get rid of you for any petty reason. Even though that would be illegal, an employer still can choose to violate the law and do that.
If you believe that you will soon be wrongfully terminated, as it often happens shortly after an employee complains to your HR or to EEOC/DFEH about harassment or discrimination, you should keep track of all the events and documents so that when the time comes, you are fired and your cases is ripe for filing, you will have better evidence and better chances of winning that case. You should also make sure that you don't give your employer an independent, lawful reason for terminating you, such as saying or e-mailing something rude, or being otherwise insubordinate.
We advise our potential clients who are facing termination, but who haven't yet been terminated, to keep in touch with us, and then - once they are fired, we can start working on moving forward with filing lawsuit.
The other option is filing a lawsuit against your current employer without waiting to be fired and hoping that you will somehow strong-arm them into treating you nicer and more fairly. The problem with this strategy is that it rarely workers. Further, the majority of attorneys will have to charge an hourly fee in that kind of situation, since no wrongful termination claim can be made. This means that this kind of litigation can be quite expensive, while positive results are speculative.