Do I have an legitimate case to file a lawsuit against my workplace
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Do I have an legitimate case to file a lawsuit against my workplace
I was recently hired at a family owed, small business restaurant. My boss didn’t follow a single rule, regulation or law from the very beginning. For instance, I didn’t even fill out a W4 nor did he see, ask or have a copy of my state ID until a month after I started. He was very rude, unprofessional and sexist and/or chovanist on countless occasions. I did numerous jobs that were not at all part of my job description, the place was not up to health code requirements, he offered on several occasions to make an
Asked on October 2, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You can only sue for your *own* losses, not for violations of law or regulations which, even if true, do not harm you. Based on what you write, that is principally the wages he failed to pay you. You could potentially contact the state department of labor to file a wage and hour complaint for the money and/or sue him in small claims court for the 70 hours plus he failed to pay you.
You may also be able to file an employment discrimination/harassment complaint for sexist comments or treatment, and/or for racists comments or treatment: for this, you would contact the federal EEOC or your state's equal/civil rights agency.
But other violations of tax or employment law which do not hurt you personally are not things you could sue for--you must be a person harmed by actions to sue over them.
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