Legal Question in Employment Law in California

I am from California and have a complaint form to fill out for DFEH and they subsequently will conduct a phone interview with me on August 18th.I was terminated following an HR investigation.Termination letter has multiple untruths and inaccuracies.I had strong suspicions that my supervisor and manager did/were lying.Without their knowledge I taped a conversation between manager and myself as well as one between my supervisor and me.These tapes will contradict what manager and supervisor alleged/told/said to HR in HR's investigation.I know it's going to come down to their word against mine.That the manager participated in the investigation was totally wrong,there was no way she could be impartial.HR didn't conduct a proper investigation,they conducted a witch hunt.They stated things that they never even questioned me about.I didn't know it was illegal for me to tape the conversations.However,those tapes are my only witness to corroborate what was said.I lost my job due to two people who were incompetent to properly conduct an investigation.I hope and pray that DFEH can right a HUGE wrong. Question.....Do I tell DFEH about the tapes?

Your advice and time will be appreciated more than words can say.


Asked on 8/03/11, 3:32 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

It was a crime, possibly a felony, to make the illegal recordings. DFEH has no power to do anything unless you were the victim of discrimination based on race, gender, etc., or were terminated in violation of "whistle blower" laws or other laws that prohibit discrimination based on protected activities (union participation is another example). There is no law against incompetent management, lying, improper HR investigations, witch hunts, or anything else you mention, unless the conduct is based on illegal discrimination. Therefore DFEH has no power to do anything for you unless you can prove illegal discrimination. So unless the tapes prove they fired you for being black, a woman, or because you joined a union, you probably don't want to risk jail time for a case you are going to lose anyway.

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Answered on 8/03/11, 8:21 am


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