Your Trusted Employment Law Firm in Sierra Madre, California

Sierra Madre Employment Lawyers

Workplace misconduct can affect far more than your daily routine. It can threaten your income, career, professional standing, and peace of mind. Employees in Sierra Madre and throughout the San Gabriel Valley should be able to work without facing discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, or illegal interference with leave rights.

Riggins Law, PC represents employees who have experienced mistreatment, unfair treatment, or unlawful actions by their employers. From professionals working near Sierra Madre Boulevard and Baldwin Avenue to healthcare workers, retail employees, hospitality staff, executives, service workers, and employees commuting through nearby Pasadena, Arcadia, Monrovia, and surrounding Los Angeles County communities, our law firm in Sierra Madre helps workers understand their rights and pursue accountability when those rights have been violated.

Our office is located at 35 N. Baldwin Ave., Sierra Madre, CA 91024 (View on Google Maps), conveniently serving employees throughout Sierra Madre, including Downtown Sierra Madre, Kersting Court, Sierra Madre Village, neighborhoods near Sierra Madre Memorial Park, the Mount Wilson Trail area, and nearby communities across the San Gabriel Valley.

If you believe your employer violated your rights, call 626-365-1599 today to schedule a free consultation with an employment attorney in Sierra Madre.

Recent Review

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the support of Christa Riggins during a time when I had to urgently consult and have access to reliable answers. Throughout our several conversations, she has sincerely paid attention to the details of the matters and made sure that I’m supported with all the necessary information. She has also returned all my phone calls and emails shortly with an adequate response and strategy to help me move forward in a timely manner. I wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone seeking legal counsel, knowing they will be in the hands of a true professional who really cares about her clients.”

– Verified Google Review from Sarineh K.

A workplace legal problem can quickly affect your income, well-being, professional future, and sense of stability. Whether you were suddenly terminated, denied an accommodation, forced to endure a hostile work environment, retaliated against through a demotion, or refused protected leave, the impact can be both personal and financial.

Riggins Law is dedicated solely to employee representation. Because we do not represent employers, our law firm is able to focus entirely on protecting workers whose rights have been violated.

Attorney Christa Riggins focuses her practice on employee-side cases involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, pregnancy discrimination, disability discrimination, medical leave violations, and similar workplace claims. Clients who hire Riggins Law work directly with Christa from start to finish. Your case will not be handed off to an associate or paralegal. Christa personally manages each stage, from the first consultation to litigation, negotiation, or trial, while keeping clients updated along the way.

Types of Employment Cases We Handle for Sierra Madre Employees

Workplace rights cases can arise in many different ways. In some situations, an employee is fired after reporting unlawful conduct. In others, the harm builds gradually through unfair discipline, hostile comments, denied promotions, reduced hours, retaliation, or an employer’s refusal to provide legally required accommodations.

Riggins Law helps employees in Sierra Madre pursue claims involving:

Age Discrimination

Workers who are 40 or older are protected under California law from age-based discrimination. An employer may violate the law when an older employee is pushed out of a role, replaced with a younger worker, passed over for advancement, excluded from opportunities, or suddenly subjected to negative reviews despite years of reliable performance.

Across Sierra Madre and the surrounding San Gabriel Valley, older employees may face unfair treatment in offices, healthcare settings, restaurants, retail businesses, professional workplaces, hospitality roles, public-facing positions, and other industries. If you were terminated, demoted, encouraged to resign, or treated less favorably because of your age, a Sierra Madre employment law attorney can review whether your rights were violated.

Disability Discrimination

Employees with disabilities have the right to reasonable accommodations, as long as the accommodation does not cause undue hardship for the employer. These accommodations may include changes such as a modified schedule, medical leave, remote work, adjusted duties, assistive devices, job restructuring, or other reasonable support that allows the employee to perform the essential functions of the job.

Some employers mishandle accommodation requests by delaying, ignoring the request, refusing to engage in the required interactive process, forcing the employee out, or ending employment instead of considering workable solutions.

If your employer refused to accommodate your disability, punished you for limitations related to a medical condition, denied your schedule modification, or fired you because of your health condition, Riggins Law can help you evaluate your next steps.

Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee unfairly because she is pregnant, experiencing pregnancy-related complications, requesting accommodations, taking leave, or returning after childbirth.

This type of discrimination may include cutting an employee’s hours, denying light duty or temporary modifications, excluding her from opportunities, pressuring her to leave, or terminating her after learning she is pregnant.

Attorney Christa Riggins has significant experience handling pregnancy discrimination claims. She secured the #1 Pregnancy Discrimination Verdict in Los Angeles County in 2023, and Riggins Law continues to represent employees whose rights were violated during pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

Race, National Origin, and Ethnicity Discrimination

Employees are legally protected from mistreatment based on race, ethnicity, ancestry, birthplace, language, accent, national origin, or assumptions related to immigration status. Discrimination may appear through offensive remarks, harsher discipline, unfair performance reviews, denial of advancement, reduced hours, hostile conduct, or termination.

Sierra Madre employees work in a wide range of settings, including professional offices, healthcare facilities, restaurants, retail businesses, schools, service-based businesses, and workplaces throughout the greater Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley area. Whether your workplace is near Sierra Madre Boulevard, Baldwin Avenue, Kersting Court, Michillinda Avenue, Santa Anita Avenue, or the foothills near Mount Wilson Trail, your employer must comply with California employment laws.

If you believe you were treated differently because of your race, ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin, you may have a claim.

Sex, Gender, and Sexual Orientation Discrimination

California law prohibits workplace discrimination based on sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. Employees should not be denied promotions, excluded from opportunities, harassed, misgendered, demoted, or fired because of who they are.

Sex and gender discrimination may involve unequal pay, unfair assignments, biased discipline, pregnancy-related mistreatment, harassment, retaliation, or termination after reporting misconduct.

Riggins Law helps employees pursue accountability when employers allow sex-based discrimination or fail to provide a fair and lawful work environment.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment can make it difficult or impossible to feel safe at work. It may involve unwanted physical contact, inappropriate sexual comments, repeated requests for dates, suggestive messages, leering, explicit jokes, sexual images, or pressure to tolerate sexual conduct in exchange for job benefits or continued employment.

Employees experiencing sexual harassment should preserve evidence when possible, including emails, text messages, chat records, call logs, witness names, and other documentation. An employment law attorney in Sierra Madre can help you understand what steps may protect your safety, your job, and your legal claim.

Medical Leave Violations

Employees may be protected by the Family and Medical Leave Act, the California Family Rights Act, California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave Law, and other workplace laws. These protections may apply when an employee needs time away from work for a serious health condition, pregnancy-related disability, childbirth, bonding with a new child, or caring for an eligible family member.

Employers may violate medical leave laws when they:

• Refuse protected leave
• Pressure employees not to take leave
• Fail to return employees to their jobs after leave
• Retaliate against employees for requesting leave
• Terminate employees during protected leave
• Refuse disability accommodations after leave ends

Protected medical leave should not result in job loss or punishment. If your employer retaliated against you for requesting or taking leave, Riggins Law can help assess your rights.

Wrongful Termination

Although California is an at-will employment state, employers cannot terminate workers for unlawful reasons. A firing may be wrongful if it is connected to discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblowing, protected medical leave, pregnancy, disability, or an employee’s refusal to engage in illegal conduct.

Examples may include being fired shortly after reporting harassment, announcing a pregnancy, requesting an accommodation, raising wage concerns, refusing to falsify records, or reporting unsafe or unlawful workplace practices.

Some workers are not formally fired but are pushed into resigning because the working conditions become unbearable. Under certain circumstances, this may qualify as constructive discharge.

If you were terminated or felt forced to resign, Riggins Law can examine the facts and help determine whether your employer acted unlawfully.

Retaliation and Whistleblower Claims

Employees are allowed to report discrimination, harassment, wage violations, safety issues, fraud, illegal conduct, and other workplace wrongdoing without facing punishment for doing so.

Retaliation may take the form of:

• Firing
• Demotion
• Reduced pay
• Changed schedules
• Loss of training or resources
• Unfair write-ups
• Hostile behavior
• Poor performance reviews
• Unwanted transfers
• Exclusion from meetings, projects, or opportunities

Whistleblower retaliation cases often involve employers attempting to justify their actions as performance concerns, restructuring, personality conflicts, or business decisions. Riggins Law helps employees uncover and organize evidence showing the connection between protected activity and the employer’s retaliation.

Breach of Employment Contract and Severance Issues

Some employees are protected by written agreements, offer letters, commission plans, bonus agreements, equity arrangements, severance agreements, or other promises made by their employer.

Contract-related disputes may arise when an employer fails to pay earned compensation, withholds commissions, denies promised severance, terminates an employee without following agreed-upon terms, or violates other employment-related commitments.

Depending on the situation, a carefully negotiated severance agreement may provide a better solution than immediately pursuing litigation. Riggins Law helps employees review their rights, identify potential claims, and seek fair compensation through negotiation or, when necessary, litigation.

What Compensation May Be Available in an Employment Case?

The compensation available in an employment case depends on the circumstances, including the employer’s conduct, the harm caused, and the claims being pursued.

An employee may be able to seek compensation for:

• Lost income
• Lost benefits
• Future wage loss
• Emotional distress
• Harm to professional opportunities
• Attorney’s fees and legal costs
• Punitive damages in cases involving particularly serious misconduct

Some cases may also include non-monetary outcomes, such as changes to workplace policies, corrective action, or reforms designed to prevent similar violations in the future.

Serving Employees in Sierra Madre and the San Gabriel Valley

Sierra Madre is home to workers, professionals, small businesses, local shops, restaurants, service providers, schools, healthcare-related workplaces, and employees who commute throughout the San Gabriel Valley and greater Los Angeles area. From Downtown Sierra Madre and Kersting Court to Sierra Madre Boulevard, Baldwin Avenue, Sierra Madre Memorial Park, the Mount Wilson Trail area, and neighborhoods near Michillinda Avenue, employees across the city deserve fair treatment under California law.

Whether you work for a small business, large company, public entity, healthcare employer, retail store, professional office, restaurant, school, nonprofit, or service company, your employer must follow the law. If your rights were violated, you do not have to handle the situation alone.

Reach Out To A Sierra Madre Employment Attorney Today

If you were fired, harassed, discriminated against, retaliated against, denied medical leave, refused accommodations, or forced to work in a hostile environment, Riggins Law can help you understand your rights.

Call 626-365-1599 today to schedule a free consultation with an employment lawyer in Sierra Madre. Riggins Law is ready to help you take the next step toward protecting your rights, your career, and your future.