San Francisco Employment Lawyer

Trusted employment lawyers fighting for San Francisco workers since 1992.

If you’ve been harassed, discriminated against, retaliated upon, or forced out of your job in San Francisco, the decisions you make right now are important. California has some of the strongest worker protections in the country, but those protections are only useful if someone enforces them. At The Bloom Firm, we represent employees and plaintiffs exclusively. Our San Francisco, CA employment lawyer works on contingency, meaning you pay nothing unless we win. Please contact us now if you are in need of assistance.

Employment Lawyer San Francisco, CA

What does an employment attorney actually do? Ultimately, we protect workers when employers break the law. California law prohibits a wide range of conduct in the workplace, including discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, and religion. It prohibits sexual harassment, retaliation against employees who report violations, and wrongful termination.

An employment attorney in San Francisco investigates what happened, determines which laws were violated, and pursues the full range of remedies available to you, whether through settlement negotiations, agency proceedings, or civil litigation. For workers in San Francisco, that often means navigating both California state law and local city protections, which in many respects go beyond federal law.

Types of Employment Cases We Handle in San Francisco

The Bloom Firm represents workers across a broad range of employment matters. Below are the practice areas our attorneys handle for San Francisco clients.

Sexual harassment. We represent employees who have experienced quid pro quo harassment, unwanted touching, inappropriate comments, sexual favoritism, and retaliation for reporting.
Sexual discrimination. We handle workplace sexual discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, and related retaliation. In September 2025, our firm secured an award exceeding $1.8 million under the California Equal Pay Act for a woman paid less than her male counterpart.
LGBTQ+ discrimination. We represent employees subjected to discrimination or harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including deadnaming, deliberate misgendering, hostile work environments, and wrongful termination.
Hostile work environment. When ongoing conduct makes a workplace abusive or intolerable, that may constitute an actionable claim. We evaluate the pattern of behavior, the employer’s knowledge, and what steps, if any, were taken to address it.
Workplace harassment. Harassment takes many forms beyond the sexual. We handle cases involving race-based harassment, religious harassment, harassment targeting employees with disabilities, and similar misconduct.
Age discrimination. If you were passed over for promotion, forced to quit, or terminated because of your age, California law may provide a remedy. We handle claims under both FEHA and the ADEA.
Whistleblower retaliation. Employees who report safety violations, legal misconduct, or other wrongdoing and are fired or penalized as a result, may have strong whistleblower claims. We’ve settled cases for employees fired after raising serious concerns to their superiors.
Employment negotiations. We handle severance package negotiations as well as pre-litigation employment matters involving discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

Why Choose The Bloom Firm for Employment Law in San Francisco, CA?

A Track Record Built on Results

Lisa Bloom founded The Bloom Firm in 2010 after beginning her legal career in the early 1990s. She earned her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1986 and has been admitted to the California Bar since 1992. Lisa is the daughter of prominent civil rights attorney Gloria Allred, and has spent her entire career representing victims and plaintiffs, never defendants. She has been selected as a Super Lawyer every year since 2015, and is a recognized legal commentator on CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC.

If your matter falls under the broader umbrella of civil rights violations in the workplace, our civil rights lawyer in San Francisco, CA is ready to assist you.

Results That Matter

Our firm has secured significant recoveries for employees across California and beyond. In total, The Bloom Firm has recovered tens of millions of dollars for its clients. Notable results in employment and related cases include a $35.5 million sexual harassment result, an $11 million sexual harassment verdict, a $10.1 million employment matter, and an $8.4 million sexual harassment jury verdict. We’ve also recovered $850,000 in a combined sexual harassment and employment case.

Understanding Employment Law Cases in San Francisco

Claims, Remedies, and Legal Liability in Employment Cases

California employment law gives workers meaningful tools to hold employers accountable. A claim typically requires showing that a protected characteristic (gender, race, age, disability, etc.) was a substantial motivating factor in an adverse employment action. Damages in employment cases can be significant. What workers can recover generally includes:

Lost wages and back pay: Compensation for income lost as a result of the unlawful conduct.
Future lost earnings: Projected losses if the harm affects ongoing earning capacity.
Emotional distress damages: Payment for psychological harm caused by the employer’s conduct.
Punitive damages: Available in cases involving oppression, fraud, or malice by the employer.
Attorney’s fees: California law often allows prevailing employees to recover legal fees

Important Aspects of Your Employment Case

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) is the primary state law covering most employment discrimination and harassment claims. A few things that commonly affect case outcomes:

Reporting the conduct. Whether you reported the conduct internally, and how your employer responded, matters significantly in harassment cases.
Retaliation claims. These are separate causes of action and can be powerful even when the underlying discrimination claim is harder to prove.
Gathering evidence. Documentation, including emails, texts, performance reviews, and witness accounts, can make or break a case.
Class and collective actions. These are possible when the same unlawful policy affects multiple employees.

Employment Case Timeline

Employment cases in California move through a fairly consistent sequence, though the timeline varies considerably based on complexity and whether the matter settles.

Initial consultation and case evaluation: We assess the facts, identify the claims, and outline your options.
DFEH/CRD complaint: Most California employment claims require filing a complaint with the Civil Rights Department (formerly DFEH) before a lawsuit can be filed.
Right to sue and filing: Once a right-to-sue notice is issued, we can file in court as long as it is within the statute of limitations timeframe.
Discovery: Both sides exchange documents, conduct depositions, and gather evidence. This phase often takes six to twelve months in complex matters.
Mediation and settlement: Many cases resolve during or after discovery.
Trial: If a fair resolution isn’t reached, we are prepared to go to trial.

What to Bring to Your Employment Consultation

Before your consultation, gather what you can. You don’t need everything, but the more you bring, the more useful our first conversation can be. The following information and evidence can be useful during your consultation:

Any written communications related to the conduct (emails, texts, Slack messages, performance reviews).
Documentation of any internal complaints you made, including HR filings or supervisor notifications.
Your employment contract, offer letter, or any severance agreement you may have been asked to sign.
A written timeline of events and in your own words, covering what happened and when.

California Legal Resources for Employment Law

California workers have access to several state and local resources for understanding their employment rights. The following can help you learn more about the laws that may apply to your situation.

California Government Code § 12940: The central unlawful practices provision, which prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in hiring, firing, compensation, terms, and conditions of employment based on protected characteristics.
California Government Code § 12940(a): Prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical/mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age (40+), sexual orientation, military/veteran status, or reproductive health decisionmaking.
California Government Code § 12940(k): Requires employers to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring in the workplace.

California’s statute of limitations for filing a FEHA complaint with the Civil Rights Department is generally three years from the date of the alleged unlawful conduct. Federal deadlines with the EEOC are shorter. Speaking with an attorney early protects your ability to act.

Reach Out to The Bloom Firm to Schedule a Consultation

If you believe your workplace rights have been violated in San Francisco, we want to hear what happened. We understand that you may not even be sure if what occurred constitutes taking legal action. Once we review the situation, we can advise further and let you know what steps to take next. There are no upfront fees and we work on contingency, so we only get paid if we recover money for you. Contact us to schedule a free consultation.