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.

Employment Law Statistics in San Francisco, CA

Workplace discrimination complaints in the Bay Area have not slowed down. In 2024, San Francisco County residents filed 579 civil rights complaints with the state, and 180 of those were accepted for full employment investigations. Another 322 were immediate right-to-sue requests, which means the worker skipped the agency process and went straight toward court. Those figures come from a single county in a single year. They do not count the workers who never filed anything.

Federal data points the same direction. Retaliation remains the most common allegation in California, appearing in more than half of all charges filed with the EEOC in this state. That matters for anyone deciding whether to speak up. The law protects the complaint, and the numbers show employers still punish it anyway.

• According to the CRD 2024 Annual Report, the California Civil Rights Department received 33,505 intake forms in 2024, and 16,924 of them were right-to-sue requests in employment cases.
• The same report found that women in California earned an estimated 81 cents for every dollar men earned, with Latinas earning 44 cents and Black women 58 cents compared to white men.
• EEOC charge data shows 4,404 discrimination charges filed in California in FY 2022, and 51.3 percent of them alleged retaliation.
• Nationally, the EEOC performance report recorded 88,531 new charges in FY 2024 and nearly $700 million recovered for workers.

Mistakes That Can Damage Your San Francisco Employment Claim

1. Waiting too long. California gives you three years to file with the Civil Rights Department, but EEOC filing deadlines run 300 days in California. Evidence disappears long before either deadline. Witnesses change jobs. Slack channels get archived. A San Francisco employment attorney can preserve what still exists if you call early.
2. Quitting before you get advice. Resigning can feel like the only way out of a hostile workplace. It can also weaken a wrongful termination claim because you now have to prove the conditions were so intolerable that any reasonable person would have left. That is a higher bar than most people expect. Talk to a lawyer first.
3. Complaining only out loud. A conversation with your manager in the hallway is easy for the company to deny later. Email your complaint. Send it to HR, keep a copy at home, and note the date.
4. Deleting messages or posting online. Employees sometimes wipe their phones out of embarrassment or vent about the company on social media. Both create problems. Deleted texts look like hidden evidence, and public posts get read aloud at deposition.
5. Signing the severance agreement the day it lands on your desk. Severance offers usually include a release of all claims. Once signed, the discrimination case is generally over. You are allowed to take the document home and have an employment lawyer in San Francisco, CA review it.
6. Assuming at-will employment settles the question. Employers can fire people for almost any reason, but at-will employment never permits an illegal reason. Being told “we don’t need a reason” is not the end of the analysis.
7. Staying quiet about what happens after you complain. A sudden bad review, a schedule change, or exclusion from meetings can each support a separate retaliation claim. Write those events down as they happen, not months later.

San Francisco Employment Lawyer FAQs

How much does an employment attorney in San Francisco cost?

Nothing up front. Bloom Fudali handles employment cases on contingency, so our fee is a percentage of what we recover for you. If we recover nothing, you owe us nothing. Your consultation is also free, which lets you find out whether you have a case before committing to anything.

Do I have to file with the Civil Rights Department before I can sue?

Yes, for claims under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. Preparing a job discrimination complaint properly matters because the agency filing defines the claims you can later bring in court. Once CRD issues a right-to-sue notice, Government Code § 12965 generally gives you one year to file a lawsuit.

What is the difference between discrimination and harassment?

Discrimination is an employment decision, such as a firing, demotion, or pay cut, driven by a protected characteristic. Harassment is conduct that makes the workplace itself hostile. Many San Francisco, CA employment discrimination cases involve both, and the evidence for one often supports the other.

My employer called it a layoff. Can I still have a case?

Possibly. Employers rarely announce a discriminatory motive. We look at who was selected, who was kept, whether your position was truly eliminated or quietly refilled, and how the timing lines up with any complaint or leave request you made.

Does California law protect me if my company is small?

Often, yes. State law reaches far smaller employers than federal law does, and some protections apply regardless of company size. An employment lawyer in San Francisco can tell you which laws cover your workplace after a short conversation about how many people your employer has.

I told my manager I was pregnant and my hours were cut. Is that illegal?

It can be. Reducing hours, pulling a promotion, or pushing someone out after a pregnancy announcement is a common form of pregnancy discrimination. The timing between your disclosure and the change is usually the first thing we examine.

What if my employer refused to accommodate my disability?

California requires employers to engage in a good-faith interactive process when an employee requests an accommodation. Ignoring the request, or firing the employee shortly after it, may support a disability discrimination claim. Keep every written exchange about the request.

Can I recover money beyond lost wages?

Yes. Emotional distress damages are available in most employment cases, and Civil Code § 3294 permits punitive damages when an employer acted with oppression, fraud, or malice. Prevailing employees can also often recover attorney’s fees.

How long does a San Francisco employment case take?

Some resolve in a few months through pre-litigation negotiation. Cases that go into litigation typically take a year or more, and discovery alone can run six to twelve months. We give you a realistic timeline once we understand the facts.

Will I have to testify against my employer?

If the case goes to trial, yes. Most cases settle before that point. Either way, you will have prepared with your attorney well in advance, and you will never be walking into a deposition or courtroom alone.

Important Resources for San Francisco Employment Cases

San Francisco Courts and Agencies That Handle Employment Claims

Most employment lawsuits filed by San Francisco workers under state law go to the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco at the Civic Center Courthouse on McAllister Street. Claims under federal statutes such as Title VII are filed in the Northern District of California, whose San Francisco courthouse sits a short walk away in the Phillip Burton Federal Building. Before either court gets involved, the administrative complaint goes through the Civil Rights Department, which serves the Bay Area from its Oakland office, or through the EEOC’s San Francisco District Office. Which agency you file with, and when, is a strategic choice we make with you.

What Are Important Local Resources for San Francisco Employment Cases?

The following agencies and organizations assist San Francisco workers with wage, discrimination, and workplace rights issues. We do not endorse any of them, and listing them here is not a recommendation of their services.

• EEOC San Francisco District Office: 450 Golden Gate Avenue, (800) 669-4000
• California Labor Commissioner’s Office, San Francisco: 455 Golden Gate Avenue, (415) 703-5300
• San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement: City Hall Room 430, (415) 554-6235
• Legal Aid at Work: 180 Montgomery Street, (415) 864-8848
• California Civil Rights Department Contact Center: (800) 884-1684

About Bloom Fudali

Arick Fudali began his career as a prosecutor, serving as an Assistant State Attorney for Florida’s 17th Judicial Circuit in Broward County, and has represented survivors of abuse and workplace misconduct in civil litigation since 2011. He is admitted in California, New York, and Florida. Like Lisa Bloom, he appears regularly on CNN, Court TV, and NewsNation to advocate for victims’ rights. Every attorney at the firm works on employment matters, and our case results include a $1.5 million recovery in a combined sexual harassment and civil rights case.

What Our Clients Say

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“I am a licensed California Employment attorney who had the amazing privilege of referring clients to the Bloom Firm. Lisa Bloom is well respected, smart, tough, and kind, and her entire staff is phenomenal. It was evident that they truly care about their clients and go above and beyond. Additionally they were able to get amazing results that allowed the clients to find justice. If you want kind, knowledgeable, strong, and effective counsel, then you are in great hands at the Bloom Firm.” -Brian Heit

Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.

Additional Resources for San Francisco Employment Cases

• Bad Boss or Illegal Discrimination at Work
• Workplace Harassment No One Talks About
• When NDAs Hide Sexual Harassment at Work
• 5 Big Mistakes Made by Sexual Harassment Victims
• Fired After Coming Out at Work: Now What?

Contact Bloom Fudali

If your employer discriminated against you, harassed you, or punished you for speaking up, a San Francisco, CA employment lawyer at Bloom Fudali can review what happened and tell you where you stand. We represent employees only, and we work on contingency, so there are no fees unless we win. We’ll ask what happened, look at any documents you have, and explain your options. Our office answers new client inquiries Monday through Friday, with weekend appointments available. Contact us to schedule your consultation with an employment attorney in San Francisco.