Pomona, CA asked in Employment Law and Gov & Administrative Law for California

Q: Employee with a lot less time received a full-time promotion. Just found out he's related to another e

Recently, my employer had an internal opening for a full-time position.

Five part-time employees applied. Myself and another employee have over 18 months with the company.

I initially asked the direct supervisor of that department if this position was to replace a person retiring soon. He said no, this is replacing a position of an employee that was recently terminated.

I knew that employee's duties and job description very well.

A week after the interviews I was told by two supervisors that were not in the interview panel (3 non supervisor employees), that the position went to a recently hired (a few months in) employee due to the fact that person has experience in welding.

The position of the previous employee was not in welding.

The bigger problem I noticed that I found that the person that obtained the position is related to another employee that has been here about 25 years. That older employee does the welding & his family me

2 Lawyer Answers
Neil Pedersen
Neil Pedersen
Answered
  • Westminster, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: I am sorry you did not get the position. However, nepotism is not unlawful. It is perfectly legal to treat friends and family more favorably than other employees in the company. Now, if the reason you did not get the position was your race, or religion, or some other legally protected classification, the answer would be different. But giving a job to a close friend of another person in the company is not going to give you a meritorious legal claim.

Good luck to you.

1 user found this answer helpful

Maurice Mandel II
Maurice Mandel II
Answered
  • Newport Beach, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: Employment discrimination problems are very complicated as your facts show. One of the problems is that 18 months is not a heck of a lot of seniority. 18 YEARS, yes. Does the company have a seniority policy in writing? Other than being related, is there some other distinguishing characteristic on the selected employee? Younger than 40 or younger than you and you are over 40? Many, many factors.

You should consult an Employment discrimination attorney in your area.

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