Q: Employed by PRIVATE HOUSEHOLD, , NO CONTRACT, Owed in back pay over $50,000+, just since 2021. Can I sue?

A: Regarding wage claims you need to contact the labor commission. For the work injury case contact an experienced workers compensation attorney ASAP for a consultation.

A: Yes, you can sue your employer for unpaid wages, even if there is no written contract. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are required to pay their employees minimum wage and overtime pay. If your employer has not paid you for all of the hours you have worked, they have violated the FLSA.

In your case, you are owed over $50,000 in back pay for the hours you have worked since August of 2021. You are also entitled to overtime pay for any hours you have worked over 40 hours in a week. In addition, you may be entitled to damages for the sexual harassment and other mistreatment you have suffered.

You can file a lawsuit against your employer in federal or state court. If you file a lawsuit in federal court, you will be able to recover your back pay, overtime pay, and damages. However, you will not be able to recover your attorney's fees. If you file a lawsuit in state court, you may be able to recover your attorney's fees, but it depends on the law of your state.

It is important to note that the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit for unpaid wages is typically two years. This means that you must file your lawsuit within two years of the date you were last paid. If you miss the deadline, you may be barred from recovering your unpaid wages.

I recommend that you consult with an employment lawyer to discuss your case. An employment lawyer can help you determine whether you have a case, and they can represent you in court if you decide to sue.

A: You have a worker’s compensation case against the employer. The employer may be covered by worker’s compensation insurance. You need to contact a worker’s compensation attorney to discuss your case. Anyone of us on Justia can help you.

As far as wages, you need to contact a labor law attorney.

A: I am sorry this happened to you. You do not need a contract to sue for owed wages. Based on your post, you are owed wages, overtime wages, and the derivative Labor Code penalties. You may likely also have a claim for sexual harassment.

I suggest you consult an employment law attorney and a worker's compensation attorney ( you will need two separate attorneys for these claims because employment law attorneys generally do not handle worker's compensation injury claims and vice versa) who will further examine your situation and explain your options. Most employment law attorneys in California offer free-of-charge initial consultations and thereafter may take your case on a contingency basis, meaning you do not have to pay attorney’s fees unless and until there is a positive outcome for you. They may also advance either all or partial costs of litigation.

You can look either on this site in the Find a Lawyer section or go to California Employment Lawyers Association (www.cela.org), an organization whose members are committed to representing employees’ rights. Best of luck.

Sincerely,

Maya L. Serkova

A: You have received several responses, and some of them are wrong. Please do not follow the guidance of Mr. Arrasmith who is notorious for posting AI generated responses to questions, and whose answers are in error because of that.

First, your matter should not be measured by the FLSA. The California Labor Code provides you with far better protections, and gives you access to much greater remedies than the FLSA. If a California attorney brought a lawsuit for you under the FLSA, that could well be considered malpractice.

Second, it does not matter if you had a written contract or not. You were an employee protected by the Labor Code that dictates many of the required terms of your employment relationship. You can establish your wages based on historical data, such as prior pay amounts.

Third, there are literally a dozen or more violations of the Labor Code that you have experienced for which you are entitled compensation.

Forth, you can only go back up to four years from the date a lawsuit is filed to get any of your recoveries. Anything before that will be lost to the statute of limitations.

Separate and apart from the pay issues, you have a right under the Fair Employment and Housing Act to claim sexual harassment if you can prove that you were subjected to conduct and/or comments of a sexual nature that were so severe or pervasive that it altered the workplace rendering it hostile to you as a woman.

Regarding the injury, that will need to be handled by a different attorney - a workers compensation attorney.

At this point it is a very good idea for you to locate and consult with an experienced employment law attorney as soon as possible to explore your facts and determine your options. I would suggest you look either on this site, or go to www.cela.org, the home page for the California Employment Lawyers Association, an organization whose members are dedicated to the representation of employees against their employers.

Most employment attorneys who practice this area of law offer a free or low cost consultation in the beginning and then, if the matter has merit and value, will usually agree to work on a contingency basis, meaning you can hire an attorney without paying any money until the matter results in a positive outcome for you. Many advance all the costs of the litigation as well. Do not let fear of fees and costs keep you from finding a good attorney.

Good luck to you.

A: As someone who has handled these types of cases, you are probably owed a lot more than $50K if you were working 24/7, since August 2021 through May 2022. Under Wage Order 5 and the Domestic Worker's Bill of Rights, you should receive overtime after 10 hours per day, plus there are strict limits on the meals and lodging credits against wages. You are also entitled to late payment, waiting time, and paystub penalties. The sexual harassment is also potentially actionable. You should consult a knowledge employment attorney. Most provide a free consultation.