Fighting for the Rights of Huntington Beach Workers
When your employer breaks the law — unpaid overtime, wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation — you need an employment lawyer who fights exclusively for workers. Abramson Labor Group represents employees in Huntington Beach and throughout California on contingency. You pay nothing unless we win.
Huntington Beach is a city of approximately 193,000 people on the Orange County coast, with a workforce of over 100,000 residents employed across healthcare, aerospace and defense, manufacturing, professional services, tourism, hospitality, retail, and corporate operations. Whether you work at Boeing, Huntington Beach Hospital, one of the corporate headquarters along Beach Boulevard, the hotels and restaurants near Pacific Coast Highway, or anywhere else in Surf City, California employment law protects you — and we enforce it.
More than 35 years of combined experience. Over 500 five-star Google reviews. Five attorneys recognized by Super Lawyers and Rising Stars. A unanimous jury verdict in a retaliation case.
Call for a free consultation: (213) 493-6300
Wrongful Termination
California is an at-will employment state, but at-will does not give your employer the right to fire you for an illegal reason. Termination is wrongful when it is based on discrimination, retaliation for exercising a legal right, a refusal to participate in illegal activity, or a violation of public policy.
You may have a wrongful termination claim if you were fired after reporting harassment or discrimination, after filing a workers’ compensation claim, after taking medical or family leave, after requesting a disability accommodation, or after raising concerns about safety, fraud, or other illegal conduct. If the timing of your termination closely follows a protected activity — and the stated reason doesn’t hold up — the law draws an inference that the real reason was illegal.
Wrongful termination damages include back pay, front pay, emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.
Unpaid Wages and Overtime
California’s wage and hour protections are among the most comprehensive in the country. Every non-exempt employee is entitled to the state minimum wage for all hours worked, time-and-a-half for hours over 8 in a day or 40 in a week, and double time for hours over 12 in a day. These rules apply regardless of your job title, your salary, or what your employer told you when you were hired.
Wage violations come in many forms: unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, miscalculated commissions, unauthorized deductions, unreimbursed business expenses, late or missing final paychecks, and failure to pay meal and rest break premiums.
In Huntington Beach, wage and hour violations affect workers across the economic spectrum — from hourly hospitality and retail workers along Main Street and Pacific City to salaried professionals in aerospace, engineering, and corporate settings who are improperly classified as exempt. If you work more than 8 hours in a day and your paycheck doesn’t reflect overtime, your employer owes you money.
Employees who are terminated must receive all wages owed on the date of termination. Each day of delay triggers waiting time penalties of one full day’s pay, up to 30 days. We recover unpaid wages going back three years, plus penalties, interest, and attorneys’ fees.
Meal and Rest Break Violations
California law requires a 30-minute duty-free meal break before the end of your fifth hour, a second meal break before the end of your tenth hour, and a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked. “Duty-free” means completely relieved of all work responsibilities and free to leave the premises.
If your employer auto-deducts meal break time from your paycheck without you actually taking the break, schedules your break too late, interrupts it, or pressures you to work through it, you are owed one additional hour of pay per violation per day. The same applies to each missed rest break.
These violations are common in Huntington Beach’s tourism and hospitality sector — restaurants, hotels, and retail operations that run lean staffing during peak seasons and events like the US Open of Surfing. They’re also common in healthcare settings, where nurses and technicians cannot leave the floor, and in manufacturing environments where production lines don’t stop for breaks.
Workplace Discrimination
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age (40 and older), disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, pregnancy, religion, and military or veteran status. FEHA applies to employers with five or more employees and provides broader protections than federal law.
Discrimination takes many forms: denial of hiring or promotion, unequal pay, unfavorable assignments, harsher discipline, hostile treatment, or termination. It doesn’t require an explicit statement — patterns of differential treatment are enough to establish a claim.
Huntington Beach’s workforce spans white-collar corporate environments, aerospace engineering, healthcare, retail, and hospitality. Discrimination can occur in any of these settings — age discrimination targeting employees over 40 during corporate restructuring, pregnancy discrimination when an employee requests accommodations, disability discrimination when an employer refuses the interactive process, or national origin discrimination against workers in service-sector roles.
FEHA damages include back pay, front pay, emotional distress, and punitive damages. There is no cap.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is illegal under California law. It includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal, physical, or visual conduct of a sexual nature that creates a hostile or offensive work environment.
When a supervisor is the harasser, the employer is strictly liable — regardless of whether the company knew. When the harasser is a coworker or third party (such as a customer, vendor, or client), the employer is liable if it knew or should have known and failed to take prompt corrective action.
You do not need to report to HR before contacting a lawyer. You do not need the harassment to be physical. A pattern of unwelcome comments, messages, jokes, looks, or conduct that a reasonable person would find hostile or intimidating is sufficient. California’s Silenced No More Act (SB 331) also prevents employers from using NDAs or settlement agreements to silence employees about harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.
Retaliation
California law protects employees who exercise their legal rights from any form of employer retaliation. Protected activities include reporting wage violations, filing a discrimination or harassment complaint, requesting medical or family leave, filing a workers’ compensation claim, refusing to participate in illegal activity, and reporting safety concerns or regulatory violations.
Retaliation can be subtle — a schedule change, a shift to less desirable work, exclusion from meetings, a sudden negative performance review, increased scrutiny, or a demotion disguised as a reorganization. When the adverse action follows a protected activity, and the employer’s stated reason doesn’t withstand scrutiny, the law provides a remedy.
Multiple statutes prohibit retaliation: Labor Code § 1102.5 (whistleblower), FEHA (discrimination and harassment), Labor Code § 98.6 (wage claims), Labor Code § 132a (workers’ comp), and CFRA/FMLA (leave). Damages include reinstatement, back pay, front pay, emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.
Exempt Misclassification
Many Huntington Beach employers — particularly in aerospace, engineering, corporate, and professional services — classify employees as “exempt” from overtime. But a job title and a salary alone do not make someone exempt.
To be lawfully classified as exempt in California, an employee must earn at least $70,720 per year (the 2025 minimum) and must spend more than 50 percent of their working time performing executive, administrative, or professional duties as specifically defined by law. If your actual day-to-day work is primarily operational, technical, hands-on, or non-supervisory — regardless of what your title says — you may be misclassified and owed years of unpaid overtime, meal break premiums, and rest break premiums.
This applies to project engineers, team leads, assistant managers, account executives, IT staff, marketing coordinators, and many other roles where the “exempt” label doesn’t match the work. If you regularly work more than 8 hours a day and never see overtime on your paycheck, it’s worth a conversation.
Severance Agreements and Non-Competes
If you’ve been offered a severance agreement, read it carefully before signing. Most severance packages require you to sign a general release — waiving your right to pursue any legal claims against the employer. The claims you’d be giving up may be worth substantially more than what’s being offered.
If you are over 40, the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act gives you 21 days to review the agreement and 7 days to revoke it after signing. If you were part of a group layoff, additional disclosure requirements apply.
Regarding non-compete agreements: California Business and Professions Code § 16600 renders non-compete clauses virtually unenforceable in this state. If a former employer is attempting to restrict where you work, we can advise you on your rights.
Whistleblower Protection
California Labor Code § 1102.5 prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who report reasonably believed violations of law to a government agency, to a supervisor, or to any employee with authority to investigate the issue. You don’t need to be right about the violation — only reasonable in your belief that one occurred.
In Huntington Beach’s aerospace and defense sector, corporate environments, and healthcare institutions, whistleblower claims arise when employees report financial irregularities, regulatory noncompliance, government contract fraud, patient safety violations, environmental violations, or other misconduct. The protections are strong, and the damages — including reinstatement, back pay, emotional distress, and punitive damages — are substantial.
Workers’ Compensation
Every California employer must carry workers’ compensation insurance. If you are injured on the job — whether through a single accident or cumulative repetitive trauma — you are entitled to medical treatment, temporary disability, permanent disability, and supplemental job displacement benefits. These rights apply regardless of fault.
Your employer cannot pressure you not to file, refuse to provide a claim form, or retaliate against you for reporting an injury. Each of those actions is a separate legal violation. If a third party caused your workplace injury — such as a defective product or another company’s negligence — you may also have a personal injury claim in addition to workers’ comp.
Personal Injury
Abramson Labor Group also represents Huntington Beach residents in personal injury matters, including vehicle accidents, wrongful death, slip and fall injuries, and product liability. If another party’s negligence caused your injury, you may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering.
How Our Firm Works
Free consultation. You describe what happened. We identify the claims, explain the law, and tell you what your case is worth. No cost. No obligation.
Investigation. We gather pay records, personnel files, communications, witness statements, and other evidence to build a case grounded in facts.
Resolution. We pursue the best outcome through negotiation, mediation, or trial. We have a unanimous jury verdict in a retaliation case and the trial experience to take your case as far as it needs to go.
Contingency only. You pay nothing unless we win. No retainer. No hourly fees. No upfront costs.
Serving Huntington Beach and Orange County
Abramson Labor Group represents workers throughout Huntington Beach and the surrounding communities, including Downtown Huntington Beach, Huntington Harbour, Sunset Beach, Bolsa Chica, Seacliff, Edwards Hill, Goldenwest, Meadowlark, Huntington Beach Wetlands area, the Beach Boulevard commercial corridor, and the Boeing campus area. We also serve workers in Fountain Valley, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Seal Beach, Garden Grove, Newport Beach, and throughout Orange County.
Our firm is headquartered at 1700 W Burbank Blvd, Burbank, CA 91506, and we represent employees in every county in California. Claims can be filed with the Labor Commissioner or directly in Orange County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you were fired under circumstances that don’t add up, aren’t being paid correctly, experienced discrimination or harassment, or faced consequences after exercising a legal right, you may have a case. A free consultation is the fastest way to find out.
Wage claims go back three years. Discrimination and harassment must be filed with the Civil Rights Department within three years. Workers’ comp claims are generally one year from the date of injury. PAGA claims have a one-year deadline. Don’t wait — evidence and witnesses become harder to locate with time.
Yes, if you are improperly classified as exempt. California requires both a minimum salary of $70,720 per year and that you spend more than half your time on executive, administrative, or professional duties. If your actual work is primarily hands-on, operational, or non-managerial, you may be misclassified and owed significant back overtime.
Almost certainly not in California. Business and Professions Code § 16600 makes non-compete agreements virtually unenforceable. If a former employer is trying to prevent you from working for a competitor, contact us.
Yes. California law protects you from retaliation for exercising your rights. Many of our clients are still employed when they first contact us. Filing while employed can actually strengthen retaliation protections.
Nothing unless we win. We work entirely on contingency. No retainer, no hourly rate, no out-of-pocket costs.
Why Huntington Beach Workers Choose Abramson Labor Group
We only represent employees. Never employers. Your interests are our sole focus.
Proven results. More than 500 five-star Google reviews. Five Super Lawyers and Rising Stars. A unanimous jury verdict. Over 35 years combined experience.
We handle the full range. Wrongful termination, wage theft, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower claims, misclassification, workers’ comp, and personal injury — under one roof.
We speak your language. We serve clients in Spanish and other languages.
Zero cost unless we win. Contingency. No retainer. No hourly rate. No risk.
Contact a Huntington Beach Employment Lawyer Today
If your rights were violated at work, the first step is a phone call. Free. Confidential. No obligation. We listen, we evaluate your claims honestly, and we tell you what your case is worth and how we can help.
Phone: (213) 493-6300 Address: 1700 W Burbank Blvd, Burbank, CA 91506 Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM Website: abramsonlaborgroup.com
Free consultations. No fees unless we win. Serving Huntington Beach, Orange County, and all of California.