Santa Clara County Employment Lawyers

Why Santa Clara County Employees Need an Employment Lawyer

Santa Clara County employment claims involve overlapping state, county, and city laws. Tech employers layer NDAs, severance agreements, and equity-vesting clauses on top of California labor law. Public employers add civil-service Skelly procedures and union MOU grievance rights. Santa Clara County workers face short claim deadlines - three years for FEHA, 300 days for federal EEOC, even shorter for some public-employer appeals - and severance agreements often try to waive those rights. We represent employees only, so we never have a conflict-of-interest problem with your employer or any of its sister companies. All other claims against public entities (e.g., breach of contract) must be presented within 1 year under Government Code section 911.2. No fee unless we win.

Common Employment Law Violations Across Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County employment cases dominate California's tech-litigation docket. Major patterns:

• Caste discrimination & H-1B / national-origin - California Civil Rights Department v. Cisco Systems, Inc. (Santa Clara Superior Court Case No. 20CV372366) established caste as actionable under FEHA's ancestry/national-origin protections; a U.S. federal court upheld California's authority to enforce caste claims in July 2025. Federal jury verdicts have also found Bay Area IT staffing firms liable for intentional discrimination against non-Indian workers.
• Tech layoff age discrimination - 2024-2025 layoffs at Cisco, eBay, PayPal, Adobe, Zoom, and other county-based tech employers raise FEHA / ADEA disproportionate-impact concerns; Cal-WARN covers establishments with 75+ employees (12-month look-back) and requires 60-day notice for mass layoffs of 50+ employees in any 30-day period.
• Forced arbitration & NDA pushback - California's SB 331 (Silenced No More Act) limits NDAs and the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA) (March 2022) bars forced arbitration of sexual-assault and sexual-harassment claims (note: AB 51 was held preempted by the FAA - 9th Cir. Feb. 2023, Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta - and permanently enjoined Jan. 1, 2024) lets workers opt out of pre-dispute arbitration for sexual-harassment claims.
• Equity-comp & misclassification - Apple, Google, Meta, Cisco, Adobe employees face complex disputes over RSU vesting, severance equity treatment, and 'computer professional' exemption misclassification ($122,573.13/year salary threshold / $58.85/hour, effective Jan. 1, 2026 per DIR 3.3% CPI adjustment).
• Stanford Health Care & Santa Clara Valley Medical Center retaliation - Stanford Health Care, Kaiser SJ, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (county public hospital - civil-service Skelly rights), Good Samaritan, and El Camino Health nurses are protected by Health & Safety Code section 1278.5 (reinstatement, lost wages and benefits, legal costs, and civil penalty up to $25,000; up to $75,000 for willful violations under AB 1102, effective Jan. 1, 2018).
• SCC OLSE Wage Theft Dashboard cases - the County publishes an interactive dashboard tracking wage-theft judgments by employer; County WRI returned $126,000+ to Santa Clara County workers in FY24-25.
• San Jose Opportunity to Work Ordinance violations - Measure E (effective March 13, 2017) requires San Jose employers to offer additional hours to existing qualified part-time employees before hiring; violations create independent retaliation claims.

Sources: UC Berkeley Labor Center · CA DIR · California Civil Rights Department

Santa Clara County Worker Protections by Industry

We represent employees across all Santa Clara County industries. Below are the largest employers and the rules that govern wage, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful-termination claims in this county.

Largest Santa Clara County employers

• Apple Inc. (Cupertino HQ) - publicly-traded computer/electronics manufacturer; SOX section 806, Dodd-Frank section 922; California Equal Pay Act (Labor Code section 1197.5); SB 1162 pay-transparency rules
• Google / Alphabet (Mountain View HQ) - publicly-traded employer; SOX section 806; Dodd-Frank section 922; California Equal Pay Act; SB 1162 pay transparency; covered by various 2024-2025 layoff WARN notices
• Cisco Systems (San Jose / Milpitas) - publicly-traded networking; SOX section 806; Dodd-Frank section 922; multiple 2025 WARN notices (157 job cuts in Santa Clara per SF Business Journal)
• Adobe Systems (San Jose) - publicly-traded software; SOX section 806; Dodd-Frank section 922
• NVIDIA (Santa Clara HQ) - publicly-traded semiconductor / AI; SOX section 806; Dodd-Frank section 922; California Equal Pay Act
• Stanford University & Stanford Health Care - major private university + academic medical center; FEHA, Title VII, Title IX, section 1278.5 (hospital), SB 525
• County of Santa Clara - approximately 22,700+ employees (one of San Jose's top 5 employers per regional reporting); civil-service Skelly pre-discipline rights, MOU grievance procedures, 6-month Government Claims Act notice (Gov't Code section 911.2), FEHA, Labor Code section 1102.5
• Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara & San Jose - major regional healthcare; section 1278.5; SB 525
• City of San Jose - approximately 8,262 employees per regional reporting; municipal public-sector; Skelly + 6-month Government Claims Act notice

Local wage rules

Santa Clara County has multiple city minimum-wage ordinances in addition to the California state rate. Per the UC Berkeley Labor Center 2026 inventory: City of Santa Clara $18.70/hr effective 1/1/2026 (per City of Santa Clara MWO); Cupertino $18.70/hr effective 1/1/2026; other Santa Clara County cities (effective 1/1/2026 per UC Berkeley Labor Center 2026 inventory): Mountain View $19.70/hr, Sunnyvale $19.50/hr, Palo Alto $18.70/hr, Los Altos $18.70/hr, Milpitas $18.20/hr (effective since July 1, 2025), and San Jose $18.45/hr. Unincorporated Santa Clara County and cities without their own ordinance follow the California state minimum wage of $16.90/hour effective 1/1/2026. Fast-food workers at chains with 60+ national locations earn $20.00/hour under AB 1228 (Labor Code section 1474+). Healthcare workers at covered facilities earn the SB 525 tiered minimum wage ($18-$23/hour depending on facility type). Workers performing 2+ hours in multiple jurisdictions are entitled to the higher rate where they perform that work. Sources: UC Berkeley Labor Center · CA DIR · City of Santa Clara MWO

Industry-specific protections

• Publicly-traded tech employers (Apple, Google, Cisco, Adobe, NVIDIA, Meta proximity) - SOX section 806 (180 days to OSHA); Dodd-Frank section 922; California Equal Pay Act (Labor Code section 1197.5); SB 1162 pay transparency; FEHA / Title VII
• University and academic-medical employees (Stanford, San Jose State, Santa Clara University, Stanford Health Care, Lucile Packard Children's) - FEHA + Title VII + Title IX + Stanford Whistleblower policies + Government Claims Act 6-month notice (public-sector institutions)
• Hospital workers (Stanford Health Care, Kaiser, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, El Camino, Good Samaritan) - Cal. Health & Safety Code section 1278.5; SB 525 healthcare-worker minimum wage
• Public-sector workers (County, City of San Jose, cities, school districts) - Skelly + 6-month Government Claims Act notice (Gov't Code section 911.2)
• California WARN Act (Labor Code sections 1400-1408) - applies to employers with 75 or more employees; requires 60 days' written notice for mass layoffs of 50 or more employees in any 30-day period; up to 60 days back-pay damages; multiple 2025 Silicon Valley WARN notices (Cisco, others) make this highly active
• Fair Workweek (where applicable to retail/food service in covered cities) - predictability pay, advance schedule notice
• All workers - FEHA, Title VII, EFAA, PWFA, CFRA, PDL, Cal/OSHA Labor Code section 6310, Labor Code section 1102.5 whistleblower (civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation)

How to File an Employment Claim in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County's Civil Division says civil cases are heard in the Downtown Superior Court, 191 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95113, and the Old Courthouse. The court's contact directory lists the Civil Clerk's Office at (408) 882-2100 and sscivilinfo@scscourt.org, with mail directed to 191 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95113. Santa Clara Civil Division | Civil contact directory | Downtown Superior Court

For discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and other California civil-rights claims, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) says employment complaints generally must be started within 3 years of the last harmful act, and workers can begin the process online through the California Civil Rights System (CCRS), or by mail, email, phone, or in person. CRD complaint process

For unpaid wages, overtime, meal and rest breaks, sick leave, reimbursements, and other wage-theft issues, the California Labor Commissioner's Office (DLSE) explains that wage claims can be filed online, by email, by mail, or in person, and the filing windows generally range from 1 to 4 years depending on the type of claim. DLSE wage-claim process

Government Resources for Santa Clara County Workers

Why Santa Clara County Workers Choose Eghbali Law Firm

• Employees only

  We never represent employers. Every resource goes toward winning your case.

• No fee unless we win

  You pay nothing unless we recover for you. No upfront costs. No hidden fees.

• Free confidential consultation

  No cost to speak with us. Everything you share is protected by attorney-client privilege.

• Statewide California practice

  We serve workers across all of California regardless of where you live or work.

• Phone or video - no office visit needed

  Most consultations happen by phone or video. You only attend if your testimony is required.

• Multilingual staff available

  We serve clients in multiple languages - contact us to discuss your case in your preferred language.