We represent clients in a variety of settings, including state and federal courts, administrative agencies, arbitrations, mediations, or in attempting to negotiate a settlement before any litigation is commenced.

Whether you have been terminated, retaliated against, discriminated against, have not been paid correctly, or have otherwise been wronged by your current or former employer, it might be worth your time to speak with an attorney and you are welcome to contact us for more information.

For detailed information about employee-rights issues, as well as current happenings in employment law in California, please visit our primary website, The California Employee Rights Blog. A preview can be found below.

While Mr. Peters practices in virtually all areas of employment law, some of Mr. Peters’ areas of emphasis include wage and hour law, wrongful termination, illegal retaliation, disability discrimination, and breaches of employment contracts.

Professional Memberships

• California State Bar
• Wisconsin State Bar
• The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)

Professional Development Activities

• The Orange County Register
• Orange County, California
• Columnist
• Regular contributor to weekly newspaper column dealing with workplace rights issues

• Western State University School of Law
• Fullerton, California
• Adjunct Professor of Law
• Taught law school course on wage and hour employment law

Education

• Chapman University School of Law
• Orange, California
• Juris Doctor

• University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
• Oshkosh, Wisconsin
• Bachelor of Arts, Criminal Justice

Past Employment

• Cross Law Firm, S.C.
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Employee-Rights Attorney

• Sessions & Kimball, LLP
• Mission Viejo, California
• Employee-Rights Attorney

• Robinson & Campbell
• Irvine, California
• Employee-Rights Law Clerk

While Ms. Peters practices in virtually all areas of employment law, some of Ms. Peters’ areas of emphasis include discrimination based on gender, pregnancy, race, disability, age and sexual orientation.

Ms. Peters represents employees before the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commmission (EEOC) as well as state administrative agencies. She also handles matters concerning violations of wage and hour law, whistleblower retaliation, and unemployment insurance.

Professional Memberships

• California State Bar
• Wisconsin State Bar
• Hawaii State Bar
• The National Employment Lawyers Association, Sexual Orientation Discrimination Committee Member
• The American Bar Association

Education

• University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
• Sacramento, California
• Juris Doctor

• University of California-Berkeley
• Berkeley, California
• Bachelor of Arts, Sociology, With Honors
• Intern, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, Washington, D.C.
• Senior Honors Thesis, Study on homophobic attitudes among college students

Past Employment

• Cross Law Firm, S.C.
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Employee-Rights Attorney

• Don D. Sessions, APLC
• Mission Viejo, California
• Employee-Rights Law Clerk

• Northern California Lawyers for Civil Justice
• Sacramento, California
• Summer Associate

• Porter, Scott, Weiberg & Delehant
• Sacramento, California
• Summer Associate

“Retaliation” also means a lot more than termination. Recently, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision (Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White (June 22, 2006) No. 05-529) stating that Title VII prohibits employers from retaliatory actions that would “dissuade” a “reasonable employee” from making or supporting a charge of discrimination. In that case, the employer placed the employee on an indefinite suspension without pay and reassigned her job duties, giving her job duties that were more arduous and less prestigious than the job duties she performed before she complained about discrimination. The Court held that the suspension and reassignment of job duties constituted retaliation.

If you believe you have been retaliated against for complaining about discrimination, we invite you to contact us today for a free consultation to discuss this and any other employment law questions you might have.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (”USERRA”) prohibits discrimination against employees because of their membership in armed services. Additionally, the Act generally prohibits termination of employees for one year from the time they return from a deployment.

If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your membership in the armed forces, we invite you to contact us today for a free consultation to discuss this and any other employment law questions you might have.

To prove a case for age discrimination, you essentially must prove that your employer discriminated against you in the terms, conditions, or privileges of your employment because of your age. We should also note that there is no such thing as “reverse” age discrimination. That is, there is nothing illegal about discriminating against someone because they are under 40 years old.

Another way to prove discrimination based on age is the so-called “disparate impact” theory. While difficult to prove, this analysis basically examines what appears at first glance to be neutral rules or hiring criteria that have the effect of discriminating against older people.

For example, if an employer requires its white-collar employees to run one mile in under a certain time, it might have the effect of excluding older employees. This is discrimination that has a “disparate” (different) impact on older workers than it does on younger ones and could therefore be illegal.

Before the 2005 United States Supreme Court case of Smith v. City of Jackson, Mississippi, 544 U.S. 228 (2005), it was questionable whether this “disparate impact” theory could be used in age discrimination cases, but the Court ruled 5-3 to allow it. In California, however, this was already prohibited by statute.

If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your age, we invite you to contact us today for a free consultation to discuss this and any other employment law questions you might have.

Attorney Sara R. Peters is active in opposing this type of discrimination and has served on the Sexual Orientation Discrimination Committee for the National Employment Lawyers Association (“NELA”).

If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your sexual orientation, we invite you to contact us today for a free consultation to discuss this and any other employment law questions you might have.

There is, however, a “ministerial” exception to these laws which allows a church or other religious organization to discriminate based on an employee’s religion. For example, a Catholic church can refuse to hire a Lutheran minister based on religion. However, it probably cannot refuse to hire a Lutheran janitor based on religion.

To prove a case for religious discrimination, you essentially must prove that your employer discriminated against you in the terms, conditions, or privileges of your employment because of your religion.

In California, most religious institutions are exempt from the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, so most employees of such establishments must rely on federal law for protection against discrimination.

If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your religion, we invite you to contact us today for a free consultation to discuss this and any other employment law questions you might have.

Although discrimination based on “color” often goes together with discrimination based on race, the two are actually separate protected classes. For example, if a dark-skinned African American is discriminated against by lighter-skinned African Americans on the basis of skin color, the discrimination is based on color, not race.

To prove a case for race, color or national origin discrimination, you essentially must prove that your employer discriminated against you in the terms, conditions, or privileges of your employment because of your race, color or national origin.

If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your race, color or national origin, we invite you to contact us today for a free consultation to discuss this and any other employment law questions you might have.

To prove a case for pregnancy discrimination, you essentially must prove that your employer discriminated against you in the terms, conditions, or privileges of your employment because of you were pregnant.

If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your pregnancy, we invite you to contact us today for a free consultation to discuss this and any other employment law questions you might have.