Michael Trust Law, APC

Michael Trust Law, APC Michael Trust, Esq., leads Michael Trust Law, APC, providing exceptional employment law representation in California. Attorney Advertising. michaeltrustlaw.com

Under FEHA (Gov. Code § 12940(n)), California employers must engage in a timely, good faith interactive process once an ...
09/03/2026

Under FEHA (Gov. Code § 12940(n)), California employers must engage in a timely, good faith interactive process once an employee requests an accommodation or the need becomes apparent. The obligation gets attention; the documentation of it usually does not, until a dispute arises. A file showing only the final decision, without the back and forth that led there, leaves an employer defending its process with nothing to show for it. Each exchange, each alternative considered, and each reason an option was accepted or rejected should be written down close to when it happened, not reconstructed later from memory. Employers who treat documentation as a formality rather than a record often find the good faith of their process hard to prove after the fact.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

A Process Is Not an AccommodationBeing told you can apply for a transfer is not the same as being accommodated.A federal...
09/03/2026

A Process Is Not an Accommodation

Being told you can apply for a transfer is not the same as being accommodated.

A federal appeals court just said so directly. In Cherry v. Washington Dep’t of Fish & Wildlife, employees seeking a religious exemption were pointed to an application process instead of a concrete option, and the court held that was not enough by itself.

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Gov. Code § 12940(l), imposes its own religious-accommodation duty here.

If “you can apply” was the whole answer you got, that may not have satisfied the legal duty.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim - and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

California requires employers to provide reasonable break time to express milk, and a location that is not a bathroom, s...
09/02/2026

California requires employers to provide reasonable break time to express milk, and a location that is not a bathroom, shielded from view and free from intrusion. The space does not need to be a dedicated room in every case, but it must function as private space each time it is needed, not just on paper. Common problems include a designated area used for other purposes when requested, a lock that does not work, or a schedule that quietly discourages employees from taking the time. Denial of a compliant space, or retaliation for asking, is a separate violation from any underlying leave issue. If your workplace treats this accommodation as optional, that treatment is not something you have to accept quietly.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

Federal WARN Compliance Doesn’t Mean You’re Covered in CaliforniaPassing federal WARN does not mean you pass California ...
09/02/2026

Federal WARN Compliance Doesn’t Mean You’re Covered in California

Passing federal WARN does not mean you pass California WARN.

California’s WARN Act (Lab. Code §§ 1400-1408) covers employers with 75 or more employees, counts part-time workers, and has no percentage-of-workforce escape from its 50-employee mass-layoff trigger the way federal law does. It also covers relocations of 100 or more miles, which federal WARN does not.

California’s only notice-shortening exception is a physical calamity or act of war, narrower than federal law’s three exceptions.

If your plan cleared federal WARN and stopped there, California’s separate rules may still apply.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed - and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

California wrongful termination cases often turn on inconsistency. An employer gives one reason for a firing at the time...
09/01/2026

California wrongful termination cases often turn on inconsistency. An employer gives one reason for a firing at the time, a different reason once a claim is raised, and sometimes a third reason later. Courts and juries treat that kind of movement as circumstantial evidence the stated reason was not the real one. A single shift is rarely enough alone, but a pattern of shifting explanations, especially combined with timing near a complaint or a leave request, builds a stronger case. Keeping a written record of what you were told, and when, matters more than most people realize until later. If your employer's explanation for your termination has changed since it happened, that inconsistency deserves a closer look. Understanding what the shifts actually show is what separates a hunch from a claim.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

Is Your Heat Illness Plan Already Outdated?California is about to expand which employers need a high-heat plan.Cal/OSHA’...
09/01/2026

Is Your Heat Illness Plan Already Outdated?

California is about to expand which employers need a high-heat plan.

Cal/OSHA’s August 14, 2026 discussion draft would extend outdoor high-heat procedures to any employer once the temperature hits 95 degrees, removing the current industry limitation. It also expands acclimatization rules and requires the written Heat Illness Prevention Plan to go out at hire, during training, and once a year.

Comments are due September 21, 2026.

If your industry was previously exempt from high-heat procedures, that exemption is exactly what this draft removes.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed - and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

Certain employment issues cluster around this point in the year. Employees returning from summer leave sometimes find th...
08/31/2026

Certain employment issues cluster around this point in the year. Employees returning from summer leave sometimes find their role has changed in their absence. Unused vacation/PTO time becomes a final pay question when a departure happens before year end. Seasonal staff reductions raise the same layoff obligations as any other reduction in force. None of these situations are new legal territory, but each one is easy to underestimate because it feels routine rather than serious. If your return from leave, your final paycheck, or a seasonal layoff notice looked off, the end of a season is exactly the right time to ask why.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com | Attorney Advertising.

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

Your AI Hiring Tool Doesn’t Get You Off the HookAI hiring tools do not absorb legal risk. Employers do.California’s Fair...
08/31/2026

Your AI Hiring Tool Doesn’t Get You Off the Hook

AI hiring tools do not absorb legal risk. Employers do.

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Gov. Code § 12940, holds the employer responsible for a hiring decision even when a vendor’s algorithm produced the score. California’s automated-decision-system regulations reach resume screening and interview-scoring tools directly.

Once a rejected applicant pushes back, the employer has to explain what the tool measured and whether it was applied the same way to everyone in the pool. “The software flagged them” does not answer that.

If you could not explain your hiring tool’s scoring under oath, that gap is worth addressing before a claim forces the question.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed - and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

A reduction in force built on facially neutral criteria, tenure, role elimination, performance scores, can still produce...
08/30/2026

A reduction in force built on facially neutral criteria, tenure, role elimination, performance scores, can still produce a selection list that disproportionately affects a protected group, including employees 40 and older, without anyone intending that result. California and federal law both allow disparate impact claims based on outcome, regardless of intent. Running a disparate impact analysis on the proposed selection list before it is finalized, not after employees are notified, is the point where this risk is still fixable. Once notices go out, the same statistical pattern becomes the employer's problem to explain rather than a list still open to adjustment.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine what needs to be addressed, and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts. No lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes.

Michael Trust Law, APC | Hermosa Beach, CA | Serving clients throughout California | michaeltrustlaw.com | Attorney Advertising.

AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

The Interview Went Well. Then They Looked You Up.Great interview.  Then, silence.It's common, and mostly legal, for a hi...
08/30/2026

The Interview Went Well. Then They Looked You Up.

Great interview. Then, silence.
It's common, and mostly legal, for a hiring manager to look at a candidate's public social media before deciding. Lab. Code § 980 bars demanding login credentials, not viewing what's already public.
The real question is what that review revealed and whether it factored into the decision. A public post tied to a protected characteristic under FEHA (Gov. Code § 12940, the Fair Employment and Housing Act) is where this can turn into something more than screening.
Proving it drove the decision is hard and depends on the full picture.

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim — and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts — no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication. Attorney Advertising.

Michael Trust Law, APC, 703 Pier Avenue, Ste. B367, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254:

Michael Trust, Esq., the owner of Michael Trust Law, APC, has extensive experience across a wide range of industries, and workplace issues and disputes,

Address

703 Pier Avenue Ste B367
Hermosa Beach, CA
90254

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm

Telephone

+14246349333

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