Employment law intake screening: questions, deadlines and red flags for plaintiff firms

Employment intake has a short shelf life. A good lead can turn into a missed deadline in the weeks it waits for a callback, and a weak one can take hours of attorney time before anyone notices the release the client signed. A consistent screen fixes both. This guide gives the questions in the order that matters, the coverage thresholds, the obstacles to check, and the documents to request on day one. It is general information, not legal advice.

What a screen must answer

Every employment intake has to answer five questions before an attorney spends real time:

1. Is any deadline close, or already past?
2. Is the employer covered by the laws that fit the facts?
3. Is there a protected status or protected activity, and an adverse action?
4. Is there something that blocks or moves the case: arbitration, a release, a prior filing?
5. What are the damages, roughly, and can the firm prove them?

Deadlines first

Ask for dates before the story. The story takes twenty minutes; the dates take two.

• Last day worked and termination date.
• Date of each adverse act: demotion, pay cut, write-up, schedule change, failure to promote.
• Date of each complaint, leave request or accommodation request.
• Whether the client has filed anything with the CRD, the EEOC, the Labor Commissioner or the LWDA, and when.

Then compute the clocks: three years to file with the CRD for FEHA claims, 180 or 300 days for an EEOC charge (300 in California), one year for a Labor Commissioner retaliation complaint, two years for wrongful termination in violation of public policy, three years for most wage claims and one year for penalties. The FEHA deadlines guide and EEOC deadlines by state cover these in detail. Flag anything inside 60 days for same-day attorney review.

Clients misremember dates, usually by weeks. Ask what document would show each date: the termination letter, a text from the manager, the last pay stub, the leave approval email. Record the client's estimate and the document's date separately, and compute deadlines from the earlier one until the document is in hand.

Is the employer covered?

Ask for the employer's legal name, not just the brand. Staffing agencies, franchise arrangements and joint employers change who you sue and who counts toward headcount.

Merits: status, activity, action

• Protected status. Race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age 40 or over, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, religion, national origin and the other FEHA categories.
• Protected activity. Complaints about discrimination, harassment, safety or wage violations; leave requests under CFRA; accommodation requests; reports of a reasonably believed legal violation.
• Adverse action. Termination, demotion, pay cuts, schedule changes, discipline, denied promotion, and a pattern of smaller acts that together change the job.
• Who knew. Did the decision-maker know about the complaint or the leave? When? This is often the first thing defense counsel attacks.
• Comparators and witnesses. Others treated differently, and coworkers who saw it.

Score each one simply: strong, possible, missing. A consistent score is more useful across a team than a free-text note.

A rough damages read

Intake does not need a damages model, but it needs enough to decide whether the case can carry its costs.

• Pay. Hourly rate or salary, usual hours, bonuses and commissions, and benefits lost.
• Time out of work. Is the client working now? At what pay? Lost earnings often run from termination to the new job, and a large pay gap continues after it.
• Wage claims hiding inside the story. Unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest breaks, unreimbursed expenses and late final pay often sit alongside a discrimination claim. Ask about hours and breaks even when the client called about a firing. Our wage and hour damages guide covers the remedies.
• Emotional distress and treatment. Has the client seen a doctor or therapist? Records of treatment matter more than adjectives.
• Mitigation. Job applications since termination. Defense counsel will ask, so the firm should know first.

Write the read down in the same fields every time, so the attorney reviewing ten leads can compare them.

Obstacles: arbitration, releases, prior filings

• Arbitration agreement. Ask whether the client signed one at hire, in an app, or in a handbook acknowledgment. It changes forum, cost and timeline. For PAGA, it changes which claims stay in court.
• Severance and release. A signed release can end the case. Get the document and the date signed, and check whether a review or revocation window is still open.
• Prior filings. An earlier CRD or EEOC filing affects the right-to-sue date, and another firm may already represent the client.
• Bankruptcy. A client who filed bankruptcy may need to disclose the claim.
• Unemployment and workers' comp. Statements in those files can help or hurt. Ask what the client said and when.

Documents to request on day one

California gives current and former employees rights to records. Send the requests at intake; the timelines start when the employer receives them.

• Personnel file. Labor Code 1198.5: the employer must make it available within 30 days of a written request.
• Payroll records. Labor Code 226(b) and (c): the employer must comply within 21 days.
• Signed documents. Labor Code 432: copies of anything the employee signed relating to obtaining or holding employment.

From the client, collect pay stubs, schedules, texts and emails with managers, the termination letter, any written complaint, performance reviews and medical notes for leave or accommodation.

An intake checklist

1. Contact details, preferred language and best time to reach.
2. Employer legal name, location and approximate headcount.
3. Job title, dates of employment, pay rate and pay frequency.
4. Every key date: complaints, leave, adverse acts, termination.
5. Agency filings to date.
6. Arbitration agreement, severance or release.
7. Protected status and protected activity, in the client's words.
8. Witnesses and comparators.
9. Documents in the client's hands.
10. Records requests sent, with dates.
11. Earliest deadline and who reviews it.
12. Conflict check against the employer and named managers.
13. Fee terms explained and the retainer agreement sent.

Intake in PlaintiffStack

PlaintiffStack's intake uses forms built per practice area, with conditional questions, so an employment lead gets the employment questions. Leads move through six stages from new to signed, stage rules add follow-up tasks, and lead sources are tracked so the firm sees which ones sign. When the client signs, the lead converts to a case that keeps its tasks, messages and history, in the employment practice. Intake does not capture leads automatically from web forms or ads; staff enter them. Deadlines found at intake go on the case with their rule and basis for a person to confirm.