Gonzalez v. Whelan Security Co.

**Gonzalez v. Whelan Security Company: Court Sends Case Back to State Court** This case involved a security worker who sued Whelan Security Company for two main issues: not paying wages owed and retaliating against the employee for filing a worker's compensation claim. When the worker first filed the lawsuit in state court, Whelan Security tried to move the case to federal court. However, the worker asked the court to send it back to state court where it originally belonged. The court agreed with the worker and ordered the case back to state court. The judge found that worker's compensation cases cannot be moved to federal court under federal law, and the unpaid wage claims didn't qualify for federal court either because they involved state law issues, not federal ones. The court did deny the worker's request to make the company pay his legal costs for having to fight the move to federal court. **What this means for workers:** When employers try to move your case from state court to federal court, they don't always have the right to do so. Worker's compensation retaliation claims and many wage theft cases belong in state court. If your employer tries this tactic, you can fight back and ask the court to return your case to where you originally filed it.