This office emphasizes labor and employment law as well as civil rights, but handles all types of litigation in the Bay Area. Our goal is simple: to provide aggressive, competent representation and to create more justice in this world. Aggressive representation to this firm means setting a reasonable value for a case and pursuing that value as long as it takes to get it, either through pre-litigation settlement discussions or trial.

If you have suffered wrongful termination; been sexually harassed; have not been paid your wages or overtime; experienced discrimination in the workplace, including religious, racial, age, or gender discrimination; or have a disability and your employer is unwilling to make necessary accommodations for you, this law firm is here to help you. Union employees with issues such as grievances and discrimination are also encouraged to contact this office for advice.

Age discrimination (if you are over 40 years old and were laid off and replaced by someone younger because of your age or higher salary that comes with experience) and "whistleblower" cases (where you complained to the company about illegal practices or harassment and were terminated shortly thereafter) tend to be stronger cases. As a result, this firm will give particular attention to retaliation and age discrimination cases, as well as cases where you have documentation supporting your claims or witnesses who will support your version of the facts in court and/or under penalty of perjury.

Wage and hour cases are also looked upon favorably by the local court system and local tribunals. The Law Office of Matthew Rafat is always open to taking wage and hour cases. If you have worked for an employer and have not been paid your wages or vacation pay in a timely manner, please feel free to contact us.

This law firm also handles civil rights cases, which include but are not limited to: questioning by the FBI or Department of Homeland Security; refusal by an airline to allow you to board your plane; or discrimination of any kind in the university system due to religion or gender.

In addition to legal issues involving labor and employment and civil rights, this law firm handles cases that can be resolved more quickly, such as neighbor disputes, auto accidents in which liability is not contested, unlawful detainer actions, and breach of contract cases. Few other attorneys will take cases on a contingency basis and vigorously prosecute each one, but this law firm is willing to take cases on a contingency basis when appropriate.

About Matthew Rafat

Matthew Mehdi Rafat graduated UC Davis with High Honors, and then attended Santa Clara Law School, where he founded Advocates for Access, a disability rights group. He also founded an intramural basketball league and currently coaches youth basketball in his spare time.

After law school, Mr. Rafat worked for law firms that specialized in employment law and civil litigation. He handled numerous cases, including wrongful termination, contract disputes, fraud, securities fraud, wage and hour claims, unemployment insurance appeals, disability law, and harassment. His favorite cases are ones that other attorneys hesitate to take because of the complexity of the case (too much work), or where a person suffered discrimination on the basis of his religion, national origin, or a substantial disability.

Matthew Rafat is licensed in all California courts (including federal and state) and Washington, D.C. He also has various certificates from the Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations in mediation and serves as a volunteer mediator.

Matthew speaks Farsi and has lived in several other countries, including Singapore and the U.K.