Owed equity, bonuses or severance in California?
Equity, severance and employment-contract disputes in California generally turn on the agreement itself. Deadlines, forums and available remedies depend on the documents and what happened.
You can request a review before you sign anything, even if you are not sure what the agreement allows.
Updated August 2026
- Unpaid commissions, bonuses, equity, or deferred compensation
- A disputed severance agreement or release
- Noncompete, nonsolicit, confidentiality, or clawback terms
- Retaliation or termination affecting vested or earned compensation
California generally voids employment noncompetes outside narrow statutory exceptions. Equity, bonus, and severance disputes usually proceed as contract or compensation claims in court or arbitration, not through CRD or the EEOC. Written-contract claims generally use a four-year limitations period.
The firm represents employees statewide across California in equity compensation and severance matters. The state-level rules on this page apply wherever in California you worked. Compare deadlines across all states →
California at a glance.
- Governing law
- California employment-contract and noncompetition law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 16600
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Code Civ. Proc. § 337 - Coverage
- No employee-count threshold.
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Rights depend on the contract, plan documents, grant terms, compensation rules, and governing law. - Written-contract deadline
- California generally provides 4 years for an action founded on a written contract under Code Civ. Proc. § 337.
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A shorter period or different accrual rule may govern another theory. - Administrative filing
- None, equity, severance, and employment-contract disputes generally proceed in court or contractually required arbitration.
- Forum
- Contract claim or contractually required arbitration
- Damages
- Contract remedies are not governed by Title VII's employee-count damages-cap schedule
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the agreement, claim, and proof control.
What may be available under California contract and compensation law.
- Contractual compensation or the value of equity proven due under the governing documents.
- Contract damages and declaratory or injunctive relief where available.
- Negotiated severance, equity treatment, departure timing, and reference terms.
- Attorney's fees only where a contract or statute authorizes them.
- California broadly voids employment noncompetes that do not fit a statutory exception.
- Labor Code § 925 may make an employer-required out-of-state forum or choice-of-law term voidable for a California employee, subject to the individually represented-counsel exception.
- Equity and bonus disputes may also implicate wage law depending on the compensation and when it was earned.
Where California contract disputes are resolved.
Contract claim or contractually required arbitration
These disputes do not begin with CRD or the EEOC. The agreement may require arbitration, although California law can affect forum and choice-of-law clauses.
A severance response date may be short even when the lawsuit deadline is longer. A private review identifies the governing documents, forum, and leverage before you sign.
The same conduct can break more than one law.
What happened to you in California may also amount to a separate claim, with its own protections and its own deadlines. Each of these is worth checking before anything lapses.