CA has some of the most protective employment laws in the state, and, accordingly, there are lots of plaintiff-side employment law firms in the state.

These firms will typically give you a free consultation (something to confirm ahead of time) to determine whether you have a case worth pursuing, and represent you on a contingency fee basis (e.g., 30% of your award, again, definitely something to confirm). They then typically will file a lawsuit and try to settle very quickly, and if the defendant is a big business, it’s standard practice for the defendant to just immediately pay off these so-called nuisance lawsuits.

Worth noting that a quick, cheaper settlement often benefits the lawyer more than you: I.e., they could spend 20x amount of the time to triple the payout, or, in that same amount of time, they could get another 19 quick settlements - it’s more money in the lawyer’s pocket to settle quickly. That’s not to say every plaintiff’s side law firm is like that, of course. And of course, there’s a benefit to you in getting dollars in your pocket right away from a quick settlement rather than a protracted legal case as well.