Delgado & Morales | Civil Rights & Employment Law

Your Rights. Our Fight.

When your employer breaks the law, when police use excessive force, when a landlord slams the door in your face — we answer. Delgado & Morales has spent 15 years going to court for the people who deserve justice most and get it least.

Practice Areas

We take on the cases other firms walk away from. If your rights were violated, we want to hear your story.

Workplace Discrimination

No one should lose their job, their promotion, or their dignity because of their race, gender, age, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. We pursue claims against employers who violate federal and California law — from hostile work environments to wrongful termination and retaliation.

Title VII FEHA ADA ADEA Cal. Lab. Code

Police Misconduct & Excessive Force

When law enforcement crosses the line — unlawful arrests, excessive force, racial profiling, or deadly encounters — we hold officers and municipalities accountable. We have litigated Section 1983 civil rights claims through federal court, including cases that reached the Ninth Circuit.

42 U.S.C. § 1983 4th Amendment 14th Amendment Bane Act

Housing Discrimination

Everyone deserves a home free from bias. We represent tenants and applicants who face discrimination based on race, national origin, familial status, disability, or source of income. From unlawful evictions to discriminatory lending, we use the full force of federal and state law to protect housing rights.

Fair Housing Act FEHA Unruh Act HUD Regulations

Wage Theft & Labor Violations

Stolen wages are stolen lives. We represent workers who have been denied overtime, misclassified as independent contractors, forced to work off the clock, or cheated out of meal and rest breaks. We pursue individual claims and class actions against employers who treat workers as disposable.

FLSA Cal. Lab. Code § 226 PAGA AB5

We Take the Cases Others Won't.

"The most important cases are the ones powerful institutions hope you'll give up on."

Delgado & Morales was founded in 2009 by Elena Delgado and Marco Morales after a combined decade of front-line public interest work — Elena as a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California and Marco as a federal public defender. They saw the same pattern everywhere: ordinary people with legitimate civil rights claims being turned away by firms chasing only the easy cases.

They built this firm to be different. Clients here are not case numbers. Every intake call is taken seriously, every claim investigated fully, and every case fought with the intensity it deserves — whether it settles for policy change or a seven-figure jury verdict.

Today our team of six attorneys has recovered more than $47 million for clients across Southern California, won three appeals that changed how California courts interpret civil rights law, and secured systemic policy reforms through settlement agreements that protect communities beyond any individual case.

Free initial consultation — no fee unless we win

Contingency representation for qualifying civil rights claims

Bilingual attorneys — English and Spanish

Federal and state court litigation experience

Appellate practice through the Ninth Circuit

Who Will Fight for You

Elena Delgado

Founding Partner

Elena leads the firm's police misconduct and constitutional litigation practice. A former ACLU staff attorney, she has argued before the Ninth Circuit and was co-counsel in a landmark consent decree requiring LAPD use-of-force reforms. Named to the California Super Lawyers Rising Stars list four consecutive years.

UCLA School of Law, J.D. 2006

ACLU of Southern California, Staff Attorney (2006–2009)

Ninth Circuit Civil Rights Fellow

Board Member, National Police Accountability Project

Marco Morales

Founding Partner

Marco built his career as a federal public defender in the Central District of California before co-founding Delgado & Morales. His practice focuses on employment discrimination, PAGA class actions, and wage theft litigation. He has secured more than $28 million in employment recoveries over his career.

USC Gould School of Law, J.D. 2005

Federal Public Defender, C.D. Cal. (2005–2009)

California Employment Lawyers Association

Adjunct Professor, Loyola Law School

Simone Adeyemi

Senior Associate

Simone leads the firm's housing discrimination and fair lending practice. A graduate of Harvard Law School and a former Skadden Fellow at the National Housing Law Project, she has represented hundreds of tenants across Los Angeles County in Fair Housing Act claims and habitability actions.

Harvard Law School, J.D. 2012

Skadden Fellowship, National Housing Law Project

HUD Fair Housing Initiative Partner

Co-author, California Fair Housing Practice Guide

Justice Has a Dollar Amount

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. But they tell you who we are and what we fight for.

$9.4M

Police Misconduct / Section 1983

"They told me nobody would believe me. Ms. Delgado believed me from the first call. She didn't just win my case — she changed how the department trains its officers."

James T. — Excessive Force Claim, Los Angeles County

$3.1M

PAGA Class Action / Wage Theft

"We were working 12-hour shifts and being paid for eight. Mr. Morales turned our individual complaints into a class action that got every worker in our warehouse what they were owed."

Maria R. — Class Representative, Warehouse Wage Case

Policy Win

Fair Housing / Systemic Reform

"Our landlord rejected 42 Section 8 applicants in a single year. Simone took our case and turned it into a consent decree that changed leasing practices across our entire complex."

Community Coalition — Fair Housing Complaint, South LA

Ready to
Fight Back?

Your first consultation is completely free. Tell us what happened. We will tell you whether you have a case and what fighting back looks like — no obligation, no pressure.

Address 800 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1200
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Phone (213) 555-0192

Email info@delgadomoraleslaw.com

Hours Monday – Friday: 8am – 7pm
Emergency consultations available