[CA] What can I do if my attorney withdrew, claimed a lien, and I have an urgent EEOC filing deadline with no replacement lawyer?

My lawyer quit, asserted a $30,000 lien, and now no one wants to take my case. I've contacted 20+ attorneys. They say no because:

1. I had a previous attorney and they don't take new cases
2. They can't take a case with a lien. Plus, I have an approaching deadline (less than 1 week) to file with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) because the previous attorney never filed with the EEOC.

I don't know what to do.

I have kept records of everything.

I need the employment lawyer to:

1. File with the EEOC.
2. File with the Civil Rights Department (CRD).
3. File with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).
4. Renegotiate with my former employer.

No.

He prepared a demand letter, a 30-page complaint, filed with the CA Labor Commission, and corresponded with my former employer's counsel. It is important to note that he ghosted me two times for scheduled in-person meetings, said many times we had to wait 180 days for a “Right to Sue” from the EEOC but never actually filed with the EEOC, and said this even after receiving an email from the CA Labor Commission stating: "Please be advised you do not need to file with the Labor Commissioner's Office if you plan to file a civil lawsuit. The Labor Commissioner's Office will not issue a Right to Sue Letter."

Also, I found through my own research the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, a law that is extremely applicable to my case and adds leverage, but he didn't know about it. Lastly, he quit on his own. He was not fired.

Yes, San Diego, CA. The case is a bit complex.

Here is a summary:

Whistleblower Retaliation (Beginning October 2023)
A former manager at my gym quit and began operating a competing business. Four gym employees (three of them managers) who had direct control over my client list were simultaneously working for that competing business. They began soliciting clients away from the gym—and specifically away from me. I reported this misconduct, and shortly afterward my client numbers dropped drastically. Over a year and a half later, those individuals were finally terminated for the same misconduct I originally reported. My retaliation concerns form a significant part of my case.

Sexual Assault and Employer Inaction (January 2024)
A gym member sexually assaulted me. I immediately reported the incident to two managers, but no action was taken. The perpetrator returned the next day; I reported him again. One manager spoke to him in Spanish (a language I do not speak) for about 15 minutes but did not ban the member, file an incident report, contact HR, or notify police.

Reporting Sexual Harassment of Another Member – Retaliation – Safety Risk
A female member reported to me that she was being sexually harassed by an employee. I made a protected report to the general manager. He laughed it off instead of addressing it. The next day, the accused employee stormed into my workspace, confronted me, and said I was "talking shit." He then threatened me, saying, "You're lucky we're at work." This indicates that the manager disclosed my protected complaint to the accused employee, exposing me to retaliation and safety risks.

HR Access Denied for Years / Bad-Faith Investigation
For nearly three years of my employment, I was not given HR contact information. When I finally received it, I submitted an approximately 30-page written report detailing whistleblower retaliation, the sexual assault, and other misconduct. HR conducted an investigation but claimed they "could not corroborate" any of my claims. We can easily disprove key findings, and the investigation appears to have been handled in bad faith.

For example, HR claimed the perpetrator of the sexual assault was banned. That is false. I have a phone recording where a different manager confirmed the perpetrator was never banned and maintained a membership for months after the assault. That same manager has since been demoted two positions. When he recently looked up the perpetrator's information again, he found no record of the member at all—as if he never existed—which strongly suggests a cover-up.

Racial Harassment
Near the end of my employment, on February 6, 2025, the manager called me the N-word. My first manager also engaged in racially discriminatory behavior, including using the N-word when talking about African-Americans, telling me to "make sure to look fresh and clean," calling me and all African-Americans "Beyonce," and repeatedly implying that the area smelled bad or like cigarettes when I was around.

I was the only African-American personal trainer, and for most of my employment, the only African-American employee in the entire facility. The February 6, 2025 incident is the last act of discrimination for statute-of-limitations purposes.

Employment End Date & EEOC Deadline Issue
My termination date was May 28, 2025. The last week I physically showed up to my workplace was in late March 2025. Since the last discriminatory incident occurred on February 6, 2025, the EEOC deadline appears to be December 3, 2025 (7 business days from now). However, my former attorney never filed anything with the EEOC and repeatedly told us since July 2025 that we were "waiting for the EEOC right-to-sue letter" even though no charge appears to have been filed. He only filed a claim with the California Labor Commission.

Attorney and Arbitration Issues
My former attorney submitted a $4 million demand, and Fitness International responded with a $7,500 offer, which was not accepted. My former employer indicated they believed the case would settle in the "low 5 figures" if the demand was revised. The attorney then withdrew voluntarily on November 18, 2025 and is now asserting a $30,000 attorney lien. Based on the contract terms, I believe he may not be entitled to this lien, as he withdrew on his own and failed to complete critical work, including filing the EEOC charge.

I urgently need guidance on addressing this lien and filing before the EEOC deadline expires.

Critical Legal Question
All gym employees and members sign arbitration agreements. I need to know whether the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (effective March 3, 2022) allows my sexual assault and related claims to proceed in court rather than arbitration.

Note: I found the EEOC deadlines and the EFAA information through my own research; my former attorney did not advise me properly.

The former attorney did.

At this point, my only option is to represent myself.

No.

Ok.

Best answer I've gotten yet.

Great service, thank you.