Amanda Neeble-Diamond sued her employer for violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), but after a jury concluded she was an independent contractor rather than an employee, the trial court entered judgment in...more
The long-running feud between California and the “gig economy” shows no sign of ending soon. On April 28, 2023, the State of California submitted a petition to the Ninth Circuit in Olson v. California, No. 21-55757 (9th...more
Age/National Origin Case Was Properly Dismissed Despite “Direct Evidence” Of Discriminatory Animus -
Opara v. Yellin, 57 F.4th 709 (9th Cir. 2023) -
Joan Opara was terminated from her employment as an IRS revenue...more
2/9/2023
/ Age Discrimination ,
Anti-SLAPP ,
Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
Miller v. Roseville Lodge No. 1293, 83 Cal. App. 5th 825 (2022) -
Roseville Lodge No. 1293, Loyal Order of Moose, Inc., hired Charlie Gelatini to move an ATM on its premises. Ricky Lee Miller, Jr., who worked for Gelatini...more
On March 17, Rover—a digital application connecting pet owners with daily pet-care providers—argued to the Ninth Circuit that it should uphold a California federal judge’s finding that a dog-sitter was properly classified as...more
Ninth Circuit Resurrects California’s Anti-Arbitration Statute -
Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. v. Bonta, 13 F.4th 766 (9th Cir. 2021) -
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in part a 2020 preliminary...more
11/15/2021
/ Age Discrimination ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contingency Fees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Lost Wages ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws ,
UTSA ,
Wage and Hour
The California Supreme Court has denied a petition for writ of mandate filed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The SEIU, which was hoping to unionize Uber and Lyft drivers in the wake of AB 5, argued that...more
On January 14, 2021, the California Supreme Court decided, at the request of the Ninth Circuit, that its decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal.5th 903 (2018) applies retroactively. See our...more
On January 14, 2021, the California Supreme Court decided, at the request of the Ninth Circuit, that its decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal.5th 903 (2018) applies retroactively. Vazquez v....more
Salter v. Quality Carriers, Inc., 2020 WL 5361459 (9th Cir. 2020) -
Clayton Salter, a truck driver, filed this putative class action against his employer, Quality Carriers and Quality Distribution, alleging that he and...more
Arnold v. Dignity Health, 53 Cal. App. 5th 412 (2020) -
Virginia M. Arnold worked as a medical assistant at Dignity Health before her employment was terminated for, among other things, failure to safeguard a patient’s...more
Last Friday, September 4, Governor Newsom signed AB 2257, which includes a slew of modifications to the now-infamous AB5, which went into effect this year and codified the strict ABC independent contractor test, which we have...more
Last week, Uber Technologies, Inc. and Lyft, Inc. announced that they would suspend ridesharing operations in the State of California in response to an August 10, 2020 San Francisco Superior Court judge’s preliminary...more
8/25/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Ridesharing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Horne v. Ahern Rentals, Inc., 50 Cal. App. 5th 192 (2020) -
The surviving heirs of Ruben Dickerson sued Ahern Rentals, a company that leases forklifts and other heavy-duty construction vehicles to its customers....more
Marez v. Lyft, Inc., 2020 WL 2108643 (Cal. Ct. App. 2020) -
While driving a car rented through Lyft’s “Express Drive Program,” Jonathan Guarano struck the plaintiffs and caused significant injuries. Plaintiffs sued Lyft...more
Today, the Attorney General of California and the City Attorneys for Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego filed a lawsuit against Uber and Lyft, alleging that the companies willfully misclassify their drivers. The suit...more
Bingener v. City of Los Angeles, 44 Cal. App. 5th 134 (2019) -
Kim Rushton, an employee of the City of Los Angeles, struck and killed a pedestrian (Ralph Bingener) while Rushton was driving to work at the Hyperion...more
On Monday, Uber, Postmates and two of their drivers filed a lawsuit in federal court in the Central District of California, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and a determination that AB-5 is unconstitutional.
AB-5 is...more
On January 1, 2020, California’s new worker classification law known as Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”), goes into effect. AB 5 codifies the three-factor “ABC” test adopted by the California Supreme Court in its 2018 Dynamex...more
12/16/2019
/ ABC Test ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
Retroactive Application ,
State Labor Laws
Court Upholds Whistleblower Verdicts In Favor Of Fired Parking Ticket Hearing Examiners -
Hawkins v. City of Los Angeles, 40 Cal. App. 5th 384 (2019) -
Todd Hawkins and Hyung Kim were terminated from their jobs as...more
11/11/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Anti-SLAPP ,
DFEH ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
FEHA ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Code ,
McDonalds ,
Minimum Wage ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tipped Employees ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
Here’s a comprehensive list of the new employment-related statutes enacted and signed into law in the Golden State (effective Jan. 1, 2020 unless otherwise specified)...more
10/15/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Bias ,
Breastfeeding ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
DFEH ,
Employee Training ,
Employment Discrimination ,
FEHA ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Bans ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
Assembly Bill 5, a proposed new law currently pending in the California legislature, would limit and codify last year’s California Supreme Court Dynamex opinion. If passed and signed into law by Gov. Newsom (he’s already said...more
9/5/2019
/ CA Supreme Court ,
DoorDash ,
Dynamex ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Newsom ,
Independent Contractors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Uber ,
Unions
Strict Independent Contractor Test Applies Retroactively -
Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int'l, 2019 WL 1945001 (9th Cir. 2019) -
Last year, the California Supreme Court in Dynamex Ops. W. Inc. v. Superior Court, 4...more
5/17/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
FEHA ,
Former Employee ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Retroactive Application ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour
Last year, we questioned whether California’s new restrictions on independent contractors would apply retroactively. Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit decided that the landmark ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior...more
Eddie Money Beats Discrimination Lawsuit Based On Free Speech Right -
Symmonds v. Mahoney, 31 Cal. App. 5th 1096 (2019) -
After 41 years, singer/songwriter Edward Joseph Mahoney (aka "Eddie Money") terminated the...more
3/18/2019
/ Breach of Contract ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) ,
Joint Employers ,
On-Call Employees ,
Popular ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Title VII ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers