Yesterday September 12, 2019, the California Supreme Court held that private litigants may not recover unpaid wages under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”). See ZB, N.A. v. Superior Court (Lawson) (Cal....more
9/16/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Labor Code ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Employers all over California are once again hearing the siren call of arbitration in the wake of a $15.4 million single-plaintiff verdict that a Los Angeles jury delivered to a former Los Angeles Times sports columnist on...more
What used to be a routine request – asking the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for an extension of time when responding to a charge of discrimination or harassment and assuming extra time would be granted –...more
We’re delighted to report that we secured two summary judgments in two separate alleged discrimination cases on behalf of our client Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in matters that were pending in the Los Angeles Superior Court....more
In a decision unsurprising to anyone familiar with what California juries have been up to lately, fast-food titan Jack in the Box was ordered to pay $15.4 million (including a staggering $10 million in punitive damages) last...more
6/21/2019
/ Age Discrimination ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Emotional Distress Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Jury Awards ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Negligent Supervision ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment
It’s springtime in California! Even as the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano, the California legislature is busy, busy, busy passing 100s of new laws because, after all, you can never get too much of a good thing!...more
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
A new California bill aims to make it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees based upon their hairstyles. SB 188, also known as the “CROWN Act” (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural hair),...more
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
For the second time this calendar year, a Los Angeles jury ordered an employer to pay $11 million to an employee who claimed to have been sexually harassed. And, once again, the amount of punitive damages ($8 million) dwarfed...more
Just another day in paradise in Los Angeles… Unless you happen to be an employer. Continuing the recent spate of multi-million dollar verdicts, an LA jury awarded a former police officer $7 million on her sex discrimination...more
There they go again! As we predicted last November, the California legislature is once again trying to outlaw arbitration agreements between employers and employees. Former Gov. Jerry Brown routinely vetoed similar bills that...more
The #MeToo and #TimesUpmovements have sparked an undeniably important conversation.
They have brought to light allegations of sexual assault, harassment and discrimination in society at large and in the workplace in...more
3/21/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance ,
Workplace Investigations
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
Proving it still is possible to obtain a favorable jury verdict in California, a federal jury sided with Chipotle Mexican Grill last Wednesday in a case involving disability discrimination claims by former assistant store...more
School Teacher’s ADA Claim Against Catholic School Was Not Barred By “Ministerial Exception”
Biel v. St. James School, 2018 WL 6597221 (9th Cir. 2018) -
Kristen Biel was fired from her fifth grade teaching position at...more
A Los Angeles jury awarded more than $11 million to two former employees who claimed they were sexually harassed and retaliated against for complaining about the harassment.
Megan Meadowcroft and Amber Brown, who worked at...more
If you haven’t ridden one yet, it’s likely you’ve had one fly by you on the sidewalk. Electric scooters – or e-scooters – have quickly descended upon most major cities in America. These app-based scooters let a user ride...more
Employee Non-Solicitation Provision Was An Unenforceable Restraint -
AMN Healthcare, Inc. v. Aya Healthcare Servs., Inc., 2018 WL 5669154 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018) -
AMN and Aya are competitors in the business of providing...more
11/20/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Attorney's Fees ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
First Amendment ,
Misappropriation ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Trade Secrets ,
Uniform Trade Secrets Acts ,
UTSA ,
Wage and Hour
On May 1, we reported about the Dynamex Operations W., Inc. v. Superior Court opinion in which the California Supreme Court adopted a new standard (the “ABC test”) for determining if a worker may properly be classified as an...more
In addition to the #MeToo inspired legislation, which we covered in a recent blog post, Governor Brown signed several other pieces of legislation amending existing laws and imposing new requirements regarding employment. Here...more
This weekend Governor Brown signed many laws that were authored and gained traction in response to the #MeToo movement:
New Restrictions On Confidentiality Of Sexual Harassment/Discrimination Settlements -
Senate Bill...more
10/2/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Brown ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Woman Board Members
Employer Must Obtain Written Authorization To Conduct Background Check -
Connor v. First Student, Inc., 2018 WL 3966434 (Cal. S. Ct. 2018) -
Eileen Connor worked as a school bus driver for Laidlaw Education Services, a...more
9/13/2018
/ Background Checks ,
Breach of Contract ,
CA Supreme Court ,
CAFA ,
Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Form I-9 ,
Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) ,
Jury Awards ,
Lanham Act ,
Popular ,
Sanctuary Cities ,
Settlement Agreements ,
State Immigration Laws ,
State Labor Laws ,
Whistleblowers ,
Written Consent
On May 1, we reported on the California Supreme Court’s opinion in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, in which the Supreme Court set forth the standard for determining if a worker may properly be classified as...more
Employers are increasingly turning to social networking sites to find additional information about candidates. In fact, recent articles suggest that an applicant’s failure to have a social media presence is viewed by many...more