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
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
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
Continuing an alarming recent pattern of multi-million dollar jury awards, a Los Angeles jury panel recently awarded $17.4 million to a former employee of the Bureau of Sanitation. The employee claimed he had been retaliated...more
Jobseeker Website May Be Compelled To Disclose Identity Of Anonymous Posters Who Criticized Employer - ZL Technologies, Inc. v. Does 1-7, 13 Cal. App. 5th 603 (2017) - ZL Technologies brought suit, alleging libel per se and...more
9/13/2017
/ Accrual Requirements ,
Age Discrimination ,
Anti-SLAPP ,
Appeals ,
Burden-Shifting ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Cause of Action Accrual ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Day of Rest Laws ,
Demurrers ,
DFEH ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discovery ,
Discovery Disputes ,
Dismissals ,
Evidence ,
FEHA ,
First Amendment ,
Former Employee ,
Genuine Issue of Material Fact ,
Independent Contractors ,
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ,
Interim Adverse Judgment Rule ,
Involuntary Reduction in Force ,
Libel ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Malicious Prosecution ,
Motion to Compel ,
Pretext ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Probable Cause ,
Public Policy ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remedies ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Right to Privacy ,
Section 998 ,
Settlement Offer ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Subpoenas ,
Summary Judgment ,
Telemarketing ,
Trade Secrets ,
Vacation Pay ,
Vicarious Liability ,
Waiting Periods ,
Websites
In response to three questions asked of it by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court opined as follows...more
7/11/2017
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Agricultural Workers ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Breach of Contract ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Day of Rest Laws ,
Dismissals ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Form I-9 ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Motion to Compel ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
On-Duty Meal Period Waivers ,
Petition for Writ of Mandate ,
Punitive Damages ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Subpoenas ,
Underwriting ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work-Product Doctrine
Victoria Zetwick, a county correctional officer, alleged that the county sheriff created a sexually hostile environment in violation of Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act by, among other things,...more
3/9/2017
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Appeals ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Class Action ,
Company Vehicles ,
Credit Reports ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
FEHA ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hostile Environment ,
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Sales Commissions ,
Standard of Review ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Vicarious Liability
$90 Million Judgment Reinstated: Employers Must Relieve Employees Of All Duties During Their Rest Periods -
Augustus v. ABM Sec. Servs., Inc., 2016 WL 7407328 (Cal. S. Ct. 2016) -
Jennifer Augustus filed this...more
1/10/2017
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Appeals ,
Apple ,
Assault ,
Breach of Contract ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Car Accident ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
CNN ,
Defamation ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
DLSE ,
Emotional Distress Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Protection ,
FEHA ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Hostile Environment ,
On-Call Employees ,
Preemption ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
Safe Harbors ,
Security Guards ,
Stock Options ,
Summary Judgment ,
Teamsters ,
Unions ,
UPS ,
Vacation Pay ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Statements ,
Wages ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Wrongful Termination
Employee Who Needed To Assist Disabled Son Could Proceed With "Associational Disability Discrimination" Claim -
Castro-Ramirez v. Dependable Highway Express, Inc., 246 Cal. App. 4th 180 (2016) -
Luis...more
5/11/2016
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Association Discrimination ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Conciliation ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Doffing ,
Donning ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Farmers Insurance ,
FEHA ,
Hostile Environment ,
Judicial Review ,
Mach Mining v EEOC ,
Medical Leave ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Prevailing Party ,
Qui Tam ,
Raytheon ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Seating ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Statistical Sampling ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Suitable Seats Lawsuits ,
Tyson Foods ,
Tyson Foods v Bouaphakeo ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination
Nuclear Plant Maintenance Manager's Whistleblower Claim Was Properly Dismissed -
Sanders v. Energy Northwest, 2016 WL 560809 (9th Cir. 2016) -
David W. Sanders, a maintenance manager for Energy Northwest (a...more
3/17/2016
/ Bonuses ,
Breach of Contract ,
Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Class Representatives ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Training ,
Employment Contract ,
Energy Reorganization Act ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Mootness ,
Over-Time ,
Protected Activity ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reimbursements ,
Retaliation ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tolling ,
Unjust Enrichment ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
Court Reverses $1 Million Discrimination Verdict Entered Against LA Fire Department -
Jumaane v. City of Los Angeles, 241 Cal. App. 4th 1390 (2015) -
Jabari Jumaane, an African-American firefighter with the Los...more
The latest legislative session has just ended, and, true to form, the California Legislature has added more than a dozen new laws affecting employers doing business in the nation’s largest state. These statutes are in...more
10/21/2015
/ Accrual Method ,
Anti-Pay Secrecy ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Change in Control ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Discrimination ,
E-Verify ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) ,
Enforcement ,
Equitable Relief ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Brown ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Grocery Store Workers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act 2014 ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Joint Liability ,
Labor Commissioners ,
Labor Standards Enforcement ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
On-Duty Meal Period Waivers ,
Piece-Rate Pay ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Protected Activity ,
Protected Class ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
Sick Leave ,
Social Security Administration (SSA) ,
Substantially Similar ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Garnishment ,
Wage Statements ,
Whistleblowers
Newly Enacted California Statutes -
The Word "Alien" Is Stricken From The California Labor Code -
Section 1725 of the California Labor Code defines "alien" as "any person who is not a born or fully naturalized...more
9/8/2015
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Background Checks ,
CAFA ,
Cheerleaders ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Cumis Counsel ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Discrimination ,
En Banc Review ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
First-to-File ,
Grocery Stores ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Commissioners ,
Misclassification ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
National Guard ,
New Legislation ,
Pretext ,
Qui Tam ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Removal ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
Title VII ,
Unfair Competition ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
It is no secret that California is no friend to arbitration agreements. As the United States Supreme Court noted in its 2011 opinion in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, “California’s courts have been more likely to hold...more
8/26/2015
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Job Applicants ,
Pending Legislation ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Void and Unenforceable ,
Waivers
Diego v. Pilgrim United Church of Christ, 231 Cal. App. 4th 913 (2014) -
Cecilia Diego, the former assistant director of Pilgrim United’s preschool, sued her former employer for retaliation in violation of public...more
Linda Ferrick, a former senior administrator for Santa Clara University, claimed the termination of her employment resulted from her reporting that her supervisor had engaged in what Ferrick believed to be commercial bribery...more
Angela Aguilar who worked in a copper mine for approximately 11 months claimed she was sexually harassed, retaliated against, subjected to intentional infliction of emotional distress and was constructively terminated from...more
1/21/2015
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress ,
Mining ,
Punitive Damages ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Termination ,
Title VII
Employee Must Prove That Illegal Retaliation Was The "But For" Cause Of Adverse Job Action Under Title VII -
University of Tex. S.W. Med. Ctr. v. Nassar, 570 U.S. ___, 2013 WL 3155234 (2013) -
The United States...more
7/12/2013
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
But For Causation ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Discrimination ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Race Discrimination ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
SEIU ,
Settlement ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII ,
Unions ,
UT Southwestern Medical v Nassar ,
Vance v. Ball State University
The Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff asserting retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) must prove that the retaliation was the “but for” cause of the employer’s adverse action....more
7/4/2013
/ But For Causation ,
Discrimination ,
FEHA ,
Harassment ,
Nassar ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII ,
UT Southwestern Medical v Nassar ,
Vance v. Ball State University ,
Vicarious Liability
Brian McVeigh, a former Operations Supervisor for Recology, alleged Recology fired him in retaliation for his reporting possible fraud in connection with California Redemption Value payments made by and to Recology for...more
Cynthia Lawler alleged disability discrimination, harassment, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) associated with the termination of her employment. The district court granted summary...more