Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court has held that, under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), an employee does not lose the ability to pursue representative claims as an “aggrieved employee” by virtue of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis. On Thursday, September 5, 2019, the Legislature passed AB 51. This bill would ban mandatory arbitration agreements with respect to claims under the Labor Code and the Fair Employment and Housing Act while...more
10/11/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Freelance Workers ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pending Legislation ,
Preemption ,
Supremacy Clause
Seyfarth Synopsis: Everything was smooth sailing with your latest greatest arbitration agreement, but then an employee refused to get on board. What do you do now? Keep reading for a primer on navigating some murky waters....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC, a class action alleging unpaid wages, the California Court of Appeal affirmed a summary judgment for the employer, upholding a rounding policy that was neutral on its face...more
12/21/2018
/ Appeals ,
Business Expenses ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Court of Appeal has upheld the validity of pay plans that guarantee a wage that meets or exceeds the minimum wage for all hours worked during a pay period, but that also enables the employees...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit, following the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, has upheld the validity of class-action waivers in Uber’s arbitration agreement, and has held that a named...more
10/10/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employment Litigation ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Illusory Contracts ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Compel ,
Opt-Outs ,
Ridesharing ,
Sharing Economy ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers must pay “waiting time” penalties for willfully failing to timely pay wages due upon termination. Last week the California Court of Appeal dealt employers a double whammy: (i) mere negligence can...more
6/1/2018
/ Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Negligence ,
Penalties ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Employers adopting an Alternative Workweek Schedule (AWS) must follow the specific rules in the applicable wage order or face liability for unpaid overtime. But employees cannot recover penalties for accurate wage statements,...more
5/17/2018
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Statements ,
Work Schedules
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court, in Dynamex Operations v. Superior Court, held that “engage, suffer or permit to work” determines employee status for Wage Order claims...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Based on the legal principle of res judicata, a prior class action settlement that released a staffing agency and its agents barred a subsequent class action against the staffing agency’s client....more
4/20/2018
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Res Judicata ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Summary Judgment ,
Temporary Employees ,
Unpaid Wages
Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs cannot circumvent arbitration agreements by characterizing claims for statutory damages as claims for civil penalties. The purported PAGA exemption from arbitration agreements applies only to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: No California contractual provision, including one in an arbitration agreement, can waive the statutory right to seek injunctive relief to protect the general public. McGill v. Citibank, N.A. (April 6,...more
4/13/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Banking Sector ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Citibank ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
CLRA ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Preemption ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL)
Seyfarth Synopsis: A California federal judge has held that an out-of-state employee’s limited presence in California is not enough on its own to require the employer to comply with California wage and hour laws. Oman v....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Lubin v. Wackenhut Corp., the California Court of Appeal reinstated an effort to certify a class of over 10,000 security officers required to sign on-duty meal period agreements. The Court of Appeal...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court, in Sandquist v. Lebo Automotive, deviated from rulings of most federal circuit courts to hold that the question of “who decides” whether class arbitration is available—courts...more
8/2/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Harassment ,
Motion to Compel ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation
Since the California Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation that claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) are not subject to arbitration, California federal district courts have rejected...more
The traditional posture of California employers apprehensive about “gotcha” wage and hour claims is to hunker down and wait for the next lawsuit. But a few brave souls have taken the offensive. We celebrate two examples here....more