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: Under California law, obesity can qualify as a disability if it has a physiological cause and limits a major life activity. Proving such a claim has been difficult. The First District Court of Appeal’s...more
1/2/2018
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
FEHA ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment
Seyfarth Synopsis: California employers can still enforce their drug-free workplace policies and discharge employees who test positive for marijuana, despite the recreational marijuana laws that go into effect in January...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: California employees who are denied adequate wage statements (“paystubs”) can sue for penalties. Paystub penalty plaintiffs generally must prove they suffered an “injury” caused by the employer’s “knowing...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In OTO, LLC v. Kho, the California Labor Commissioner challenged a car dealership’s mandatory arbitration agreement. The agreement required employment disputes to be arbitrated under normal civil litigation...more
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: The California Court of Appeal upheld the Privette doctrine, holding that an independent contractor’s employee generally may not recover tort damages for work-related injuries from the contractor’s hirer....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc., the Supreme Court resolved three unsettled questions concerning how to read California’s “day of rest” statutes: Employees are entitled to one day of rest during each...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Our mission here at Cal-Pecs is to illuminate how California employment law differs from the law that employers generally experience throughout America. In this back-to-basics piece, we provide some...more
5/24/2017
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Farm Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Piece-Rate Pay ,
Reimbursements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Sales Commissions ,
Sick Leave ,
Traveling Employee ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
Unions ,
Vacation Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules ,
Wrongful Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Court of Appeal has held that an employer’s refusal to honor an employee’s rescission of a voluntary resignation is not an adverse employment action under the Fair Employment and Housing Act....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: The Court of Appeal held that police officer recruits who were not “qualified individuals” under FEHA for purposes of their discrimination claim could nonetheless prevail on their claim for failure to...more
2/18/2017
/ Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Duty to Accommodate ,
Employee Reassignment ,
FEHA ,
Future Wages ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Light-Duty Positions ,
New Trial ,
Police ,
Reasonable Accommodation
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal has held that unless a collective bargaining agreement includes an explicitly stated, clear and unmistakable, intent to waive the right to a judicial forum for statutory causes of...more
2/13/2017
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Grievance Process ,
Hospitals ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Lack of Specificity ,
Motion to Compel ,
Nurses ,
Reaffirmation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Unions ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
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: An employee who expresses opposition to an employer’s policies and practices that affect members of the general public is not engaging in an activity that FEHA protects, because the activity is not opposing...more
11/21/2016
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Protected Activity ,
Public Employees ,
Retaliation ,
San Francisco ,
Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: Accrued vacation pay is not a category that must appear on employee wage statements.
California Labor Code section 226 requires employers to report various categories of information on employee wage...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: An arbitration provision that was provided only in English to a population consisting of one-third Spanish speakers, and that required claimants to bear one-half of arbitration expenses, was unenforceable...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Under Labor Code section 202, California employers must pay all wages to an employee who “quits” within 72 hours, unless the employee has given 72 hours’ notice of the intent to quit, in which case the...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: California Court of Appeal holds that (1) an outside attorney’s investigation can be privileged even though the attorney simply investigated facts, and (2) the employer does not waive the privilege simply...more
7/11/2016
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discovery ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Internal Investigations ,
Outside Counsel ,
Retaliation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Work-Product Doctrine ,
Young Lawyers
Seyfarth Synopsis: California Court of Appeal reverses a summary judgment for an employer that failed to follow its own policy regarding layoffs.
Moore v. Regents of the University of California serves as a reminder to...more
6/29/2016
/ Appeals ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interactive Process ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wrongful Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: California court creates new duty to accommodate employees who, although not themselves disabled, are associated with a disabled person.
The Court of Appeal decision in Castro-Ramirez v. Dependable...more