On May 19, 2015, the Los Angeles City Council voted, 14-to-1, to raise the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour in increments over the next five years. As a result, the city council will draft a proposal to raise the wage rate...more
This week, the California Supreme Court agreed to review the decision in Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Center, No. G048039 (February 10, 2015), where the California Court of Appeal partially invalidated the Industrial...more
On April 29, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States decided whether—and the extent to which—courts may review efforts made by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to resolve discrimination claims with...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a judgment against a City of Houston employee who claimed that he was demoted for reporting another employee’s racially offensive comment made during a workplace meeting....more
On March 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States settled a controversy surrounding an employer’s policy that provided light-duty work for certain employees (including some disabled employees) but not for pregnant...more
In the coming months, the Supreme Court of the United States will determine the level of judicial review, if any, that will be applied to employers’ pre-litigation negotiations with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...more
On March 9, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Paralyzed Veterans doctrine, which requires an agency to use the notice-and-comment procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when issuing a...more
3/10/2015
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Legal History ,
Mortgage Loan Officer ,
Notice and Comment ,
Paralyzed Veterans Doctrine ,
Perez v Mortage Bankers Assoc ,
SCOTUS ,
Wage and Hour
With its forthcoming decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., the Supreme Court of the United States is expected to bring some much-needed clarity to the issue of what the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), 42...more
2/25/2015
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Discrimination ,
Essential Functions ,
PDA ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Disability Leave Law ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Trucking Industry ,
Unions ,
UPS ,
Young v United Parcel Service
Rommel v. Los Angeles Unified School District, No. B253405 (December 5, 2014): In a recent unpublished ruling, the California Court of Appeal reversed a trial court’s judgment in favor of a school district and against a...more
2/2/2015
/ DFEH ,
Disability ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equitable Tolling ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interactive Process ,
LAUSD ,
Medical Leave ,
Public Schools ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Teachers ,
Wrongful Termination
Cochran v. FremantleMedia North America, Inc., No. B247541 (December 11, 2014): In a recent unpublished ruling, the California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s order granting a new trial in a case brought by a game...more
On January 21, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States decided whether a federal air marshal, who publicly disclosed that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had decided to cut costs by removing air marshals...more
On January 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States resolved a long-standing dispute between the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the remainder of the federal judiciary in a case concerning the extent to which...more
On October 27, 2014, a new reporting form for veterans, the VETS 4212 reporting form, replaced the VETS-100A and VETS-100 Forms. In response to inquiries about contractors’ new requirements as a result of this chance, on...more
On the evening of January 20, 2015, President Obama delivered his sixth State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives with Supreme Court justices, members of Congress, the president’s...more
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States declined review of a state supreme court case that has sparked widespread flux in the landscape of class action arbitration waivers in California. In Iskanian v. CLS...more
1/21/2015
/ American Express v Italian Colors Restaurant ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Iskanian ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Trucking Industry
Barseghyan v. County of Los Angeles, No. B249184 (November 20, 2014): A California Court of Appeal recently held that an employee whose new supervisors were unaware that she had filed a sexual harassment complaint in her...more
Curley v. City of North Las Vegas, No. 12-16228 (December 2, 2014): The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a judgment against a worker who claimed that he was fired because of his hearing impairment in violation...more
On December 15, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States decided a critical issue regarding Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) removals. Specifically, the Supreme Court settled a controversy surrounding what...more
On Tuesday, December 9, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the time workers spend waiting to undergo and undergoing security screenings is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)....more
McClain v. County of Clark, No. 12-16888 (October 10, 2014): The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently sided with an employer in a case in which the former employee claimed that he was subjected to ageist remarks. According...more
Are the federal government’s subsidies to purchasers of health insurance available only to those who purchase insurance from state-run exchanges or to those who purchase from federal health care exchanges as well? Was the...more
On September 10, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014. The Act requires California employers to provide employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked...more
Ybarra v. Apartment Investment and Management Company, No. B245901 (October 7, 2014): A California Court of Appeal recently affirmed a trial court decision finding that a class action waiver provision in an employee’s...more
Employers may view Halloween celebrations at work as a no-brainer: Annual October office parties are often great boosts to employee morale, encouraging community, healthy competition, and team-building as participants eat,...more
On October 7, 2014, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its Final Rule establishing standards and procedures to implement Executive Order 13658, entitled “Establishing a Minimum...more