Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal affirmed an order denying an employer’s motion to compel arbitration because the employer failed to authenticate the employee’s electronic signature on the arbitration agreement....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As previously discussed here, on September 29, 2020, Governor Newsom signed AB 1963, an amendment to the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, which will become effective January 1, 2021. The revised Act...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: California Business and Professions Code section 16600 expresses California’s strong public policy of protecting the right of citizens to pursue any lawful employment. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Two new California laws are set to significantly affect the entertainment industry: one will deal a giant blow to productions and studios accustomed to hiring independent contractors; the other will give...more
12/13/2019
/ Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Graphic Designs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Journalists ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Photographs ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
Seyfarth Synopsis: Sometimes even the best employees can have their woebegone days. How is an employer to distinguish between (1) a mental disability that may require accommodation and (2) a case of someone “having the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court held that the Labor Management Relations Act does not preempt claims under the Labor Code where a defense requires little more than referring to a collective bargaining...more
5/1/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Code ,
Labor-Managment Relations Act ,
Motion to Compel ,
Preemption ,
Reversal ,
Section 201 ,
Section 301 ,
Trial Court Orders ,
Unions ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal, in Savea v. YRC Inc., held that an employer complies with Labor Code section 226(a)(8) when the employing entity lists its fictitious business name on a wage statement rather than the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: An employer did not incur waiting time penalties for inadvertently misstating the amount of pay on a final paycheck, but was liable for its delay in correcting the error. And, by taking an appeal from a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With a single utterance at the recent Academy Awards ceremony, “inclusion rider” entered the popular lexicon. That has led many to wonder, “What is an inclusion rider?” The next question, of course, is...more
3/15/2018
/ Contract Terms ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Sex Discrimination
Seyfarth Synopsis: California employers must use the formula prescribed by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement Manual to calculate overtime on flat sum bonuses, not the bonus overtime formula used under federal law....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Ly v. County of Fresno, the Court of Appeal held that correctional officers’ claims for race, ethnicity, and national origin discrimination were barred because the claims had been previously denied in...more
10/18/2017
/ Appeals ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Corrections ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
FEHA ,
Harassment ,
Jurisdiction ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Police ,
Race Discrimination ,
Res Judicata ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Workers' Compensation Claim ,
Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB)
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Nakai v. Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc., the California Court of Appeal considered whether marital disputes that spill into the workplace trigger FEHA’s marital status protections...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal decision that held that employers may use the federal formula for calculating overtime on a flat sum bonus is no longer citable precedent as the California Supreme Court has granted...more
Seyfarth Synopsis in a Second: A clause in an employment arbitration agreement that authorizes preliminary injunctive relief in court does not make the agreement unenforceable.
As a general proposition, arbitration...more
Seyfarth Synopsis In A Second: A California employer can use the federal formula for calculating overtime on a flat sum bonus, even though the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement Manual states otherwise....more
California courts generally favor forum selection clauses entered into freely by parties and where enforcement is not unreasonable. This general principle is true even if the forum selection clause is “mandatory” and requires...more