In this edition, we begin with a discussion of recent trends in sanctions practice at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Next, we summarize several recent Federal Circuit decisions addressing various aspects of PTAB...more
On July 17, 2023, the California Supreme Court ruled that where an employee has brought a California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) action that is comprised of both individual and non-individual claims, a court order...more
7/20/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana
This issue begins with a summary of several Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) policy questions the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has raised in an advance notice of proposed rulemaking. Next, we examine two...more
In its recent McLaren Macomb decision,1 the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a ruling finding unlawful the type of nondisparagement and confidentiality provisions employers use in severance agreements with their...more
A recent federal appellate court ruling has once again introduced uncertainty for California employers as to whether they may require mandatory arbitration of employment disputes. In 2019, California passed Assembly Bill 51...more
On August 6, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the proposed rule change submitted by The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) to adopt new listing rules establishing a disclosure-based framework...more
On June 17, 2021, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted to approve certain revisions to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA’s) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards...more
In California, employers with non-exempt employees often utilize time-rounding policies to determine whether employees have been fully paid for time worked, as well as whether employees have taken a meal break in the manner...more
In a further attempt to "bend the curve" and to slow the spread of COVID-19 in California, Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that he is "pulling the emergency brake" on the state's reopening plans, and California has issued...more
12/8/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
On December 1, 2020, Nasdaq announced the filing of a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to adopt new listing rules related to board diversity and disclosures. If adopted, these new listing rules...more
With the passage of Proposition 22 in the November 3, 2020, general election, California's gig economy scored a victory over the state's efforts to classify app-based rideshare and delivery company workers as employees rather...more
On September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation mandating representation of underrepresented communities on the boards of publicly held corporations based in California. This new law, known as...more
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). As a majority of states do not have laws...more
6/17/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
On March 31, 2020, six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the City of Berkeley, extended and tightened their March 16, 2020 orders for all individuals living in those locations to shelter in place to slow the...more
4/1/2020
/ Alameda County ,
Bay Area ,
City of Berkeley ,
Contra Costa County ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Essential Functions ,
Executive Orders ,
Marin County ,
Non-Essential Businesses ,
San Francisco ,
San Mateo County ,
Santa Clara County ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government
On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the Act). The Act is one of several federal government efforts to stimulate the economy and mitigate the economic harm to individuals and...more
On March 16, 2020, six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the City of Berkeley, ordered all individuals living in those locations to shelter in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 (the "Orders"). Below is a...more
Two recent cases have found that employee non-solicitation agreements, at least in the form many companies currently use, are unlawful in California. In AMN Healthcare, Inc. v. Aya Healthcare Services, Inc., 28 Cal. App. 5th...more
Massachusetts has joined a growing list of states, including Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Oregon, and Utah, among others, with statutes placing limits on the permissible terms and scope of agreements prohibiting employees from...more
Once again, California's Supreme Court has underscored that California employment law can differ from federal law in significant, and typically more employee friendly, ways. In Douglas Troester v. Starbucks Corporation,1 a...more
Orange Book-Listed Patents Prove to Be Popular Targets for AIA Challenges -
On March 13, 2018, Chief Administrative Patent Judge Ruschke of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) released findings of the Patent Office’s...more
In one of its most important employment law decisions in decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an employer's use of a class or collective action waiver (class waiver) in a mandatory employment arbitration agreement...more
5/23/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Ernst & Young v Morris ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Murphy Oil v NLRB ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Savings Clause ,
SCOTUS
California's Supreme Court has issued a decision making it harder for companies to classify California workers as independent contractors. In Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, the court adopted a broad...more
In a decision receiving nationwide media coverage, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that an employer cannot defeat a federal Equal Pay Act claim by relying on an employee's prior salary, whether alone...more
As summer approaches, many employers are considering “hiring” summer interns, as well as what to pay them, if anything. Some employers will consider engaging the services of unpaid interns, sometimes at the request of eager...more
California has joined a growing number of cities and states seeking to advance gender pay equity by passing laws prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about their salary histories.1 Effective January 1, 2018,...more