Employers in California often offer employees the ability to sign “meal period waivers,” usually at onboarding. These written waivers reflect the employee’s agreement, on a going-forward basis, to waive their first meal...more
4/22/2025
/ Appeals ,
California ,
Contract Terms ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Popular ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Waivers
Summary: Courts must consider allegations of a racially hostile workplace “from the perspective of a reasonable person belonging to the racial or ethnic group of the plaintiff.” Under this framework, “a single racial epithet...more
8/20/2024
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
FEHA ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Internal Investigations ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Slurs
Garcia v. Stoneledge Furniture LLC, 102 Cal. App. 5th 41 (2024) - Summary: Although parties may delegate questions regarding the validity of an arbitration agreement to the arbitrator, the delegation presupposes the existence...more
Summary: An employer waives its right to arbitration if it fails to pay its share of the arbitration filing fee within 30 days of the payment’s due date....more
Summary -
Emergency Rule 9, which tolled statutes of limitations for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is valid and operates to extend the time to file a civil suit for a PAGA claim as well as the time period to...more
9/22/2023
/ Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
FEHA ,
Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Remand ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
Summary -
Where an employer can and does track the exact time in minutes that its employees work each shift, and those records show that employees were not paid for all the time they worked, neutral time rounding is not a...more
12/8/2022
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
FEHA ,
FMCSA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Judgment on the Pleadings ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retroactivity ,
Split of Authority ,
Standing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Timekeeping ,
Wage and Hour
Sanchez v. Martinez, No. C083268, 2020 WL 5494239 (Cal. Ct. App. Sept. 11, 2020) -
Summary: Piece-rate employees who are provided with unpaid rest breaks are entitled to damages in the amount of the minimum wage for actual...more
10/14/2020
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Judicial Review ,
Piece-Rate Pay ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Robinson v. Southern Counties Oil Co, 53 Cal. App. 5th 476 (2020) -
Summary: Res judicata bars a PAGA claim when the employer has already settled a separate PAGA claim covering the same claims and time period.
An...more
9/22/2020
/ Amended Rules ,
Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Commonality ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
FRCP 23 ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Res Judicata ,
Reversal ,
Standing
Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 140 S. Ct. 2049 (2020) -
Summary: The ministerial exception, grounded in First Amendment’s religion clauses, barred teachers’ employment discrimination claims where teachers...more
8/11/2020
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Article III ,
CA Supreme Court ,
CAFA ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contract Terms ,
Discovery ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
First Amendment ,
FRCP 23 ,
Ministerial Exception ,
Our Lady of Guadalupe School v Morrissey-Berru ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Religious Workers ,
Right to a Jury ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
State Arbitration Acts ,
Waiver of Rights
Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020) -
Summary: Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity....more
7/15/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Appeals ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Commuting ,
Compensation Schemes ,
Control Test ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
IWC ,
Labor Code ,
LGBTQ ,
Mileage Reimbursement ,
Out-of-State Employees ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders ,
Wage Statements
Anthony v. TRAX Int’l Corp., No. 18-15662, 2020 WL 1898843 (9th Cir. Apr. 17, 2020) -
Summary: An employer may use after-acquired evidence to show that a plaintiff is not a qualified individual under the Americans with...more
5/9/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Defense Strategies ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Job Duties ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Managers ,
Punitive Damages ,
Qualification Standards ,
Unlimited Benefits ,
Vacation Leave ,
Vacation Pay ,
Wage and Hour
Scalia v. Employer Solutions Staffing Group, LLC, 951 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir. 2020) -
Summary: Neither the Fair Labor Standards Act nor federal common law provide an employer with a right to seek contribution or...more
4/17/2020
/ Appeals ,
Background Checks ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Contributions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Common Law ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Indemnification ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Law Violations ,
New Hires ,
Over-Time ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Reversal ,
Standing
Frlekin v. Apple, Inc., -- Cal. -- (2020) -
Summary: The time employees spent on Apple’s premises waiting for and undergoing a mandatory exit search of personal belongings was compensable as “hours worked” under Wage...more
3/11/2020
/ Appeals ,
Apple ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Contract Drafting ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Exit Inspections ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitals ,
Job Applicants ,
Nurses ,
Privity of Contract ,
Release Agreements ,
Res Judicata ,
Right to Control ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Security Checks ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Teachers ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders
Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart, Inc., 946 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2020) -
The employer must pay minimum wages to employees for time spent on mandated layovers where the employer’s policy imposes constraints on employees’ movements...more
2/12/2020
/ Administrative Complaints ,
Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Concurrent Litigation ,
DFEH ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equitable Tolling ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
FEHA ,
Jury Trial ,
Medical Leave ,
Minimum Wage ,
Police ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Preemption ,
Reaffirmation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Reversal ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Traveling Employee ,
Wal-Mart ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
On February 6, 2020, in a 2-1 decision, the California Court of Appeal (Fourth District, Division Two) held that an employee's settlement agreement with a staffing agency on a wage-and-hour claim does not necessarily preclude...more
2/11/2020
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Contract Drafting ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hospitals ,
Joint Employers ,
Nurses ,
Privity of Contract ,
Reaffirmation ,
Release Agreements ,
Res Judicata ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Split of Authority ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Subsequent Litigation ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Ever since the California Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking decision in Dynamex Operations W., Inc. v. Superior Ct., 4 Cal. 5th 903 (2018), we have been monitoring its application by the lower courts. On October 8,...more
10/16/2019
/ Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Dynamex ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
IWC ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Retroactive Application ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders
This month's key California employment law cases involve payment of wages, workplace conditions, public employment issues, and civil procedure....more
9/4/2019
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Collective Bargaining ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Defamation ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Exit Inspections ,
FEHA ,
Free Speech ,
Genuine Issue of Material Fact ,
Minimum Wage ,
Mixed Motive Cases ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Nike ,
Non-Union ,
Off-The-Clock ,
Partial Reversal ,
Protected Activity ,
Public Sector Unions ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reimbursements ,
Remand ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
State Labor Laws ,
Stays ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Attire ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Termination
As we previously reported, on May 2, 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int'l, No. 17-16096, held that the California Supreme Court's landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc....more
8/21/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Retroactive Application ,
Wage and Hour
On February 4, 2019, a divided panel of the California Court of Appeal held in Ward v. Tilly’s, Inc., No. B280151, that employees scheduled for “on-call” or “call-in” shifts may be entitled to reporting time pay, even when...more
2/11/2019
/ Appeals ,
Call-In Pay ,
Class Action ,
Demurrers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
IWC ,
Mercantile Industry ,
On-Call Employees ,
Reversal ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders
This month’s key employment law cases address nonsolicitation provisions and arbitration agreements.
AMN Healthcare, Inc. v. Aya Healthcare Servs., Inc., 28 Cal. App. 5th 923, 239 Cal. Rptr. 3d 577 (2018)
Summary:...more
12/18/2018
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Business & Professions Code ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Cross-Complaints ,
Employment Contract ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Law Firm Partners ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Motion to Compel ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Nurses ,
Popular ,
Public Benefits ,
Reaffirmation ,
Recruitment Policies ,
Remand ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Solicitation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Travel ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Void Contracts ,
Wrongful Termination
On July 26, 2018, in a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court in Troester v. Starbucks Corporation held that the federal "de minimis doctrine" does not apply to claims for unpaid wages under the California Labor...more
7/27/2018
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Starbucks ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour