On February 25, 2016, the Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District held that employees can prove disability discrimination without having to show the employer acted intentionally or in bad faith. The Court held that...more
On February 11, 2016, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District in Amparo Gastelum v. Remax International, Inc., et al. (Court of Appeal B263213, Superior Court Case No. BC515487), held a trial court’s order...more
In USS-Posco Industries v. Floyd Case (Ct. of Appeal A140457), published January 26, 2016, the Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District enforced an agreement requiring an employee to repay the costs of employer paid...more
The Fourth Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal issued its determination in a dispute over utilization review in its opinion of January 5, 2016, Kirk King et al. v. CompPartners, Inc. et al, 2016 S. O. S. In...more
In Palacio v. Jan & Gail’s Care Homes, Inc. (Ct. of Appeal F070861), published December 7, 2015, the Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate Court ruled against a health care worker who sued to recover penalties for meal...more
In Jabari Jumaane v. City of Los Angeles (Ct. of Appeal B255763), published November 10, 2015, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District ended 12 years of see-saw litigation, ruling that the racial discrimination...more
In Vebr v. Culp (Filed 10/28/2015, No. G050730), the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of homeowners, where an employee of an unlicensed painting company was injured...more
11/3/2015
/ Burden of Proof ,
Contractor's License ,
Homeowners ,
Labor Code ,
Negligence ,
Negligent Supervision ,
Painting Contractors ,
Premises Liability ,
Rebuttable Presumptions ,
Respondeat Superior ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unlicensed Contractors
In Frances Stevens v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, Outspoken Enterprises, Case: A143043 1st District, Division 1, the California Court of Appeal upheld the constitutionality of California Labor Code Section 4610.6...more
On October 6, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Fair Pay Act (Senate Bill 358, the “Fair Pay Act”). The Fair Pay Act which will become effective on January 1, 2016, expands existing laws by prohibiting...more
The Act was amended on July 13, 2015 to address various accrual provisions and to clarify how employees were to be paid when using accrued sick leave. One issue that was not addressed by the amendments was the amount of sick...more
In a recent decision entitled Brown-Ferris Industries of California, Inc., et al., Case No. 32-RC-109684, published August 27, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) redefined the standard for determining...more
In O’Connor v. Uber Technologies, Inc. (Filed 09/01/2015, No. C-13-3826 EMC), the United States District Court, Northern District of California, certified a class of approximately 160,000 current and former drivers of Uber in...more
9/3/2015
/ Ascertainable Class ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Commonality ,
FRCP 23 ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Numerosity ,
Predominance Requirement ,
Reimbursements ,
Tips ,
Uber
In Carlson v. Home Team Pest Defense, Inc. (Ct. of Appeal A142219), published August 17, 2015, the Court of Appeal held that an employer’s arbitration clause which allowed only the employer to file lawsuits for certain...more
In Brennan v. Opus Bank (9th Cir. 13-35580), published August 11, 2015, the Ninth Circuit ruled on the issue of whether a court versus an arbitrator has jurisdiction over determining the enforceability of a mandatory...more
In Timothy James Mayo v. PCC Structurals, Inc., 9th Cir., Case No. 13-35643, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that an employee, who was terminated after making credible death threats against his supervisor and...more
In Safeway, Inc. v. Superior Court (Esparza), (C.A.2nd B255216) (L.A. Superior Court Case No. BC487830), published July 22, 2015, the California Court of Appeal for the Second District upheld a trial court’s class...more
In Ranza v. Nike (9th Cir. 13-35251), published July 16, 2015, the Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of plaintiff’s claim for sex and age discrimination under the doctrine of forum non conveniens (“inconvenient forum”). The...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit resuscitated a contentious provision of California’s SB 863. In a unanimous decision on June 29, 2015, the court in Angelotti Chiropractic, Inc. v. Christine Baker, et...more
In South Coast Framing, Inc. v. WCAB, Jovelyn Clark, S215637, May 28, 2015, the California Supreme Court clarified a claimant’s burden of proof in obtaining workers’ compensation benefits. In brief, a claimant meets the...more
In Williams v. Chino Valley Independent Fires District, (No. S213100, en banc, filed 5/4/15) (Williams), the Supreme Court of California held a prevailing defendant in an action under the California Fair Employment and...more
In Nigro v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., (No. 12-57262, filed 2/25/15, amended 4/10/15) (Nigro), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held a self-serving declaration can be sufficient to create a genuine issue...more
In Reyes v. Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. (Filed April 1, 2015, No. 15-55176) the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, held the certification of a class triggers a new opportunity for a defendant to remove the matter to...more
In Mies v. Sephora U.S.A., Inc., No. A139410, published February 26, 2015 (Mies), the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District held that a trial court’s broad discretion to rule on class certification encompasses...more
In Nealy v. City of Santa Monica, 2015 WL 632228, the Second District Court of Appeals held that an injured worker was properly denied the right to return to work where he was unable to perform essential functions of his job...more
In Gerard v. Orange County Memorial Medical Center, 2015 Cal.App. LEXIS 132, the Court of Appeal found Wage Order No. 5, Section 11(D) of Industrial Welfare Commission ("IWC") wage order No. 5-2001 (Cal. Code Regs., title 8,...more