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CA Supreme Court State Labor Laws

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

California Supreme Court Defines “Reasonable Effort” That is Required for a Good-Faith Defense to a Claim for Unpaid Wages

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The California Supreme Court recently issued an opinion that serves as an important reminder to employers: good intentions regarding compliance with wage laws are not enough to avoid liquidated damages for minimum wage...more

Fisher Phillips

Looking Ahead to Leeper: California Supreme Court to Address “Headless” PAGA Claims

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Even with the statutory clarifications that came along with last year’s PAGA reforms, California courts continue to wrestle with one of the thorniest aspects of the law: whether plaintiffs can maintain particularly troubling...more

Morgan Lewis

California Supreme Court: ‘Good Faith’ Defense to Minimum Wage Liquidated Damages Must Show Attempt to Understand Law

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The California Supreme Court recently held in Iloff v. LaPaille that an employer seeking to assert the good-faith defense to avoid mandated liquidated damages for failing to pay an employee the minimum wages must show that...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

PAGA Paraphrased – Galarsa v. Dolgen California, LLC

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The Fifth District Court of Appeal reaffirmed its earlier holding in CRST Expedited, Inc. v. Superior Court that plaintiffs can bring “headless” PAGA actions—claims seeking civil penalties solely for Labor Code violations...more

Amundsen Davis LLC

National State Employment Law Update – September 2025 Changes

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Below are the key state employment law changes that have occurred in September 2025. Employers should review these updates to ensure compliance with new leave rights, posting requirements, and employee protections across...more

Lewitt Hackman

Good Faith Requires Action: The New Standard for Employer Defense

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As defense attorneys, we often encounter matters where an employer’s good-faith mistake gives rise to wage and hour litigation. While ignorance of the law generally provides no defense, a good-faith mistake, historically...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Minimum Wage Defense Must Show Reasonable Attempt to Follow the Law

When it comes to minimum wage law violations in California, employers should take note that ignorance of the law has been ruled out as a valid good-faith defense to an award of liquidated damages. In Iloff v. LaPaille, the...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Leeper v. Shipt: Will California Hamper Arbitration in PAGA Employment Lawsuits?

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In Leeper v. Shipt, the California Supreme Court will revisit the ongoing question of whether, and to what extent, employees can pursue litigation in court for violation of the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA),...more

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

California Supreme Court raises bar for employers: “We didn’t know” is no defense

In a unanimous decision that strengthened California’s already robust worker protections laws, the state’s Supreme Court has made it harder for employers to avoid increased damages for minimum wage violations. The ruling in...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Supreme Court of California Rules Employers Can’t Claim Ignorance on State Wage Violations

On August 21, 2025, the Supreme Court of California ruled that employers must demonstrate that they took reasonable steps to comply with minimum wage laws to mount a good-faith defense against liquidated damages. The decision...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Minimum Wage Good Faith Defense and Labor Commissioner Appeal Scope

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The California Supreme Court held that an employer must prove that it made a reasonable attempt to decipher the requirements of the law governing minimum wages in order to avail itself of the good faith defense against...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

A Simple Payment Error is not a Waiver of the Right to Arbitrate

Fox Rothschild LLP on

I have some good news for California employers seeking to enforce arbitration agreements. The California Supreme Court just held that non-payment of arbitration fees does not automatically waive the right to arbitrate....more

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: Employers Beware: Employees Are Seeking Damages for Unenforceable Noncompetes

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We have seen a rise in employees going on the offensive and suing their former employers for damages for not informing them that their noncompete is invalid under the applicable state law or for exaggerating the scope of a...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Stricter Controls Over Wage Statement Penalty Awards Are a Gift For Some

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP on

California law has long held that an employer’s good faith dispute over wages owed, if any, to its employees will preclude the imposition of “waiting time” penalties otherwise due following the termination of their...more

BakerHostetler

It’s Settled: A PAGA Plaintiff Has No Right to Intervene, Vacate or Object to Another PAGA Plaintiff’s Settlement, Affirms the...

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In a welcome win for employers, the California Supreme Court recently blocked a PAGA plaintiff’s attempt to intervene and object to another PAGA plaintiff’s proposed settlement as a matter of right, in Turrieta v. Lyft, Inc.,...more

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP

Severing Unconscionable Terms in Employment Arbitration Agreements

In August 2000, the California Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling that changed the face of employment arbitration agreements going forward. That case, known as Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services,...more

Perkins Coie

California Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 22

Perkins Coie on

The California Supreme Court issued its decision in Castellanos v. State (Castellanos) on July 25, 2024, ruling Proposition 22 (Prop 22), the initiative that allows businesses to classify drivers for app-based transportation...more

CDF Labor Law LLP

Supreme Court Holds that Public Entities Are Not Subject to PAGA and Various Labor Code Violations

CDF Labor Law LLP on

On August 15, 2024, the California Supreme Court issued a momentous unanimous decision in Stone v. Alameda Health System (“Stone”), concluding that public employers are exempt from various Labor Code provisions and PAGA...more

Benesch

California Supreme Court Unanimously Rules that Uber, Lyft Drivers May Remain Classified as Independent Contractors

Benesch on

On July 25, 2024, the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Uber Technologies Inc. (“Uber”) and Lyft Inc. (“Lyft”) can continue classifying their California drivers as independent contractors....more

Epstein Becker & Green

The Gig Continues: California Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 22

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On July 25, 2024, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in Castellanos et al., v. State of California and Protect App-Based Drivers and Services, et al., upholding the 2020 voter initiative known as...more

Littler

California Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 22

Littler on

After years of litigation, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 22, a voter-approved law allowing app-based drivers to work as independent contractors. The Court rejected a challenge by a group of labor unions,...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

PAGA Amendments: A Reprieve for Employers Proactively Addressing Labor Code Violations, but Ambiguities Remain

On July 1, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a package of reforms to the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), a statute that has created headaches for employers and driven up wage and hour litigation...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

A New Chapter in California’s Ongoing PAGA is Lava Saga: PAGA Reform

Aggrieved employee is any person who was employed by the alleged violator and against whom one or more of the alleged violations was committed. An “aggrieved employee” is any person who was employed by the alleged violator...more

Clark Hill PLC

California PAGA Reform Brings Employers Relief

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California employers can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The long-awaited and much-needed Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) reform has arrived. While the reform falls well short of the ballot initiative efforts to...more

Weintraub Tobin

California Employment News: Can Pre- and Post-Shift Activities Be Compensated

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Meagan Bainbridge and Lukas Clary from Weintraub Tobin's Labor and Employment Group dive into the California Supreme Court case Huerta vs. CSI Electrical Contractors. Discover the key takeaways for employers on compensable...more

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