Seyfarth Synopsis: Addressing the method to evaluate a whistleblower retaliation claim under Labor Code section 1102.5, the California Supreme Court concluded that courts should apply the framework prescribed by statute in...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A divided Ninth Circuit panel has held that employer attempts to impose mandatory arbitration agreements on applicants or employees can be criminally and civilly penalized in California, and thus struck...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Failure to promote claims brought under the Fair Employment and Housing Act accrue when the adversely affected employee knows, or reasonably should know, of the employer’s unlawful refusal to promote; and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court just held that employers, when calculating the premium pay due for failing to provide legally compliant meal and rest periods, must include all nondiscretionary payments—not just pay the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Two appellate courts applying California law have rejected hypertechnical challenges to the adequacy of wage statements under Labor Code section 226. The decisions provide some clarity, remind us that the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC, a class action seeking meal period premium pay, the California Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal and held that employers cannot engage in the practice of rounding...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit has held that a weekly per diem benefit paid by a healthcare staffing agency to its traveling clinicians is a wage that increases the employee’s regular rate used to calculate overtime...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The legal battles over Assembly Bill 51 (AB 51)—which attempts to prohibit mandatory employment arbitration agreements - continue. The Ninth Circuit heard the much anticipated oral arguments earlier this...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a case involving motor carriers, the California Court of Appeal has held that the FAAAA (Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994) does not preempt the ABC employment test California...more
12/1/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Borello Test ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
Motor Carriers ,
Owner-Operators ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court has held that, under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), an employee does not lose the ability to pursue representative claims as an “aggrieved employee” by virtue of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal court has granted a preliminary injunction blocking the State of California from enforcing AB 5 against motor carriers. The court provided a fulsome analysis demonstrating that the Federal...more
1/20/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
Motor Carriers ,
New Legislation ,
Preemption ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Retroactive Application ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Teamsters ,
TRO ,
Trucking Industry ,
Trucking Regulations ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis. On Thursday, September 5, 2019, the Legislature passed AB 51. This bill would ban mandatory arbitration agreements with respect to claims under the Labor Code and the Fair Employment and Housing Act while...more
10/11/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Freelance Workers ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pending Legislation ,
Preemption ,
Supremacy Clause
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a refreshing display of judicial restraint, the California Court of Appeal has declined to extend California’s “wrongful termination” law to a failure to hire, because in the absence of a preexisting...more
10/2/2019
/ Appeals ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Race Discrimination ,
Tameny Claim ,
Tort ,
Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Public Policy ,
Wrongful Termination
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court has held that an individual may not seek unpaid wages under Labor Code section 558. Section 558 can be invoked only by the Labor Commissioner or by an individual suing under...more
9/20/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Code ,
Motion to Compel ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court invalidated an employment arbitration agreement on August 29, 2019. At issue in OTO, LLC v. Kho was an agreement to arbitrate employment claims, including wage claims. Under the...more
9/11/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Berman Hearings ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fairness Standard ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Preemption ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Voris v. Lampert, the California Supreme Court held that unpaid wages cannot be recovered through a tort claim for conversion....more
8/27/2019
/ Alter Ego ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Conversion ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Failure To Pay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Popular ,
Stocks ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: Everything was smooth sailing with your latest greatest arbitration agreement, but then an employee refused to get on board. What do you do now? Keep reading for a primer on navigating some murky waters....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Traditionally, “report for work” has meant physically showing up at the jobsite, ready to work. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC, a class action alleging unpaid wages, the California Court of Appeal affirmed a summary judgment for the employer, upholding a rounding policy that was neutral on its face...more
12/21/2018
/ Appeals ,
Business Expenses ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal has invalidated an arbitration agreement between a law firm and its “partner” because the agreement restricted the scope of arbitral relief available and made pre-arbitration proceedings...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Court of Appeal has upheld the validity of pay plans that guarantee a wage that meets or exceeds the minimum wage for all hours worked during a pay period, but that also enables the employees...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit, following the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, has upheld the validity of class-action waivers in Uber’s arbitration agreement, and has held that a named...more
10/10/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employment Litigation ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Illusory Contracts ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Compel ,
Opt-Outs ,
Ridesharing ,
Sharing Economy ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: A collective bargaining agreement, to permissibly waive a negotiable statutory right, must do so in a clear and unmistakable manner, by mentioning either the statutory protection being waived or the statute...more
8/22/2018
/ Appeals ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Grocery Stores ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Statutory Rights ,
Summary Judgment ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Waiver of Rights
Seyfarth Synopsis. Pending California legislation would make a mandatory arbitration agreement an unlawful practice under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, and a crime. How could that be consistent with the Federal...more
8/7/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
FEHA ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Pending Legislation ,
Preemption ,
Supremacy Clause
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers must pay “waiting time” penalties for willfully failing to timely pay wages due upon termination. Last week the California Court of Appeal dealt employers a double whammy: (i) mere negligence can...more
6/1/2018
/ Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Negligence ,
Penalties ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour