Shirvanyan v. Los Angeles Community. College District, No. B296593, 2020 WL 7706321 (Cal. Ct. App. Nov. 30, 2020) -
The availability of a reasonable accommodation is an element of a claim under the Fair Employment and...more
1/11/2021
/ CA Supreme Court ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
FEHA ,
Interactive Process ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workers Compensation Act
Semprini v. Wedbush Securities., Inc., 57 Cal. App. 5th 246 (2020) -
Summary: A compensation plan based solely on commissions, with recoverable advances on future commissions, does not qualify as “salary” for purposes of...more
12/14/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Business & Professions Code ,
Confidential Information ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preemption ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unfair Competition Law (UCL) ,
Wage and Hour
Summary: Employers have a duty to investigate the accuracy of any criminal conviction report prior to terminating an employee on the basis of such information where there is evidence that the report may be incorrect. ...more
11/13/2020
/ Absenteeism ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Judgment As A Matter Of Law ,
Labor Code ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
Under California law, employers must pay their employees overtime rates unless an exemption applies. One such exemption, the “administrative” exemption, excludes from state overtime requirements an employee primarily engaged...more
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
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
In a pair of overlapping opinions issued today – Ward v. United Airlines, Inc. and Oman v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. – the California Supreme Court addressed a wide variety of unsettled questions in California wage-and-hour law....more
Betancourt v. OS Rest. Servs., LLC, No. B293625, 2020 WL 2570839 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr. 30, 2020) -
Summary: A plaintiff is not entitled to recover penalties for waiting time and wage statement violations based on claims of...more
6/9/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equitable Estoppel ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Third-Party Beneficiaries ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
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
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
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
On August 29, 2019, the California Supreme Court held in OTO, L.L.C. v. Kho, S244630, that a mandatory arbitration agreement may be unenforceable against employee wage claims if it requires the employee to forego the “Berman”...more
9/10/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Berman Hearings ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Cal Code of Civil Procedure ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Motion to Compel ,
Reversal ,
Unconscionable Contracts ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
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
In Troester v. Starbucks Corporation, the California Supreme Court recently held that the federal de minimis doctrine does not apply to claims for unpaid wages under the California Labor Code. As a follow-up to our recent...more
10/19/2018
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Commuting ,
Corporate Counsel ,
De Minimis Claims ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Email ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Off-The-Clock ,
Preemption ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Rounding ,
Starbucks ,
State Labor Laws ,
Text Messages ,
Timekeeping ,
Unions ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
On August 22, 2018, the California Senate voted to approve AB 3080, a bill prompted by the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment. Nominally, the bill is intended to combat the use of mandatory arbitration agreements and...more
8/23/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Governor Brown ,
Harassment ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Personal Liability ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retaliation ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Waiver of Rights
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