Last month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit certified two questions of state law to the California Supreme Court: 1. Does the absence of a formal policy regarding meal and rest breaks violate...more
This month's key California employment law cases involve EEOC charges, disability discrimination, and meal breaks....more
The California Court of Appeal has affirmed a complete victory by Safeway Inc. over a certified class of wage-and-hour plaintiffs. Esparza v. Safeway Inc., et al., B287927 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC369766, June 10,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Does carrying a pager nullify a rest break? What about the possibility of being tapped on the shoulder by your boss? Or being called on your cell phone? The California Supreme Court considered these and...more
California employers continue to struggle with how to comply with their obligation to provide meal and rest periods to their non-exempt employees. Although the California Supreme Court’s groundbreaking Brinker decision from...more
In 2012, employers awaited the California Supreme Court’s decision in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court with the bated-breath anticipation of a presidential election, or an Olympic luge race. And, boy, was it worth...more
After the renowned remand from the California Supreme Court, the Hohnbaum plaintiffs in Brinker Rest. Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal. 4th 1004 (2012) sought to certify meal period claims alleging that all California...more
On May 10, 2013, the California Court of Appeals in Faulkinbury v. Boyd & Associates reversed its denial of class certification as to meal period and rest period violations in light of the California Supreme Court’s decision...more
On Friday afternoon, the Fourth Appellate District, Division 3 (Orange County) decided Faulkinbury v. Boyd & Associates (Faulkinbury II). This was a meal period, rest period, and overtime class certification decision in which...more
The California Court of Appeal has maintained the recent post-Brinker trend of refusing to certify cases involving meal and rest period claims where an employer has a compliant break policy....more
In Flores v. Lamps Plus, Inc., the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s denial of plaintiff’s motion for class certification based on Lamps Plus’s alleged failure to ensure that employees took their meal and rest...more