Summary: Courts must consider allegations of a racially hostile workplace “from the perspective of a reasonable person belonging to the racial or ethnic group of the plaintiff.” Under this framework, “a single racial epithet...more
8/20/2024
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
FEHA ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Internal Investigations ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
Slurs
Garcia v. Stoneledge Furniture LLC, 102 Cal. App. 5th 41 (2024) - Summary: Although parties may delegate questions regarding the validity of an arbitration agreement to the arbitrator, the delegation presupposes the existence...more
Summary: An employer waives its right to arbitration if it fails to pay its share of the arbitration filing fee within 30 days of the payment’s due date....more
Summary -
Emergency Rule 9, which tolled statutes of limitations for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is valid and operates to extend the time to file a civil suit for a PAGA claim as well as the time period to...more
9/22/2023
/ Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
FEHA ,
Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Remand ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
Summary -
Where an employer can and does track the exact time in minutes that its employees work each shift, and those records show that employees were not paid for all the time they worked, neutral time rounding is not a...more
12/8/2022
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
FEHA ,
FMCSA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Judgment on the Pleadings ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retroactivity ,
Split of Authority ,
Standing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Timekeeping ,
Wage and Hour
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
Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 140 S. Ct. 2049 (2020) -
Summary: The ministerial exception, grounded in First Amendment’s religion clauses, barred teachers’ employment discrimination claims where teachers...more
8/11/2020
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Article III ,
CA Supreme Court ,
CAFA ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Contract Terms ,
Discovery ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
First Amendment ,
FRCP 23 ,
Ministerial Exception ,
Our Lady of Guadalupe School v Morrissey-Berru ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Religious Workers ,
Right to a Jury ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
State Arbitration Acts ,
Waiver of Rights
In Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 591 U.S. ___, 2020 WL 3808420 (2020) (“Morrissey-Berru”), the United States Supreme Court provided further guidance on the application of the “ministerial exception,” which...more
7/13/2020
/ Age Discrimination ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
First Amendment ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Ministerial Exception ,
Our Lady of Guadalupe School v Morrissey-Berru ,
Religious Schools ,
Religious Workers ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Teachers ,
Title VII ,
Wrongful Termination
Scalia v. Employer Solutions Staffing Group, LLC, 951 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir. 2020) -
Summary: Neither the Fair Labor Standards Act nor federal common law provide an employer with a right to seek contribution or...more
4/17/2020
/ Appeals ,
Background Checks ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Contributions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Common Law ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Indemnification ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Law Violations ,
New Hires ,
Over-Time ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Reversal ,
Standing
Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart, Inc., 946 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2020) -
The employer must pay minimum wages to employees for time spent on mandated layovers where the employer’s policy imposes constraints on employees’ movements...more
2/12/2020
/ Administrative Complaints ,
Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Concurrent Litigation ,
DFEH ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equitable Tolling ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
FEHA ,
Jury Trial ,
Medical Leave ,
Minimum Wage ,
Police ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Preemption ,
Reaffirmation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Reversal ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Traveling Employee ,
Wal-Mart ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
This month’s key employment law cases address the test for independent contractor status, the legality of an incentive compensation system, and personal liability for wage and hour violations....more
12/3/2018
/ ABC Test ,
Alter Ego ,
Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Officers ,
Drivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Personal Liability ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment ,
Taxi Cabs ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders
In a major victory for ride-share company Uber Technologies, Inc. ("Uber"), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its much anticipated opinion in O'Connor v. Uber Technologies, Inc., Case No....more
10/5/2018
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Class Certification ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Motion to Compel ,
NLRA ,
Opt-Outs ,
Reversal ,
Uber ,
Unconscionable Contracts
Lopez v. Routt, 17 Cal. App. 5th 1006, 225 Cal. Rptr. 3d 851 (2017) -
Facts: Plaintiff sued her employer and supervisor for harassment in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”). The matter...more
1/29/2018
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
FEHA ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Harassment ,
Jury Trial ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Motion to Compel ,
Prevailing Party ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statutory Penalties ,
Title VII ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Vacated ,
Wage and Hour
May's key California employment law cases involve “on call” meal and rest periods, and employees working seven days a week. ...more
7/10/2017
/ Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Day of Rest Laws ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Off-Duty Employee Access ,
On-Call Employees ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules