While it is clear that the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) imposes certain disclosure obligations on businesses regarding concrete personal information collected about consumers, businesses often forget that they also...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has once again defined the rules of the road for millions of employers and employees in the American workplace with its recent decision in Van Buren v. United States. The Court’s opinion resolved...more
Most attention about whether the Biden administration would attempt to adopt a version of California’s notorious “ABC test” for determining whether individuals are properly classified as employees or independent contractors...more
Californians just passed a ballot measure that will soon expand the nation’s most stringent data privacy law – and it will have an impact on employers across the country. By voting in favor of Proposition 24 – the California...more
11/5/2020
/ B2B Transactions ,
Ballot Measures ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Retention ,
Data Security ,
Data Use Policies ,
Duty to Correct ,
New Legislation ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Laws ,
Sensitive Personal Information
Governor Newsom just signed legislation that will extend the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) exemption for employee, job applicant, and independent contractor data for an additional year – until January 1, 2022....more
10/1/2020
/ Ballot Measures ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Exemptions ,
Governor Newsom ,
Independent Contractors ,
Job Applicants ,
Personal Information ,
Privacy Laws
As I was checking my wife and myself into a nearby beach town resort during a recent spontaneous trip, I wondered when the smiling gentleman behind the counter would present me with the hotel’s CCPA notice. I am referring, of...more
Many small or solo franchisees, subsidiaries, and affiliates of larger businesses may think the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), does not apply to you because you don’t meet one of the three threshold criteria. Your...more
First-year Governor Gavin Newsom signed some significant pieces of legislation in recent days that will impact employers across California – ranging from a ban on mandatory arbitration agreements, to a complete rewrite to the...more
10/15/2019
/ Amended Legislation ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Fees ,
Bias ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delays ,
DFEH ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Privacy Laws ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
Governor Gavin Newsom just signed into law two amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that will have a direct impact on employers doing business in the state. The new amendments, signed on October 11, 2019...more
10/14/2019
/ Amended Legislation ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exemptions ,
Governor Newsom ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Opt-Outs ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Laws ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes
Thanks to recent negotiations among state lawmakers, it appears that California employers may get a temporary reprieve on some of the more sweeping data privacy requirements that were set to take effect in just a few short...more
7/16/2019
/ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Use Policies ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Job Applicants ,
Pending Legislation ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Laws
California’s prohibition against contracts that restrain a person’s ability to engage in a lawful business, profession, or trade is well-established and well-known. Ten years ago, in Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP (2008) 44...more
1/22/2019
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Business & Professions Code ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employment Contract ,
Former Employee ,
Former Employer ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Temporary Employees
Since my last blog post about SB 1121, the California Senate voted to send SB 1121 to the state Assembly. The on May 30 vote was very close, 22-13, only one above the 21-vote threshold for passing the bill and strictly along...more
SB 1121, which is making its way through the California Legislature, would allow businesses to be sued for data breaches even when no one was actually injured. This includes being sued for failing to implement and maintain...more
No! It is a common misconception among the general public that someone always has to pay when there is a data breach. It is understandable that individuals affected by a data breach will be upset, distraught, and even angry....more
11/15/2017
/ Best Practices ,
Civil Liability ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Duty of Care ,
Expert Witness ,
Failure to Mitigate ,
Federal Breach Notification Standard ,
Identity Protection Services ,
Identity Theft ,
Negligence ,
Penalties ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Private Right of Action ,
Security Audits ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes ,
Statutory Violations ,
Trade Secrets
Effective immediately, federal contractors will need to comply with privacy training rules intended to ensure that their workforces protect personally identifiable information. As of January 19, 2017, federal contractors will...more
Employers have a legal obligation to safeguard and protect a variety of information hosted in the workplace. Unfortunately, when it comes to workplace data breaches, the question is not if you will suffer one, but when....more
California’s data breach notification law is already considered the most stringent in the United States. Based on a new amendment recently signed into law, the law will soon get even tougher....more
Judge Rolf Treu’s decision in the Students First case is effectively an indictment of the termination process of all California public school employees, not just teachers....more