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New Law Expands Family Leave Laws in California
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Siegel LeWitter Malkani Wins Appeal Overturning Decision to Deny Class Certification to Patients Denied Coverage for Mental Health Treatment by Kaiser Health Plan
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Reason to Celebrate: Supreme Court Holds that Employers Cannot Discriminate Against LGBTQ+ Employees
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EEOC Declares That All High-Risk Employees Can Request Reasonable Accommodations at Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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COVID-19: Can I Get Unemployment Benefits?
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New Protections for Workers Under the Federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act
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COVID-19: What Are Your Rights in the Workplace?
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No Rehire? No Way!
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Working Moms Rejoice! Improved Lactation Accommodations Will Be Required Throughout California
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New Year Brings a Longer Statute of Limitations But Proceed With Caution For Claims That Arise Before January 1, 2020
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Governor Newsom Signs AB 51 Preventing Mandatory Arbitration Agreements in Employment
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Supreme Court Approves Forcing Employees into One-On-One Arbitration, Exacerbating the Power Imbalance Between Employees and Employers
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Court Ruling Warns Discrimination Plaintiffs to be Careful of Unintended Consequences from Workers Compensation Claims
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California Supreme Court: Under Wage Orders Workers Are Presumptively Employees, Not Independent Contractors
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The Bill Cosby Re-Trial: Lessons for Civil Sexual Harassment Claims
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Happy New Year & Thanks to #metoo
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Ninth Court Finds Favoring Co-Worker Accused of Rape Over Rape Victim Created Hostile Environment
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Governor Brown Signs New Legislation Commencing January 2018
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Equal Pay in the News
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California Law Unequivocally Prohibits Employers From Discriminating Against Employees Based on Sexual Orientation
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Homophobic Behavior in the Workplace Not Protected By Freedom of Religion
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Supreme Court Warns Parties & Courts Not to Bump Jurors Based on Race or Ethnicity
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The Ninth Circuit Revives a Garbage Truck Driver’s Claims by Deciding that His Employer’s Reasons for Terminating Him Are Trash
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When Does a Hug Become Sexual Harassment?
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What Are Your Rights if Your Boss Says Female Employees Should “Dress Like Women”?
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Court Rules That Employers Cannot Require Their Employees to Remain On-Call During Rest Breaks
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Eleventh Circuit Opens the Door to Discrimination Against Older Workers, But Not So in California
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U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Employees’ Rights to Religious Accommodations
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California Court of Appeals Holds that Stress and Anxiety Caused by a Supervisor’s Standard Performance Oversight Does Not Qualify as a Mental Disability
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Court’s Holding that ADHD is not a Disability Under the ADA Leaves California Employees Free to File Under State Law
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First Amendment Free Speech Rights Are Not Trivial
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California Supreme Court Lets Franchisor off the Hook for Sexual Harassment, but Victims of Sexual Harassment Should Always Look at Franchisor’s Role
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FedEx Drivers are Employees not Independent Contractors: If it Looks Like an Employee, Wears the Uniform of an Employee and Drives the Standard Truck of an Employee, It is An Employee, Even if Fed Ex calls its Drivers “Independent Contractors”
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California Supreme Court Upholds Protections for Undocumented Workers
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A “Split Decision”: California Supreme Court Addresses Arbitration Agreements and Gives Some Good News (But Mostly Bad News) to Employees
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Supreme Court Bears Good News for Whistleblowers
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State Public Policy Claim Against Airline Preempted Because the Federal Aviation Act Occupies the Field of Aviation Safety
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Same-Sex Harassment and Retaliation Case Reinstated by Court of Appeals
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U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Severance Payments are Taxable Wages
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Invasion of Privacy Claim Established Where Supervisor Blatantly Shares Medical Condition With Co-Workers
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Retaliation Claim Survives Even When Underlying Sexual Harassment Claim Fails
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Be Careful What You Say In Your Disability Application: It May Not Bar Your Case, But You’ll Have Some Explaining to Do
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Labor Arbitration May Preclude Common Law Claims Such as Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy
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Enforceability of Wage Claim Arbitrations Hangs in the Lurch Pending Remand in California Supreme Court’s Sonic II
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Enforceability of Arbitration Agreements Continues to Flutter in the Wind: Arbitration Agreement Upheld in Peng v. First Republic, but Depending on Circumstances, Might Not be Upheld in Other Cases
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California Court of Appeals Clarifies That the Standard for Discrimination Claims is Generally Now a Substantial Motivating Factor After Harris v. Santa Monica
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California Employees Can Avoid the Supreme Court’s New Heightened Burden in Retaliation Cases
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New U.S. Supreme Court Cases on Same-Sex Marriage Expand Leave Rights for Same-Sex Spouses
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Lucky to be a California Employee: If you are Harassed by a Supervisor You Can Avoid the US Supreme Court’s Ruling in Vance v. Ball State University
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Court of Appeal Determines that Blowing the Whistle on Unlawful Activity of Other Employees is Protected
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Equitable Estoppel Claim Denied Where Employee Ultimately Deemed Ineligible For Family Leave
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“Me Too” Evidence of Discrimination Against Others May Depend Upon How Original Complaint of Discrimination Is Framed in the Complaint
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Arbitrator’s Award Vacated: Error to Hold that Employee Could Be Denied Family Leave Due to Employer’s Misinterpretation of the Law
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Good News for Employees Disabled by Pregnancy: Your Leave of Absence May Be Longer Than the Four Months Provided by the Pregnancy Disability Leave Law
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Pregnant Women Still Deserve Protection Against Discrimination Despite Recent Holding of Veronese v. Lucasfilm
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High Court Unfairly Favors Employer in Murky Mixed Motive Case
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Statistical Evidence Can Be Used to Prove Discrimination, But Was Not Enough in This Age Discrimination/Lay Off Case
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State Employees Not Entitled to FMLA Leave for Their Own Serious Conditions
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Employer Waived Its Right to Have Arbitrability of an Employment Agreement Determined by the Arbitrator, but Labor Code §206.5 Does Not Prohibit the Arbitration of Claims
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Charge of Discrimination Electronically Filed by Attorney is Adequate to Exhaust Administrative Remedies
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The Perils of Refusing to Sign for Receipt of a Disciplinary Notice are Underscored in this Unemployment Insurance Appeal
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Even Though Employers Have A Significant Advantage Over Employees in Selecting A Forum – Such as Arbitration – Employer who Hides the Ball Unfairly Takes Advantage of Its Position
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Employee Walks Through an Issue Preclusion Thicket by Bringing Claims in Multiple Forums Including Arbitration, Grievance and Mandamus as Well as Multiple Lawsuits
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Doctor/Medical Group Partner Who Complains About Sexual Harassment of Employees is Protected Against Retaliation
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California Supreme Court Places Responsibility for Sexual Harassment Squarely with School District That Knew or Should Have Known That Its Employee Would Sexually Harass a Student
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California Supreme Court’s Grant of Review of Class Action Ruling on the Use of Statistical Evidence Could be Good News for Class Action Plaintiffs
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In Long Awaited Brinker Decision, California Supreme Court Affirms Employers’ Duty to Provide a Thirty-Minute, Uninterrupted Meal Period
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Court Holds that Attendance is an Essential Function of the Job for a Neonatal Nurse, Making the Law of Reasonable Accommodation Unnecessarily Unreasonable
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NLRB Rules That Employer Cannot Simply Claim That an Employee is Not Authorized to Work Under Immigration Laws to Engage in a Fishing Expedition Regarding an Employee’s Immigration Status
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U.S. Supreme Court Comes Down on Side of Religious Organizations’ Right to Discriminate
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Welcome to California: If you Work in California You are Entitled to the Protection of California’s Right to Overtime and other Wage Laws Regardless of Where you Reside
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The NLRB Strikes a Blow in Support of Class Actions
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Language of Arbitration Agreement Permits Court, not Arbitrator, to determine Whether Arbitration Agreement is Enforceable on Facts of this Case, and Court determines that Multiple Unconscionable Provisions Invalidate this Agreement
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Another Arbitration Agreement Bites the Dust due to a Combination of Unconscionable Provisions
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California Court of Appeals Reverses Retaliation Verdict using a Tortuous Analysis of What a Plaintiff Needs to Prove in a Retaliatory Termination Case
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Employee’s Family Leave Claim Fails Where Employee Is on Leave Longer than Twelve Weeks, and Presented Insufficient Evidence
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Court Rejects Employer’s Attempt to Reverse Finding of Sexual Harassment Based upon Allegation That Employee’s Testimony Was Inherently Improbable
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Court Imposes Unnecessarily High Hurdle for Female Employee to Prove Sexual Harassment Claim in Brennan v. Townsend & O’Leary
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Right to Administrative (Berman) Hearing before the Labor Commissioner under Attack in Light of Concepcion: Employee’s Right to Jury Trial in the Cross Hairs of the US Supreme Court
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Nielsen’s Summary Judgment Reversed in Age Discrimination Case where Younger Employees – even if over the age of 40 themselves – Treated More Leniently for Committing Similar, but not Identical, Violations and Nielsen Failed to Follow its own Procedures
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A Reasonable Accommodation May be Required Regardless of Whether an Employee is Found To Be 100% Disabled under the Workers Compensation System
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Another Strike Against an Employer’s Attempt to Force an Unfair Arbitration Agreement Down an Employee’s Throat
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“Me Too” Evidence of Discrimination Admissible to Prove Discriminatory Intent in Sexual Harassment/Sex Discrimination Cases
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Employer Punished for Suing Employee in Retaliation for Employee’s Public Policy Suit
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Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Provision – as Pled- Protects Disclosures to Congress, Federal Agencies & Supervisors, But Not to the Press
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Employment, Consumer Class Actions Endangered by Supreme Court
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Court of Appeals declares that an Employer can Fire its Employee for Threats or Violence against Co-Workers, even if the Cause of the Employee’s Conduct is due to her Mental Disability
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Right-to-Sue Letter under Fair Employment & Housing Act Runs One Year after Date Letter Issued, rather than When it was Received
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Burden of Proof for Failure to Reinstate Employee after Family Leave Lies with Employer, not Employee
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US Supreme Court Holds that Anti-Retaliation Provision in FLSA Covers Oral Complaints
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Tough Love for Applicant with History of Drug Addiction: Ninth Circuit Approves One Strike Rule for Drug Testing
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US Supreme Court Declares that Discriminatory Bias of Non-Decision Maker/Supervisor Taints Decision to Fire Employee under Cat’s Paw Theory
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Associational Retaliation Broadened by US Supreme Court’s Holding that Firing Fiancé of Employee who Filed Charge of Discrimination is Illegal
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Court Warns that Use of Employer’s Computer & Email Account to Confidentially Communicate with Lawyer is Not Confidential
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Let Me Count the Ways Non-Compete Clauses are Illegal: Court of Appeals Holds that Firing an Employee because of a Prior Illegal Non-Compete Clause is itself Illegal & in Violation of Public Policy
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US Supreme Court Permits Arbitrators Rather Than Court to Rule on Whether an Arbitration Agreement is Enforceable Creating an Inherent and Untenable Conflict of Interest
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Is a Holding Company, or a Parent Corporation, a Proper Defendant in an Employment Action?
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Employment Arbitration Agreement Struck Down as Procedurally & Substantively Unconscionable Where Employee not Provided with Arbitration Rules and Other Provisions Favored the Employer
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Court Speaks with More than One Tongue on the Disclosure of Arbitrator’s Bias
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Sandell v Taylor-Listug Once Again Establishes that if it Smells like Disability or Age Discrimination, the Case should go to a Jury
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Reid v Google Restores Common Sense to Discrimination Law by Holding that the Judicially Created “Stray Remarks Doctrine” cannot be used to Bar Evidence of Discrimination in a California Age Discrimination Case
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What Right to Privacy? City of Ontario v Quon Reminds Employees to be Careful When Using Employer-Issued Computers, Cell Phones, or Other Methods of Communication
Bay Area Employment Lawyer Blog