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California Labor & Employment Defense Blog 
Providing employers up-to-date information about California employment law, including new cases, legislation, and discussions.
Post Frequency: 2/day Last Entry: March 30, 2011 at 13:18:53 Recent Entries: 331
Go to California Labor & Employment Defense Blog, find other Labor & Employment Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Lawsuit Seeks Ruling On Whether Obama is a "Natural Born" U.S. Citizen
Posted on January 22, 2009Using natural origin or even citizenship as criteria for employment is obviously illegal for private sector employees. Ironically, however, such discrimination is required for the most important job in the land. Article II, Section I of the Constitution provides that "No Person except a natural born citizen of the United States ...
Change We Can Believe In??
Posted on January 14, 2009Now that the Democratic Party controls Congress and the Presidency, significant changes appear to be coming in the Labor and Employment field. As stated in “The Corner,” (a blog maintained by the National Review), Democrats are expected to introduce several pieces of employment-related legislation in the next few months, including the Civil Rights Act of 2008...
Associate Sues Skadden For Wrongful Termination -- Green v. Skadden Arps
Posted on January 09, 2009A labor and employment law associate who was fired from the LA office of Skadden Arps has filed a lawsuit against his ex-employer for retaliation and wrongful termination. According to the complaint in Green v...
Having Employees Sign Forms Generally Objecting to Release of Contact Information Has No Effect on Plaintiff's Discovery Rights -- Crab Addison v. Superior Court
Posted on January 01, 2009In the 2007 decision of Pioneer Electronics v. Superior Court, the California Supreme Court held that class action plaintiffs have the right to discover the identities and contact information of class members. Since then there has been a steady drumbeat of published cases that have continued to reinforce that right -- usually with the proviso that class members should first be given notice of the request and an opportunity to affirmatively object to the disclosure...
Court Holds Employees' Contact Information Must Be Disclosed Despite Employee Agreement Stating Otherwise
Posted on January 01, 2009To close out 2008 wage and hour law, an appellate court issued a ruling in Crab Addison, Inc. v. Superior Court. The case is a very significant holding on employees' privacy rights in the context of wage and hour class actions. Crab Addison, Inc...
Calculating "Bonus Overtime" -- Marin v. Costco
Posted on December 30, 2008It is shocking how many employers don't realize that paying a bonus to hourly employees will trigger an additional overtime obligation. The decision in Marin v. Costco is a reminder of this obligation and an illustration of just how convoluted the calculation can become, especially where the bonus is variable based on work effort or performance...
Court Rejects Punitive Damages for Labor Code Violations -- Brewer v. Premier Golf Properties
Posted on December 29, 2008California Civil Code section 3294 provides that punitive damages are generally available in any "action for the breach of an obligation not arising from contract." So if the Legislature creates a statutory obligation and does not specifically limit the remedies, shouldn't a plaintiff be able to recover punitive damages if he proves the defendants acted with the requisite "malice, fraud or oppression?" This question has been the subject of many demurrers over the years but has never had a very clear answer...
Some Background On New Labor Secretary - Hilda Solis
Posted on December 19, 2008pHilda Solis has been tapped to be Barack Obama's Secretary of labor.nbsp; As Bloomberg.com a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aBq6gZvg._wMamp;refer=home"reports/a:/p blockquote pSolis, 51, is a four-term member of Congress with an extensive record on environmental issues...
Some Background On New Labor Secretary - Hilda Solis
Posted on December 19, 2008Hilda Solis has been tapped to be Barack Obama's Secretary of labor. As Bloomberg.com reports: Solis, 51, is a four-term member of Congress with an extensive record on environmental issues. Her legislative accomplishments include spearheading a bill to provide workers with training for “green-collar” employment...
Mass Layoffs Trigger Federal And California Law Notice Requirements
Posted on December 17, 2008pAs this a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/17/BUIU14PDMV.DTL"story about a recent restaurant closure illustrates/a, California employers who are downsizing in this dismal economy must comply with the federal WARN Act, and Californiarsquo;s ldquo;babyrdquo; WARN Act equivalent...
Mass Layoffs Trigger Federal And California Law Notice Requirements
Posted on December 17, 2008As this story about a recent restaurant closure illustrates, California employers who are downsizing in this dismal economy must comply with the federal WARN Act, and California’s “baby” WARN Act equivalent. Most employers are aware that the federal WARN Act requires that employees must be given at least 60-days’ advance notice of certain large-scale layoffs...
Class Action Lawsuit Against Heller Ehrman Alleges Failure to Pay Accrued Vacation
Posted on December 16, 2008As many readers have no doubt heard the venerable law firm of Heller Ehrman recently dissolved after nearly one hundred years in business. During this time it was intermittently the biggest firm in the Bay Area and close to the top in the state...
Class Action Lawsuit Against Heller Ehrman Alleges Failure to Pay Accrued Vacation
Posted on December 16, 2008pAs many readers have no doubt heard the venerable law firm of Heller Ehrman recently dissolved after nearly one hundred years in business.nbsp;nbsp;During this timenbsp;it was intermittently the biggest firm in the Bay Area and close to the top in the state...
Bad Economy Forces Politicians To Re-Think California's Meal Break and Overtime Laws
Posted on December 15, 2008The bad economy is forcing politicians and business owners to re-examine California's laws on meal and rest breaks, and overtime. The Governor has proposed legislation to reform these laws in order to keep jobs and businesses here in California...
Bad Records Are No Defense to Class Certification -- Harper v. 24 Hour Fitness
Posted on December 15, 2008In opposing class certification employers frequently argue that identifying the class members will be prohibitively expensive or time consuming due to lack of records. For example, it may be difficult to determine who was affected by certain commission terms, who worked overtime, or who did or did not take a full 30 minute meal break on particular days...
California Employment Applications Must Exclude Certain Marijuana Convictions -- Starbucks v. Superior Court (Lords)
Posted on December 11, 2008An obscure provision of California law, Labor Code section 432.8, prohibits employers from asking job applicants about marijuana-related convictions which are more than two years old. Most standard employment applications include a general question asking for disclosure of all criminal convictions...
IRS Lowers Mileage Rate For 2009
Posted on December 01, 2008The IRS announced that it will be lowering the IRS mileage rate in 2009. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2009, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be 55 cents per mile for business miles driven...
Professor Boycotts Sexual Harassment Training
Posted on November 26, 2008Under California law, employers with more than 50 workers are legally required to provide sexual harassment prevention training to their supervisory employees. An interesting Op-ed piece appeared in the Los Angeles Times last week by Alexander McPherson, a tenured UCI professor, who is refusing to attend his employer's mandatory sexual harassment training...
New DOL Regs expand FMLA Leave Rights to Include Military Families
Posted on November 25, 2008The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has just published a Final Rule under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The final rule becomes effective on January 16, 2009, and updates the FMLA regulations to implement new military family leave entitlements enacted under the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008...
Sullivan v. Oracle -- Residents of Other States are Entitled to Labor Code Remedies for Work in California
Posted on November 14, 2008The recent case of Sullivan v. Oracle dealt with the thorny issue of what law should apply to employees whose work carries them across state lines. The Ninth Circuit held that work performed in California should generally be governed by California's strict wage and hour laws -- even if the employee is a resident of another state and is only temporarily working in California...
New Ruling On Meal Breaks and Itemized Wage Statements: Brinkley v. Public Storage, Inc.
Posted on October 29, 2008A recent case, Brinkley v. Public Storage, Inc. (October 28, 2008) is getting quit a bit of attention due to its ruling on employers’ duty to provide meal breaks. The court in Brinkley (out of the Second Appellate District), agreed with the holding of the appellate court in Brinker v...
Breaking News: CA Supreme Court Grants Review In Brinker v. Superior Court
Posted on October 22, 2008The California Supreme Court announced today that it will be reviewing the much analyzed case Brinker v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum). The lower court ruling in the case was favorable to California employers, in holding that employers did not have to "ensure" that meal breaks were taken, but only that employers had to provide meals breaks...
Bad Job Design Is The Cause of Many Bad Sales Compensation Plans
Posted on October 21, 2008We have previously blogged about some of the ways in which a bad sales compensation plan can result in legal liability. However, as Ann Bares points out in her Compensation Force blog, many bad sales plans are caused by vague or ill-defined job responsibilities...
Can Employers Monitor Employee's Text Messages Sent Through Company Owned Devises?
Posted on October 16, 2008In Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Company, Inc., (June 2008), City of Ontario police department employees, and one employee's wife, brought a Fourth Amendment action against their employer, in connection with the department's review of employees' text messages, and asserted claim against wireless communications provider under Stored Communications Act (SCA)...
Can Employers Monitor Employee's Text Messages Sent Through Company Owned Devices?
Posted on October 16, 2008In Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Company, Inc., (June 2008), City of Ontario police department employees, and one employee's wife, brought a Fourth Amendment action against their employer, in connection with the department's review of employees' text messages, and asserted claim against wireless communications provider under Stored Communications Act (SCA)...
IRS Offers Whistleblower Informant Awards
Posted on October 15, 2008As if employers don't have enough to worry about . . . the IRS is now offering money to individuals who tip them off about suspected non-payment of taxes. According to the IRS website, they are "looking for solid information, not an 'educated guess' or unsupported speculation...
Power Point for RSA Talk
Posted on October 08, 2008Thanks to all those who attended the Fall seminar sponsored by Research Security Administrators (RSA) in Fountain Valley yesterday. As always, it was a class act and very well put together with lots of current, useful information for security professionals...
Employment Related Bills Signed (and Vetoed) by Governor
Posted on October 03, 2008It is a bit anticlimactic, but the Governor vetoed many more employment related bills than he approved recently. The following is a list of employment and litigation related bills that were signed by the Governor: AB 2075 Wages: execution of release of claim or right...
New California Law Further Restricts Employee Release Agreements
Posted on October 02, 2008Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill amending Labor Code Section 206.5, which restricts the enforceability of agreements purporting to release wage claims. Labor Code section 206.5 currently provides that an employee cannot be required to sign an agreement releasing the employer from liability for wages "unless payment of such wages has been made...
Some Reminders For Employers In Difficult Financial Times
Posted on September 30, 2008Frank Roche, over at KnowHR, reminds employers the 10 Things HR Needs to Do in an Economic Downturn. Here is a summary of Frank's points: Get up, walk out of HR, and talk to the people running operations. Fix your friggin sales comp once and for all...
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California's Proposed Student Civil Rights Act Gives Broad Definition to "Religion"
On Tuesday, the California Senate Judiciary Committee approved by ...
California mother held in custody breach case
I am posting this to draw attention to what should be simply routi...
California Governor Schwarzenegger Vetoes Gay Marriage Bill
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a gay marriage bill Friday, ...
Northern California Farmers Worry Fruit Will Rot On Trees
Yet another story about the plight of fruit and vegetable farmers ...
California divorce is often a time-consuming process
California divorce is often a time-consuming process By Ron Sokol,...
Self Defense
It's legal to defend yourself and your family
Employment Contracts
General Contract Law Principles
California Supreme Court Proposition 8 Decision
Court Rejects Challenges to Proposition 8, but Finds Marriages Valid
Discouraging Union Organizers
Strict work place rules
EB-1 and EB-2 Visa Status
Obtaining a Green Card Without Going Through the Labor Certification Process
Employee Lawsuits: Negligent Hiring and Retention
Employers must check references, criminal records, other background material.
Can a former employee use photographs of jobs completed whie working for me in marketing material for a new business?
There are several issues here
1. Sub contractor started up a compe...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
I was fired on June 3, 2002 in Massachusetts because I reported discriminatory behavior by the employer towards a particular nationality. In July I filed a discrimination/retaliation complaint against the employer with t
It seem sin your case that the fact you filed the complaint prior to being dissa...
If only one of the parts of an agreement has signed a written contract, can an e-mail be considered an agreement?
No, an email is not considered a contract. At the most is can be considered a wr...
How can an employer defend themselves for firing an employee who contends the company exposed him to hazardardous atmospheres although medical testing has been negative?
You'll need to contact OSHA to determine your responsibility as far as the work ...
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Are the abortion ultrasound laws headed for the Supreme Court?
On 05-15 at 21:52PM
Can a former employee use photographs of jobs completed whie working for me in marketing material for a new business?
There are several issues here
1. Sub contractor started up a compe...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
I was fired on June 3, 2002 in Massachusetts because I reported discriminatory behavior by the employer towards a particular nationality. In July I filed a discrimination/retaliation complaint against the employer with t
It seem sin your case that the fact you filed the complaint prior to being dissa...
If only one of the parts of an agreement has signed a written contract, can an e-mail be considered an agreement?
No, an email is not considered a contract. At the most is can be considered a wr...
How can an employer defend themselves for firing an employee who contends the company exposed him to hazardardous atmospheres although medical testing has been negative?
You'll need to contact OSHA to determine your responsibility as far as the work ...
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