(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense
Find a Local Lawyer
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402
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.
Wal-Mart's Wage And Hour Issues Continue In Massachusetts
Posted on September 30, 2008The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts reversed an order decertifying a class of current and former Wal-Mart hourly workers who claimed that Wal-Mart failed to provide meal period and rest breaks as required by law. Salvas v. Wal-Mart (Mass. 9/23/08) The Court held: We conclude, inter alia, that the judge abused his discretion in allowing Wal-Mart's motions to exclude the testimony of the plaintiffs' expert and to decertify the class...
New Appellate Case Upholds Independent Contractor Status
Posted on September 30, 2008Appellant Al Varisco sued Gateway Science and Engineering for wrongful termination of employment and similar causes of action. In order to sue under these legal theories, Varisco had to establish that he was an employee, not an independent contractor as Gateway contended...
Mandated Executive Compensation Limits Appear Innevitable
Posted on September 29, 2008In case you hadn't heard, the bipartisan economic bailout bill failed to pass the House today. However, an article in Workforce.com is already opining that one politically popular aspect of the bill is destined to survive in any future bailout proposal -- namely, limits on executive compensation...
Attorneys Using Social Networking Sites For Jury Selection
Posted on September 29, 2008We have blogged and spoken quite a bit recently about using on line resources such as MySpace and Facebook for employment and recruiting purposes. An interesting article in today's LA Times reports on another use for this information -- jury selection...
ADA Amendments Act (ADAA) Signed Into Law -- Federal Disability Protections Broadened
Posted on September 28, 2008It didn't get much press this last week -- what with the economy collapsing in the midst of a presidential election -- but on Thursday President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act (ADAA) into law. The legislation will take effect on January 1, 2009 and will significantly broaden the federal definition of the "disabilities" that require accommodation under the ADA...
California Human Resources Networking Group - LinkedIn
Posted on September 23, 2008I recently founded the California Human Resources Networking Group in LinkedIn. I’ve found that LinkedIn is becoming more and more popular with human resource professionals as well as legal professionals, so I created the group in order to promote HR related discussions specific to California...
Review of Overtime Obligations In California
Posted on September 22, 2008Employers must review their payroll process from time-to-time to ensure that all overtime is being paid properly. Also, it is important for employers to conduct this analysis themselves – and not simply assume that their payroll company is doing it correctly...
Now On Twitter
Posted on September 21, 2008I've been on Twitter for awhile, but only recently became more active with the site. Click here to follow me through twitter. I am going to try to post any updates on California employment law in twitter, as well as this blog. I highly recommend using Tweetdeck to make twitter more useful...
Employers Face a High Burden to Accomodate Returning Employees: Nadaf- Rahrov v. Neiman Marcus Group, Inc.
Posted on September 20, 2008On September 10, the First District Court of Appeal issued what I believe is the very important disability discrimination case of Nadaf- Rahrov v. Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. The decision is important not because it alters pre-existing disability law, but because it applies the law to the most common scenarios and real-life issues faced by employers and employees...
Online Resources Help with Work Visa Information
Posted on September 20, 2008We frequently field questions from clients about work permits for their foreign national employees. It is a complicated area. Many employers may have a passing familiarity with the standard "green card" Visa, the H1-B Visa program for highly skilled workers, or the L-1 Visa for employees who are on transfer from one of the employers foreign offices...
Employers Face a High Burden to Accommodate Returning Employees: Nadaf- Rahrov v. Neiman Marcus Group, Inc.
Posted on September 20, 2008On September 10, the First District Court of Appeal issued what I believe is the very important disability discrimination case of Nadaf- Rahrov v. Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. The decision is important not because it alters pre-existing disability law, but because it applies the law to the most common scenarios and real-life issues faced by employers and employees...
U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies Test for "Disparate Impact" Age Discrimination in Meachum v. Knolls Atomic Power
Posted on September 19, 2008It is not enough for employers to avoid deliberate discrimination against members of protected groups when selecting employees for layoff. In addition, they must avoid inadvertently using any selection criteria that tend to have a "disparate impact" on a particular group...
Speaking at Research Security Administrators' Fall Seminar
Posted on September 11, 2008I will be speaking at the Fall seminar sponsored by Research Security Administrators on October 7, 2008 in Fountain Valley California. For those not familiar with RSA, it was founded in 1956, as a nonprofit regional security organization "concerned with all defense, technical, scientific, and social matters which have an impact on the security of the United States...
What Are Employers To Do In The Wake of Brinker v. Superior Court?
Posted on September 11, 2008It was a pleasure conducting the presentation on “Meal and Rest Breaks in California: Why the Brinker Ruling Is Good News for Employers, and Where Caution is Still Required” through Business & Legal Reports. It was wonderful to have such a large audience, as well as great follow-up questions...
"Lipstick on a Pig" -- Stray Remarks as Evidence of Discrimination
Posted on September 11, 2008As political pundits talked about lipstick and pigs over the last several days, it occurs to me that this latest round of political posturing bears more than a passing resemblance to the disputes that animate much employment litigation...
Religious Discrimination or Just Running a Business? -- Employer Fires Muslim Workers Demanding Prayer Breaks
Posted on September 11, 2008According to a front page story in the Los Angeles Times today, JBS Swift & Co. has just laid off about 100 Muslim workers who walked off their jobs as a protest for not receiving prayer breaks. The layoffs occurred in Colorado and will inevitably implicate a host of collective bargaining issues...
Petition For Review Filed In Brinker v. Superior Court
Posted on September 04, 2008Plaintiff has filed a petition to the California Supreme Court requesting that it review the appellate decision in Brinker v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) [as previously written about here and here]. The Supreme Court has at least 60 days to decide whether or not to grant review of the case – so until then the appellate court’s decision is still citable case law...
California Supreme Creates Appellate Rights for Losing Parties in Arbitration
Posted on August 31, 2008In Cable Connections, Inc. v. DirecTV, Inc., the California Supreme Court has fundamentally altered the nature of arbitration in California. Previously, it had been well established that an arbitrator's decision was final and binding and could be vacated only for the most limited of reasons, such as outright corruption, refusing to hold a hearing, or exceeding his jurisdiction...
Reasonable Limits On Employee's Time To File A Lawsuit Upheld By Appellate Court in Pearson Dental Supplies, Inc. v. Superior Court (Turcios)
Posted on August 27, 2008Plaintiff Luis Turcios sued his former employer, defendant Pearson Dental Supplies, Inc., for age discrimination under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) (Click here to read the opinion: Pearson Dental Supplies, Inc. v Superior Court (Turcios))...
"Silent" Arbitration Agreements are Consistently Found to Authorize Class Wide Arbitration
Posted on August 20, 2008Conventional wisdom among defense counsel has long been that arbitration is the preferable forum for resolving individual employment disputes such as wrongful termination, discrimination and sexual harassment. As a result, the number of employers with mandatory ADR programs skyrocketed in the 1990's and early 2000's...
Podcast On Brinker v. Hohnbaum: What Are Employers' Obligations To Provide Meal and Rest Breaks?
Posted on August 20, 2008Click here to listen to my podcast on Brinker v. Hohnbaum, for analysis of the decision and what effect the case may have on California's meal and rest break wage and hour litigation. It runs about 13 minutes, and provides a summary of the court's reasoning, and the outcome if the case is appealed to, and granted review by the California Supreme Court...
Labor Code Class Actions Consistently Outnumber All Other Categories Combined
Posted on August 18, 2008The Class Action Defense Blog published by Michael J. Hassen has made a regular weekly feature of tracking the new filings of class actions in state and federal courts in California. The weekly results confirm what most class action practioners have long-recognized -- the deluge of labor law class actions far outnumbers any other category...
Alch v. Superior Court (Time Warner) -- Court Reaffirms Discoverability of Private Employee Data in Class Actions
Posted on August 15, 2008The California Supreme Court's decision last year in Pioneer Electronics v. Superior Court, 40 Cal.4th 360 (2007), held that the privacy rights of current and former employees will not normally prevent a class action plaintiff from discovering their names, addresses, phone numbers and other data in litigation...
Plaintiffs Stand To Gain More From Settling? New Study Suggests So
Posted on August 13, 2008A recent New York Times article provides a prelude to a study being unveiled later that examines the psychological issues that clients and lawyers face when deciding whether to take a case to trial. One of the main findings of the study is that plaintiffs, statistically speaking, stand to gain more in taking a settlement offer than litigating the case...
CA Supreme Court Holds Non-Competes Are Generally Unenforceable and Release of "Any And All" Claims Not Unlawful
Posted on August 07, 2008In Edwards v. Arthur Anderson LLP, the California Supreme Court ruled on the following issues: (1) To what extent does Business and Professions Code section 16600 prohibit employee noncompetition agreements; and (2) is a contract provision requiring an employee to release “any and all” claims unlawful because it encompasses nonwaivable statutory protections, such as the employee indemnity protection of Labor Code section 2802? Noncompetition AgreementsNoncompetition agreements are governed by Business & Professions Code section 16600, which states: “Except as provided in this chapter, every contract by which anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business of any kind is to that extent void...
East Bay Taxi Drivers Association v. Friendly Cab Co., -- Taxi Drivers Found to be Employees, Not Independent Contractors
Posted on August 05, 2008The Ninth Circuit’s decision earlier this year in East Bay Taxi Driver’s Association v. Friendly Cab, Inc., 512 F3d 1090 (2008), illustrates how easily courts will pierce through the outward appearances of a “business” contract to find that, at bottom, it is just a glorified employer-employee relationship...
Disputes over Unpaid Sales Commissions and Bonus Payments: When Does a Mere Expectation Become into an "Earned" Wage? Part I -Performance-Based Employment Compensation as a Unilateral Contract
Posted on August 03, 2008Most employees are paid for their time. Thus, if they work eight hours at a rate of $25 per hour, or eight weeks at a salary of $2,500 per week, there is little dispute over the amount of wages owed. But disputes begin to multiply where the payment is deferred and is calculated based on meeting certain performance targets...
Disputes over Unpaid Sales Commissions and Bonus Payments: When Does a Mere Expectation Become an "Earned" Wage? Part I - Performance-Based Employment Compensation as a Unilateral Contract
Posted on August 03, 2008Most employees are paid for their time. Thus, if they work eight hours at a rate of $25 per hour, or eight weeks at a salary of $2,500 per week, there is little dispute over the amount of wages owed. But disputes begin to multiply where the payment is deferred and is calculated based on meeting certain performance targets...
DLSE Orders Staff To Follow Brinker
Posted on July 31, 2008The DLSE has recently issued a memorandum to its deputy labor commissioners instructing them to follow the holding in Brinker v. Superior Court. The July 25, 2008 DLSE memorandum provides, in pertinent part, that the Brinker decision is “a published decision, and its rulings are therefore binding upon the [DLSE]...
Outdated IRS Rules on Employee Cell Phone Usage Likely To Change
Posted on July 30, 2008A recent LA Times Article reports that the current IRS rule for expensing employer-provided cell phones is likely to be changing soon. The current rule permits employers to treat employee cell phone reimbursement as a deductible business expense only if the employee has kept a detailed log of every call and the reason for the call...
Previous | Next
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 ...
#1 Online Legal Resource
On 08-25 at 15:46PM
Acute perpendicular parking #NYPD #NYFD
On 08-18 at 22:18PM
Parallel parking gone bad. Too much gas UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:41PM
UES NYC
On 08-18 at 21:25PM
Twitter suspends journalist critical of broadcast partner's coverage on dubious grounds @guyadams #nbcfail #twitterfail
On 07-30 at 17:57PM
Model example of 1st Amendment suppression by the People of New York City's Michael Bloomberg #OWS #NYPD
On 07-12 at 21:07PM
AG Holder lackadaisical on Operation in our Sites domain name seizures & RIAA lobbied free speech suppression @dajaz1
On 06-08 at 22:44PM
Why is the Catholic Church going to court over Obama contraception policy? @NewYorker commentary
On 05-31 at 10:08AM
Monks sue Louisiana for right to sell caskets made from forrest destroyed by Katrina
On 05-31 at 07:47AM
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 ...
 |
|
Contact Us | About Us | Celebrity Law Blog |
Our Partners | Disclaimer
| Law Blog Directory
| Law Jobs
| Law Tweets
| GoDaddy Hosting
All original material � 1999-2011 by USLaw.com. |