A recent California Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s order granting defendant’s pre-certification motion for summary judgment against off-the-clock class claims made by the named plaintiff in a putative class action.  The case is named Jong v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Case No. A138725, ___ Cal. App. 4th __,  (Cal. App. 1st Dist. 5/20/2014) (Jong).  Jong is welcome news for California employers. In 2012, the named plaintiff brought a class action with two other former…

In a recent 3-1 decision in Macy’s Inc., the NLRB used its controversial Specialty Healthcare decision in upholding as appropriate a micro bargaining unit of only 41 employees in the cosmetics and fragrances department of a Boston-area Macy’s store.  The Micro-Unit excludes all other sales employees at the store, despite there being almost 80 other salespersons employed there.  This case is the first NLRB matter that applied the Specialty Healthcare standard to a retail employer.   Applying the standards established in Specialty…

As you will recall from previous posts, a large high tech antitrust class action is being waged in California that has major implications for employer non-solicitation agreements.  Questions regarding agreements between employers that impact employee mobility are being addressed in this lawsuit against the backdrop of antitrust allegations. High-Tech Employee Mobility Antitrust Class Action: Background Developments On October 24, 2013, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy H. Koh granted plaintiffs’ motion for certification in a class…

California courts have long held that agreements that prohibit a former employee from hiring a former co-worker are void.  These decisions are based on California’s fundamental public policy (which is codified in Business & Professions Code section 16600) protecting workers’ rights to pursue any lawful trade or profession.  With only a few narrow exceptions, California law prohibits such limitations on employment opportunities.  Simply put, when two parties agree that they will not hire a particular…

With the TV networks cancelling daytime Soap Operas left and right, it seems up to the NLRB to provide us with our daily dose of drama. As has been previously reported here and in countless other articles, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has been closely scrutinizing employers’ decisions to terminate employees for posts on Facebook. Until very recently, that scrutiny has universally led to unfair labor practice complaints having been filed against the employers, claiming the…

The California Supreme Court handed down a decision on June 30, 2011, which is viewed by many as hurting business travel to California.  The Court, in Sullivan v. Oracle, unanimously decided that non-resident employees working in California are entitled to overtime payment pursuant to California law.  The Court also gave out-of-state employees four years to sue their employer, holding that overtime work performed by out-of-state employees within California can serve as the basis for a…

Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Wal-Mart in its monumental sex discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of all female employees. The court ruled unanimously that the lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cannot proceed as a class action, reversing a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The lawsuit could have involved up to 1.6 million women, with Wal-Mart facing potentially billions of dollars in damages. The decision is…