Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash Pledge $90 Million To Fund Voter Initiative To Overturn Assembly Bill 5
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Public Employee Union Members Sue Over Forced Dues Payments
Five In-Home Supportive Service (“IHSS”) providers filed a class-action lawsuit last month challenging their union’s practice of deducting union dues despite their quitting the union. The workers allege their First Amendment rights are being violated by the union deducting dues from their paychecks and using it to subsidize union speech. Just one year ago, the United States Supreme Court held that it is a violation of the First Amendment to require public sector employees…
California Law Requiring Female Board Members Challenged In Court
Earlier this week, three taxpayers sued California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to prevent enforcement of Senate Bill 826.
Senate Bill 826, signed into law last year by former Governor Jerry Brown, requires that by the end of 2019, all publicly held foreign or domestic corporations whose principal executive offices are in California shall have at least one female director on their boards of directors. By 2021, such corporations are required to have…
EEOC Has Begun Denying Employers’ Requests For Extensions Of Time To Respond To Discrimination Charges
What used to be a routine request – asking the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for an extension of time when responding to a charge of discrimination or harassment and assuming extra time would be granted – apparently is no longer such an automatic thing. In what may signal a broader shift in policy, the EEOC in Los Angeles recently denied an employer’s request for a brief extension of time to provide a position statement. …
Proskauer Scores Two Summary Judgments for Large Southern California Hospital Within 48 Hours
We’re delighted to report that we secured two summary judgments in two separate alleged discrimination cases on behalf of a large Southern California hospital in matters that were pending in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
In one case, decided on July 12, 2019, the Court agreed with our client that the former employee had failed to establish a prima facie case of discrimination and, as a result, all of her discrimination and retaliation claims were…
California Enacts Law Prohibiting Hairstyle Discrimination … with New York and New Jersey Close Behind
As we have reported before, California is set to become the first state to prohibit employers from discriminating based upon hairstyle. Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the “CROWN Act” (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair).
The CROWN Act amends the state’s Education Code and Government Code to define “race or ethnicity” as “inclusive of traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective…
“Bikini Baristas” Ordered to Cover-Up
The 9th Circuit court of appeals has enforced the City of Everett, Washington’s Dress Code Ordinance and amendments to the Lewd Conduct Ordinances. These ordinances require employees of “Quick-Service” facilities to cover “minimum body areas” (the dress code ordinance specifically stated that it was targeting an apparent influx of “bikini barista stands”). The owner of “Hillbilly Hotties,” a coffee stand where employees wear only bikinis, and several of the bikini baristas themselves challenged the ordinances…
California Enacts Law Prohibiting Hairstyle Discrimination … with New York and New Jersey Close Behind
UPDATE: Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York bill into law on July 12, 2019 (effective immediately).
As we have reported before, California is set to become the first state to prohibit employers from discriminating based upon hairstyle. Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the “CROWN Act” (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair).
The CROWN Act amends the state’s Education Code and Government Code to define “race or ethnicity”…
California Jury Awards $15.4 Million to Former Jack in the Box Employee
In a decision unsurprising to anyone familiar with what California juries have been up to lately (see our reporting here), fast-food titan Jack in the Box was ordered to pay $15.4 million (including a staggering $10 million in punitive damages) last week in a lawsuit involving age and disability discrimination claims, as well as alleged retaliation and hostile work environment.
The former employee, Blanca Ramirez, alleged that she suffered two job-related injuries and…
Ah, It’s Bill Passing Season in California – and No Employer is Safe!
It’s springtime in California! Even as the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano, the California legislature is busy, busy, busy passing 100s of new laws because, after all, you can never get too much of a good thing!
Yes, it’s Bill Passing Season in Sacramento again, and the California legislature seems as determined as ever to defend the state’s vaunted position as “#1 Judicial Hellhole” in the Nation!
Here’s the state of play so far…