Article by: Michael Thompson On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, a Los Angeles jury hit billionaire Alki David and two of his media companies, FilmOn and Alki David Productions, with an $8.25 million verdict on claims of battery, sexual battery, and sexual harassment brought by Mahim Khan, a former employee. After turkey and stuffing, the jury returned the next Monday, deliberated for one hour, and awarded Khan $50 million in punitive damages against David. The case…

As 2019 comes to an end, it is a great time to audit employment policies and practices.  The next series of posts will be a review of a few practices California employers should review on a periodic basis.  Obviously, it is important to work with a qualified attorney to ensure compliance, but I wanted to highlight a few issues on these topics that employers can use to start a self-audit that then can be used…

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone is getting some time to relax and enjoy some time with their families (and eat some great food).  Entering the holiday season, it is a good time to review employer’s obligations to accommodate requests for time off for holidays and best pay practices during holiday leaves.  This Friday’s Five covers five reminders for employers about holiday leaves and pay: 1. California employers are not required to provide employees time off…

In O’Grady v. Merchant Exchange Productions, Inc., the California Court of Appeals held that a mandatory service charge could potentially be found to be a gratuity that must be distributed to service employees.  The issue in the case is whether a “service charge” can be a “gratuity” that Labor Code section 351 requires to be distributed, only to non-managerial employees actually serving customers. Plaintiff, Lauren O’Grady, is a banquet server and bartender at the…

Being named as a defendant in a class action or Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuit can be overwhelming, especially for a growing company. However, with planning, a company can minimize the impact of litigation on its existing operations and put forth the best defense. Here are five steps a company can take as part of this planning process, upon being notified of an existing lawsuit. 1. Contact employment counsel. A lawyer who has experience…

How to conduct a termination is not covered in management class, or any class for that reason.  Yet the termination process is one of the more common business decisions that will receive the most scrutiny and is likely the most legally challenged decisions in the workplace.  In addition, terminations trigger immediate legal obligations that the company must be ready to deal with on a moment’s notice.  Just as companies focus on the hiring process to…

With new legal requirements facing California employers by January 1, 2020, this Friday’s Five focuses on five initial steps that employers can begin implementing now: 1. Minimum Wage and Exempt Employees Salary Threshold: Adjust pay levels for increasing minimum wage and ensure exempt employees are paid minimum threshold salaries to qualify as exempt. Effective January 1, 2020, the California minimum wage for employers with 25 employees or less will be $12.00/hour, and for employers with…