Weil v. Citizens Telecom Servs. Co., 2019 WL 1891796 (9th Cir. 2019) David Weil sued Citizens Telecom Services for wrongful termination and discriminatory failure to promote under Title VII and related statutes. In support of his failure-to-promote claim, Weil testified in his deposition that his former supervisor (identified in the opinion as “L.H.”) told him that he did not receive the promotion because “You have three things going against you: You’re a former Verizon employee,…

Goldstein v. CUIAB, 2019 WL 1923530 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019) Steven M. Goldstein applied for and received unemployment insurance benefits from March 23, 2013 through August 10, 2013 after which time he ceased receiving unemployment benefits because he began receiving disability benefits, which continued until September 2014. Goldstein’s second claim for unemployment insurance benefits had an effective date of March 23, 2014. The Employment Development Department (“EDD”) denied the second claim for unemployment insurance benefits…

Savea v. YRC Inc., 2019 WL 1552686 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019) Vaiula Savea sued his employer (YRC) for an alleged violation of Labor Code § 226 based upon YRC’s alleged failure to include the correct employer name and address on its wage statements. The alleged violations arose from YRC’s listing on the wage statements its fictitious business name (“YRC Freight” instead of “YRC Inc.”) as the employer name and its inclusion of an employer address…

Garcia v. Salvation Army, 918 F.3d 997 (9th Cir. 2019) Ann Garcia worked as social services coordinator for the Salvation Army but “left the Church” and stopped attending religious services there a few years before taking a lengthy medical leave of absence due to fibromyalgia and eventually being fired for failing to report to work despite being cleared by her doctor. Garcia sued for religious discrimination under Title VII and disability discrimination under the Americans…

Ryze Claim Solutions LLC v. Superior Court, 2019 WL 1467947 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019) Jerome Nedd was employed by Ryze Claim Solutions in El Cerrito, California for almost three years before his employment was terminated, resulting in his filing claims against Ryze for wrongful termination and violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) in Contra Costa County Superior Court. When Nedd was first employed, he executed an employment agreement with Ryze (an…

Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int’l, 2019 WL 1945001 (9th Cir. 2019) Last year, the California Supreme Court in Dynamex Ops. W. Inc. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal. 5th 903 (2018), adopted the so-called “ABC test” for determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor and in so doing made it much more difficult for a hirer to properly classify a worker as an independent contractor. The ABC test requires the hirer to prove…

A new California bill aims to make it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees based upon their hairstyles. SB 188, also known as the “CROWN Act” (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural hair), proposes amending the 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 hairstyles.” The bill expressly defines “protective hairstyles” as…