Just another day in paradise in Los Angeles… Unless you happen to be an employer. Continuing the recent spate of multi-million dollar verdicts, an LA jury awarded a former police officer $7 million on her sex discrimination claim. Lili Hadsell, a former police chief for the City of Baldwin Park, alleged that she was subjected to sex discrimination over her 14 years of service. The alleged discrimination came in part from comments by other…

We invite you to review our newly-posted March 2019 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Eddie Money Beats Discrimination Lawsuit Based On Free Speech Right; Former Accountant Could Proceed With Whistleblower Lawsuit; Employer Violated FCRA With Improper Background Check Notice; Fruit Growers May Have Been Joint Employers Of Thai Workers For Purposes Of Title VII; $300 Unpaid …

There they go again!  As we predicted last November, the California legislature is once again trying to outlaw arbitration agreements between employers and employees.  Former Gov. Jerry Brown routinely vetoed similar bills that sought to prohibit arbitration of employment disputes on the anodyne ground that such legislation unquestionably conflicts with and is preempted by federal law. (Gov. Brown’s veto message.)  However, with a new governor at the helm, apparently the legislature thinks…

The current landscape in the #MeToo Era has heightened the need for leaders at every business organization to ensure that sound and strategically aligned practices for preventing, receiving, and responding to harassment, discrimination and other workplace related claims are in place. Proskauer has just released its findings from a broad-based survey of employers around the country who are responding to these pressing issues in real time. The initial web-based survey included more than 50 high-level…

Furry v. East Bay Pub’g, LLC, 30 Cal. App. 5th 1072 (2019) Terry Furry worked as a sales and marketing director for the East Bay Express (a weekly newspaper based in Oakland) and alleged that East Bay failed to pay minimum and overtime wages, meal and rest breaks, provide properly itemized wage statements, etc. Following a bench trial, the court determined that East Bay failed to meet its burden of proving that Furry was…

Ward v. Tilly’s, Inc., 31 Cal. App. 5th 1167 (2019) Skylar Ward challenged by way of this putative class action the on-call scheduling practices of her former employer, Tilly’s, Inc., as violating the reporting time pay requirements of California law. Tilly’s required on-call employees to contact Tilly’s two hours before their on-call shifts. If they are told to come in, they are paid for the shifts they work; if they are not told to…

Duffey v. Tender Heart Home Care Agency, LLC, 31 Cal. App. 5th 232 (2019) Nichelle Duffey sued Tender Heart Home Care Agency for employment-related wage and hour claims such as unpaid overtime under the California Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (“DWBR,” Cal. Labor Code §§ 1450, et seq.). The trial court granted Tender Heart’s motion for summary judgment after determining that Duffey was an independent contractor and not an employee under the “common law”…