Wilson v. The La Jolla Group, 61 Cal. App. 5th 897 (2021) The trial court declined to certify a class action filed by individuals who worked as signature gatherers for the La Jolla Group (“LJG”) on behalf of political campaigns and political action committees.  LJG classified these workers as independent contractors, though they alleged they were misclassified and should have been classified and paid as employees of LJG; they also alleged a violation of Cal. Lab.…

Van Buren v. United States, 593 U.S. ___, 141 S. Ct. 1648 (2021) Nathan Van Buren, a former police sergeant, ran a license-plate search in a law enforcement computer database in exchange for money.  Among other things, Van Buren was charged with violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) for “exceed[ing] authorized access” to the law enforcement database.  A jury convicted Van Buren of violating the CFAA, but Van Buren argued on appeal to…

Magadia v. Wal-Mart Assocs., Inc., 999 F.3d 668 (9th Cir. 2021) In this class action, Roderick Magadia, a former Walmart employee, alleged violations of California’s meal-break and wage-statement requirements (Cal. Lab. Code §§ 226.7 and 226(a)).  After the district court (Judge Lucy H. Koh) determined that Magadia suffered no meal-break violation, it decertified the class, but permitted Magadia to still seek PAGA penalties on that claim based on alleged violations against other Walmart employees.  The district…

Usher v. White, 64 Cal. App. 5th 883 (2021) The plaintiffs in this putative class action lawsuit (service technicians) alleged they had been misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees.  They amended their complaint to add Shirley White and her son Jeff White as individual defendants in the case, relying upon Cal. Lab. Code § 558.1, which creates personal liability for an “owner, director, officer, or managing agent” of an employer.  The trial court granted Shirley…

Bruni v. The Edward Thomas Hospitality Corp., 64 Cal. App. 5th 247 (2021) Theodore Bruni worked as a restaurant server at the Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica before he was laid off when the Hotel eliminated all part-time positions in food and beverage operations.  At the time of his layoff in October 2018, Bruni had been employed by the Hotel for fewer than four months, though he had previously worked for the Hotel for…

Martinez v. Rite Aid Corp., 63 Cal. App. 5th 958 (2021) Following two prior trials, which resulted in reversal of the judgments by the Court of Appeal, this wrongful termination/discrimination case was tried for a third time in 2018.  The jury awarded Maria Martinez $2 million on her wrongful termination claim against her former employer (Rite Aid) and $4 million on her claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress against Rite Aid and her former supervisor,…

Verceles v. Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist., 63 Cal. App. 5th 776 (2021) Junnie Verceles, who is Filipino and 46 years old, alleged that he was removed from his school and placed on reassignment with the local district office for three years (which he calls “teacher jail”) due to an allegation of misconduct involving a student.  After his employment was terminated, Verceles filed a discrimination complaint, alleging age, race and national origin discrimination.  Verceles asserted that…