Brown v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., 2026 WL 1813213 (9th Cir. 2026)
Former Alaska Airlines flight attendants Marli Brown and Lacey Smith sued their former employer for religious discrimination under Title VII and state anti-discrimination laws. The airline allegedly terminated their
J.O. v. Superior Court, 19 Cal. 5th 753 (2026)
Pursuant Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 170.6, a party or attorney may disqualify a judge from a matter simply by signing an affidavit or orally stating under oath that the judge
Askins v. CRST Expedited, Inc., 120 Cal. App. 5th 1190 (2026)
Terry Askins applied online for a position with CRST, a trucking company. During the application process, CRST provided Askins with a disclosure form and indicated that a background check
Guild Mortg. Co. v. CrossCountry Mortg. LLC, 120 Cal. App. 5th 885 (2026)
The California Court of Appeal revived a host of tort claims asserted against a company that allegedly executed a plan to recruit a competitor’s employees, divert its
A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granting summary judgment in favor of an employer despite evidence of protected whistleblowing is instructive. Han v. Pfizer (No. 23-cv-039080-AMO).
Background
The plaintiff, a compliance analytics employee, alleged
The California Court of Appeal has revived a host of tort claims against a company that allegedly executed a plan to recruit a competitor’s employees, divert its customers, and appropriate its pipeline of active loan applications. Guild Mortgage Co. v.
DATELINE: California—where apparently $100 million verdicts are becoming so common that they barely qualify as news anymore.
As we have previously reported, California juries continue to hand down “nuclear” and even “thermonuclear” employment verdicts at an
We invite you to review our newly-posted, May 2026 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
Thrower v. Academy Mortg. Corp., 172 F.4th 703 (9th Cir. 2026)
Gwen Thrower was awarded attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs in her False Claims Act action against Academy Mortgage, her former employer. After the district court approved the settlement in
Martinez v. Sierra Lifestar, Inc., 119 Cal. App. 5th 1303 (2026)
Adam Martinez filed this putative class action against Sierra Lifestar, alleging the employer improperly excluded bonuses when calculating employees’ regular rate of pay for purposes of overtime. The trial
