This post was authored by Megan Lewis. A plaintiff who wants to file a lawsuit for a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (a claim of discrimination based on race, religion, sex, etc.) must first “exhaust administrative remedies” by filing a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a similar state agency. The U.S. Supreme Court recently held in Fort Bend County, Texas v. Davis, —…

This post was authored by Lisa S. Charbonneau. A recent jury decision from the federal trial court in Arizona shows how expensive it can be to ignore a federal law that requires employers to provide mothers with nursing children accommodations to express breast milk. In 2010, Congress added section 7(r) to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require that employers provide break time for nursing mothers to express breast milk.  This amendment  requires…

This blog was authored by Alysha Stein-Manes. April 1, 2020, is national Census Day and will kick off a year-long process of counting every resident in the United States.  In California, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (the “Commission”), a non-partisan commission comprised of democratic, republican and independent (decline-to-state or no party preference) voters, is responsible for re-drawing California State Assembly and Senate, U.S. Congressional, and State Board of Equalization districts to reflect new population…

This post was authored by Stefanie K. Vaudreuil. With all the possible leaves of absence that may be available to employees, ensuring consistent and accurate application of the applicable laws relating to leaves can be one of the more daunting tasks for employers. In a recent survey conducted by the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC), 1203 employers responded to 75 questions related to employee leaves. The top challenges in leave management were identified as…

This post was authored by Megan Lewis. The United States Supreme Court has vacated the decision of Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (which covers all of California) in Rizo v. Yovino, which established that employers cannot rely on an applicant’s prior salary history to justify paying one employee differently than another employee of the opposite sex for similar work. The Ninth Circuit’s Decision The key issue in Rizo was the meaning of…

This post was authored by Sarah R. Lustig. A recent case is a good reminder to employers that scent and chemical sensitivities can indeed be considered a disability subject to the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).  John Barrie (Barrie) suffers from allergic sensitivities and reactions to multiple chemicals.  He informed his supervisor of his disability when he was hired by the California Department…

This Special Bulletin was authored by J. Scott Tiedemann & Lars T. Reed Over the past three months, since California Senate Bill 1421 went into effect on January 1, 2019, numerous public agencies across California have been involved in litigation over whether the new law applies to records created before 2019. After conflicting decisions from various superior courts, some of which we discussed in a previous blog post, the California Court of Appeal has…