By Calvin House | Published July 3, 2015 | Posted in Uncategorized |
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Federal Appellate Court Rejects DOL Six-Factor Intern Test
In September 2013, two interns who had worked without pay on Fox Seachlight‘s Black Swan movie convinced a United States District Judge that they were actually employees and should have been paid. That judge based his ruling on a six-factor test that the U.S. Department of Labor derived from the Supreme Court’s decision in Walling v. Portland Terminal Co., 330 U.S. Read More
Read MoreSupreme Court rules on Abercrombie’s refusal to hire woman who wore headscarf
In EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., Case No. 14-86 (June 1, 2015), the United States Supreme Court ruled that Abercrombie was not entitled to summary judgment on a disparate treatment claim by a Muslim woman who was not hired because the headscarf she wore pursuant her religious obligations conflicted with the employer’s dress code. The decision Read More
Read MoreWal-Mart Pharmacist Class Action Survives Motion To Dismiss
Four Wal-Mart pharmacists have filed a putative class action asserting that they were not paid for all the time that they devoted to an immunization certification training course. According to their second amended complaint, Wal-Mart encouraged its pharmacists to take the certification course so that the company could make more money through the administration of immunizations at its Read More
Read MoreManagement of PAGA Litigation after Iskanian
In Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, 59 Cal.4th 348 (2014), the California Supreme Court ruled that claims to enforce civil penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), were not waivable, and refused to enforce a predispute agreement to arbitrate that purported to impose such a waiver. (Class action waivers must be enforced under AT&T Mobility Read More
Read MoreEmployer Use of GPS Tracking Raises Privacy Concerns
Applications from such companies as Xora, Teletrac, Track My Work Force, and boomr allow employers to track the whereabouts of their employees through GPS. One user of Xora’s application has now become the subject of an invasion of privacy lawsuit. As reported by the Courthouse News Service, Myrna Arias claims that Internex Wire Transfer violated her privacy by tracking her movements Read More
Read MoreIs inability to work a particular job because of stress a disability?
Employees frequently complain that they suffer stress symptoms from work. A supervisor makes an employee feel anxious. Dealing with customers all day gives another employee a headache. Working the night shift disrupts the digestive system. In such situations, it is not uncommon for the employee’s doctor to write a “work restriction” that the employee not Read More
Read MoreWhat is a salary?
Many of the exemptions from the wage and hour laws require that the employee earn a “salary,” a term that is not defined in California law. The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement construes the wage orders to incorporate the federal salary basis test, as explained in a March 1, 2002 opinion letter. The U.S. Department Read More
Read MoreAre No Rehire Agreements Unlawful Under California Law?
Settlement agreements with employees often provide that the employee will never again seek employment with the settling employer. Such provisions are probably essential to reaching settlement in some cases. A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit calls into question their validity. California Business and Professions Code section 16600 provides that “every contract by which anyone is Read More
Read MoreAre Ride Share Services Employers?
Recent news reports about class action lawsuits against Uber and Lyft provide an opportunity for revisiting the standards that courts and enforcement agencies use to determine whether an employment relationship exists between the provider of labor and the recipient of the benefits of the labor. Uber is the subject of a lawsuit entitled O’Conner v. Uber Technologies, Inc., currently pending Read More
Read MoreArbitration Update
The California Supreme Court continues to make law on enforcement of arbitration agreements. In Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare, 24 Cal.4th 83, 99 Cal.Rptr.2d 745, 6 P. 3d 669 (2000), the Court ruled that an arbitration award on a claim under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) is not enforceable unless the arbitrator issue a written arbitration Read More
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