EdLawConnect Blog

Almost all school districts have been faced with the problem of workplace bullying, but until recently workplace bullying has received little attention compared to bullying prevention efforts for minors and students.  Just as national attention on student and minor cyberbullying prompted legislation by many states, now workplace bullying is also receiving attention and has now received legislative action.  Spurred by studies regarding the damaging effects of workplace bullying on employees, including reduced productivity, morale, higher absenteeism rates, and frequent employee turnover, California Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez proposed AB 2053, with the goal of addressing the issue of workplace bullying.  Governor Brown signed the legislation yesterday, September 9, 2014.

Assessments are one of the primary vehicles by which IEP teams better understand the unique educational needs of special education students.  There are times, however, when a school district’s efforts are frustrated before testing even begins.  Luckily, two recent cases, one decided before the California Office of Administrative Hearing (OAH) and a second decided by OAH then the United States District ...

Under current law, an operator of a commercial Web site, online service, online application, or mobile applications that knows its service is being used by or directed to minors is required to: (1) make its privacy policy available to consumers; (2) notify consumers of the personal information it is collecting from them; (3) disclose the purpose for which collected information will be used; and (4) give ...

Have you ever had a request from a teacher to express milk during the school day?  The percentage of mothers breastfeeding is on the rise in the United States, meaning the likelihood of receiving such a request is likely to increase.  District employees, including teachers, are entitled to break time to express their breast milk pursuant to Labor Code section 1030.  Such breaks, however, may be unpaid if they exceed the number of paid breaks which the teacher may otherwise be entitled to receive under the law or pursuant to the teachers’ collective bargaining agreement.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, on Tuesday, April 19, 2014, the Los Angeles Unified School District unveiled groundbreaking news by stating school police will no longer cite students for minor offenses such as fighting and petty theft. Rather, students will be referred to counseling and other programs. According to School Police Chief Steven Zipperman, “for lesser offenses, officers will use a new ...

Recently, the California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Division Two, issued its decision in Golden State Boring & Pipe Jacking, Inc. v. Eastern Municipal Water District, Safeco Insurance Company (2014 WL 3615942) with important implications regarding, among other things, when a stop notice may be deemed premature and ineffectual.

The Eastern Municipal Water District (“EMWD”) hired S.J. and ...

On June 25, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law, which extends leave provisions for community college district (CCD) employees within the first year of an infant’s birth or legal adoption.  In a Rocky Chávez, Assembly Member and the Bill’s sponsor, stated:

Recently the U.S. Supreme Court found that the exemptions for warrantless searches of arrestees for weapons or evidence, justified by the need for officer safety and to prevent destruction of evidence, did not apply to searching electronic data on a cell phone.  The Court unanimously ruled that the police need warrants to search cellphones of people they arrest.  The court heard arguments in two cases and ...

In the landmark case of Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982), the United States Supreme Court held that a state may not deny access to a basic, free public education to a child because that child is undocumented.  In addition, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title 42, United States Code, section 2000d) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin, and the implementing regulations ...

The California Education Code establishes the length of minimum school days for students based on grade levels. The minimum school day for students grades four through twelve is two-hundred and forty (240) minutes or four hours per school day.  Whereas, the minimum school day for grades one through three is two-hundred and thirty (230) minutes or three hours and fifty minutes per school day.  (Ed. Code §§ ...