Labor & Employment Law Blog

When can an employer be liable for failing to prevent a sexual assault or rape of an employee?  The California Court of Appeal in the recent case of M.F. v. Pacific Pearl Hotel Management, LLC (D070150, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION ONE, 10/26/17), helped provide some answers to this question.

The plaintiff in the case worked as a housekeeper in a five-building hotel property.  One morning, the hotel’s ...

One problem that employers frequently confront when seeking to compel arbitration of employee claims is the employee’s failure to have signed the arbitration agreement.  In the recent case of Harris v. TAP Worldwide, LLC, however, a California appellate court held that this is not an impediment to the enforcement of such an agreement when the employer takes measures to verify that the employee has received ...

The state and federal courts in California continue to closely scrutinize employment arbitration agreements even though they remain a favored means of resolving disputes.  This was evident in the recent case of Ashbey v. Archstone Property Management, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that an employee effectively waived his right to a judicial forum for his Title VII claim and ...

On September 2, 2014, a California appellate court upheld an order requiring a college math professor to undergo a “fitness for duty examination” (“FFD”) based on behavior that his colleagues considered erratic and threatening in nature.  The court also rebuffed the efforts of the professor’s attorneys to interject themselves into the workplace dispute by placing conditions on the FFD.  The ...

On July 14, 2014, the California Supreme Court ruled that commission payments made in one pay period may not be used in another pay period to satisfy minimum payment requirements under the California commissioned employee exemption. Peabody v. Time Warner Cable, Inc. (California Supreme Court).

On July 21, 2014, a California appellate court ordered a real estate agent of a brokerage firm to arbitrate his claim that he was improperly classified as an independent contractor and not an employee.  Galen v. Redfin Corporation. The court held that the Scott Galen’s claims for unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest periods, inaccurate and untimely wage statements, waiting time penalties, and ...

A California Court of Appeal struck down yet another employment arbitration provision, based on lack of notice to the employees, and an attempted modification to the agreement after the plaintiffs’ claims accrued and the plaintiffs’ complaint was filed.

In Avery v. Integrated Healthcare Holdings, Inc., six employees sued Integrated Healthcare Holdings, Inc., an operator of four hospitals in ...

The trucking industry has a special history with respect to the employment status of its drivers.  Those who own or lease their own rigs prefer to view themselves as owner-operators.  They may work principally for one carrier or can work for multiple carriers in different parts of the country.  This tradition runs so deep that even Teamster Union contracts have had special carve-outs for the owner operator.  Over time, the growth of the industry into different carrier modalities, from interstate freight to web based consignment package delivery, has changed the opportunities for drivers and the economic model for the shippers.  Still, the independent contractor model has remained resilient across the industry, despite numerous legal challenges.

In Carr Finishing Specialist, Inc., 358 NLRB No. 165 (9/28/12), the NLRB ruled that a contractor that was signatory to an Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Iron Workers Union remained bound to a newly-negotiated agreement when the company did not timely revoke the authority it gave to multiemployer bargaining association to negotiate on its behalf.

In the past several months, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a series of decisions that could affect everyday policies that union and non-union employers maintain in the workplace. The decisions are summarized below.