Labor & Employment Law Blog

The National Law Journal announced today it named Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo to The National Law Journal's 2011 Midsize Hot List.  The National Law Journal reports it "settled on 20 firms that demonstrated excellence in the courtroom or boardroom; that spotted a niche that eluded their competitors or that excelled on many fronts . . . firms that clearly stand apart from your everyday law firm."

As we previously reported here, on April 26, 2010, in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided 6-5 en banc to affirm the decision of the trial court to grant class certification in a discrimination lawsuit alleging Wal-Mart Stores discriminates against its women employees. The nationwide class is reputed by the Los Angeles Daily Journal to number upward of 1.6 million women employees, which would make the class the largest class in United States history.

MSNBC reports today that a Pennsylvania appellate court affirmed a $187.6 Million verdict against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in a class action lawsuit for allegedly denying hourly employees meal and rest breaks. Although the appellate court affirmed the damages verdict, it did order the trial court to recalculate the $45.6 Million award of attorneys fees to the employees' attorneys, indicating the trial court erred by "double-counting" some factors when calculating the attorney's fees award. Click here to read the story. 

As many of our readers know, the California Court of Appeals decided in Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court that an employer's obligation to "provide" to non-exempt employees meal periods required by the Labor Code and the applicable Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders is to make those meal periods available and not to ensure that employees take the meal periods provided to them.

The United States Department of Labor ("DOL") recently announced the release of a free smart phone application available in English and Spanish that will enable employees to "independently track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed." According to the DOL, "users conveniently can track regular work hours, break time and any overtime hours for one or more employers." The DOL goes on to ...

As we previously reported here, in Drake Price v. Starbucks Corporation, the Court of Appeal held, among other things, that a plaintiff does not state a viable claim for Labor Code Section 226.7 penalties merely because a wage statement does not contain all of the required information. 

As we previously reported here, a report issued by the Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts, Office of Court Research, shows that employment cases were the most frequently filed class actions, representing 29.3% of the class actions filed, and that over half of the employment cases filed alleged violations of Labor Code provisions governing payment of wages, rest and meal periods, and related claims. This is consistent with our experience representing numerous employers against such class action lawsuits.

Yesterday, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., signed Assembly Bill 36, which conforms California law to federal law to allow tax exclusions or deductions for employers that provide health care coverage to employee dependents who are under age 27.  The Legislative Counsel's Digest states:

AB 36, Perea. Income and employment taxes: federal conformity: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. The ...

The Los Angeles Daily Journal, a leading legal newspaper, reports that claims of alleged disability discrimination and claims for alleged failure to reasonably accommodate persons with disabilities and/or medical conditions are being filed in record numbers as the job market in California continues to falter. The Daily Journal reports that "[t]he prolonged recession and high unemployment prompted ...

Not every cloud has a silver lining, but some do, and the California Court of Appeal's decision today in Thomas McGann v. United Parcel Service, Inc., contains a terrific silver lining for employers. Thomas McGann was employed by United Parcel Service, Inc., ("UPS") for a number of years and worked as an On Road Supervisor. UPS classified Mr. McGann as an exempt employee and therefore did not pay Mr. McGann premium pay (i.e., overtime pay) for hours worked in excess of eight hours in a workday.