Labor & Employment Law Blog

In a long-awaited decision, the National Labor Relations Board held that a union’s display of a peaceful stationary banner at the location of an employer with whom it had no dispute did not violate the secondary boycott provisions of the National Labor Relations Act. Likening such activity to the mere distribution of handbills that was found lawful by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1988 decision in Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Bldg. Trades, the Board concluded that the bannering merely attempted to “persuade” members of the public to assist it in its objectives, and not to “coerce” or “restrain” anyone in violation of the law.

The following employment-related legislation met the August 31, 2010 deadline for passage by the California Legislature. Among the legislation are bills limiting the use of credit checks, allowing exemptions from meal and rest periods for certain employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, requiring paid bereavement leave, and extending paid marrow and organ donation leave to certain private employers. Governor Schwarzenegger has until September 30, 2010 to sign, veto, or let the bills become law without his signature.

With the August 31, 2010 deadline for legislative bills to be passed a week away, several employment-related bills are working their way through the California legislature to Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk.

A trio of bills were recently enrolled and should reach the Governor’s desk shortly:

AB 2340 (Monning) Bereavement Leave - This bill would allow for three days unpaid leave for bereavement ...

AALRR represents Flooring Solutions of Nevada, Inc. ("FSI") in a dispute with the Painters Union. After FSI's labor agreement expired in early 2007 the Painters claimed to continue to represent FSI's employees. The Painters' claim was based upon a card check clause in the expired agreement and unilateral steps the Painters took just before contract expiration. A National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB ...

Last week, in a long-awaited decision, the California Supreme Court handed employers a setback by holding that age-related comments by non-decision makers can be relevant and admissible as evidence in age discrimination cases. In the case of Reid v. Google, Inc., the Court specifically rejected the "stray remarks doctrine," by which any remarks made by non-decision making co-workers or decision-making supervisors outside the decisional process were deemed irrelevant and insufficient to support an age discrimination claim.

On July 28, 2010 Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have removed the exemption for agricultural employees from overtime and meal period requirements under California law. 

Late last week, Governor Schwarzenegger approved a clarification of the law on appeals of Labor Commissioner decisions.  Meanwhile, SB 1121, concerning overtime for agricultural workers, reached the Governor's desk on July 20, and the Senate amended a bill concerning background checks.  A summary of these bills and key developments follow below.

In one of the first decisions interpreting the legal enforceability of California’s anti-labor injunction statute, a California appellate court held on July 19, 2010 that the law did not prevent a grocery store from obtaining an injunction against a union for picketing on its private property. The court specifically held that the statute, Labor Code section 1138.1, was unconstitutional as applied to that dispute because it conferred greater legal protection on picketing than other forms of speech, and declared labor protests on private property to be legal even though a similar protest concerning a different issue would constitute trespassing.

Sometimes, in refusal to hire cases, older applicants argue that they were victims of age discrimination if they were not offered job interviews or considered for the position applied for. In the case of Reeves v. MV Transportation, Inc. filed July 9, 2010, a California appellate court rejected just such a claim, in the case of a transportation company who hired a younger attorney for an in-house general counsel position based on a favorable general impression and a recommendation from a known colleague.

Two employment-related bills we have been tracking were sent to Governor Schwarzenegger this month:

AB 2772 (Swanson) Appeal Bonds - This bill would clarify that an employer wishing to appeal an administrative judgment by the Labor Commissioner is required to first post a bond.

Labor Code Section 98.2 currently provides: "Whenever an employer files an appeal pursuant to this section, the employer shall ...