Articles

An employee must file an administrative charge with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and obtain a right to sue before the employee may file a lawsuit based on the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law AB-9, which extends the time for an employee to file an administrative complaint of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation with the DFEH from one year to three years. An employee still …

It has been an eventful couple months for arbitration agreements in employment with the California Supreme Court’s ruling in One Toyota of Oakland, OTO, L.L.C. v. Kho (2019) 8 Cal.5th 111 (OTO) and the passage of AB 51. Employers will need to carefully review their arbitration agreements and practices to ensure they are compliant. This article will break down what we learned from OTO and AB 51, and what employers can and cannot do moving …

The California Supreme Court issued a monumental opinion that reduces the incentive to bring Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”)[1] actions against employers. Employees have been suing under PAGA for civil penalties and unpaid wages to avoid arbitration and class certification. Significantly, the California Supreme Court ruled on September 12, 2019, in ZB N.A. v. Superior Court (Lawson), that employees may no longer seek unpaid wages under PAGA.[2] Because of this ruling, employees who wish to …

California Bolsters its Sexual Harassment Laws in the Wake of the #MeToo Era By: Jessica Yang California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law a number of bills in response to the #MeToo movement that will significantly impact employer obligations and employee rights. This trio of bills makes it easier for employees to bring sexual harassment claims, while at the same time making it more difficult for employers to resolve them and imposing additional training …

California Supreme Court Tolls Death-Knell on Independent Contractor Classifications By: Jennifer Branch, Partner at Lagasse Branch Bell + Kinkead LLP To curtail the number of misclassified independent contractors, the California Supreme Court recently adopted a new test for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor for purposes of the Califoria wage orders.   In a landmark case, Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, No. S222732 (April 30, …