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In Williams v. Superior Court (Marshalls of CA, LLC) (5/15/15) — Cal.App.4th —, the plaintiff filed a PAGA action for meal and rest period violations and sought discovery of contact information for Marshalls’s non-exempt employees. The trial court granted plaintiff’s motion to compel in part, ordering Marshalls to produce contact information for the employees only at its […]

In Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., — Cal.App.4th — (1/29/2015), the plaintiff, Augustus, worked as a security guard for the defendant, ABM. Augustus filed a putative class action, alleging that ABM failed to authorize and permit rest periods by requiring the its security guard employees to be on call during rest periods. The trial court […]

rotections. Public Record Exemption for Sex Offense Victims – California Government Code section 6254 and California Penal Code section 293. These laws prohibit the disclosure of the names and addresses of victims of specific sex-related crimes in documents provided in response to requests for records, including responses provided under the California Public Records Act. Reader Privacy […]

California Supreme Court reversed a court of appeal decision that had affirmed the trial court’s ruling in awarding attorneys’ fees to defendant who had prevailed in an employment discrimination case making clear that in California absence of showing that plaintiff employee’s lawsuit was frivolous, unreasonable or groundless, defendant employer may not get the attorneys’ fees […]

Effective January 1, 2015, under the new law, employees in California are entitled to “Paid Sick Leave.” California Labor Code sections: 245.5, 246, and 248.5 make the following changes to the law: Require that an employee work for the same employer for 30 or more days within the previous 12 months to qualify for paid sick leave […]

Documents that employee whose employment is being separated need to get from their employers: 1. Last Paycheck for all hours worked until separation including all accrued but unused vacation time. 2. “For Your Benefit, California’s Program for the Unemployed” pamphlet published by the EDD (Form 2320) 3. COBRA and Cal-COBRA Notices for continuation of their […]

The statute providing that an employer “shall not require an employee to work during a meal or rest or recovery period” does not prohibit the employer from requiring the employee to remain on call during rest periods, since simply being on-call does not constitute performing “work.” Thus, evidence that security guards’ employer applied a uniform […]

In a Second District of California Court of Appeal case in Velasquez v. Centrome, Inc.(CA2/8 B247080 1/30/15), the court reviewed the appeal of Plaintiff and appellant Wilfredo Velasquez appealed from a judgment after jury trial of his product-related personal injury action.  Velasquez alleged his lung disease was caused by workplace exposure to a chemical compound, diacetyl, that […]

The California Supreme Court granted a petition for review of a misclassification case decided the Court of Appeal. This case presents the following issue: In a wage and hour class action involving claims that the plaintiffs were misclassified as independent contractors, may a class be certified based on the Industrial Welfare Commission definition of employee […]

Under an ordinance providing that certain hotels’ service charges must be paid to hotel workers “equitably and according to the services that are or appear to be related to the description of the amounts given by the hotel to the customers,” and defining “hotel worker” to mean any individual whose primary place of employment is […]