Newsletters

10.11.19

California Governor Signs Bill Banning Mandatory Arbitration of Employment Claims

On October 10 2019 Gov Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 51 While styled as a bill pertaining to enforcement of employment discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) the bill sweeps far more broadly


09.27.19

DOL Announces Final Overtime Exemption Rule

On March 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Proposed Rule”) which sought to increase the minimum salary thresholds for the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “white collar” and “highly compensated” overtime exemptions.


09.24.19

Landmark Legislation AB5 Codifies Dynamex ABC Test and More

In a signing statement on September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom declared Assembly Bill 5 “landmark legislation for workers and our economy.”


09.24.19

California Delays Sexual Harassment Training Requirements

California employers set to comply with the new sexual harassment training requirements arising out of last year’s Senate Bill 1343 got a recent reprieve with new legislation that provides a partial one-year extension. 


09.24.19

California Supreme Court: Unpaid Wages Are Not Recoverable Under PAGA

In a welcome surprise for employers, on September 12, 2019, the California Supreme Court resolved the significant issue of whether unpaid wages constitute a civil penalty recoverable in Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims premised on violations of Labor Code Section 558.


09.24.19

Three Big Moves From the NLRB

The top three stories in National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) news in recent weeks include (1) a decision holding that the misclassification of workers does not constitute an independent violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), (2) a ruling on mandatory arbitration agreements in the ...


09.24.19

Ninth Circuit Adopts But-For Causation Standard in ADA Discrimination Claims

Rejecting the motivating factor causation standard, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declared that the “but-for” standard of causation applies to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) discrimination claims.


09.24.19

Court Sides With Nurse in Discrimination Suit

Claims of racial bias brought by a black nurse who was reassigned by her employer after a white patient complained can move forward, a federal court in Michigan ruled, writing that any intentional use of race—even for benign motives—must be subjected to careful judicial scrutiny.


08.29.19

New York Dramatically Expands Harassment Protections

On August 12, Governor Cuomo signed sweeping new legislation toughening and substantially broadening New York’s sexual harassment protections.


08.27.19

Two California Supreme Court Cases to Keep an Eye On

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has certified two cases to the California Supreme Court on issues with the potential for major impact on employers in the state: meal and rest break policies and the retroactive effect of the landmark Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of ...