Tag Archives: California

Lessons from 2021 on Avoiding Class Action Claims for Meal and Rest Break Violations in California

Photo of Margaret RosenthalPhoto of Shareef FaragPhoto of Ari SpitzerBy Margaret Rosenthal, Shareef Farag and Ari Spitzer on Posted in California, Class Action, Meal and Rest Periods
In 2021, the California Supreme Court handed down two important decisions, Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC and Ferra v. Loews Hollywood, LLC, that reinforce and refine tried-and-true lessons about meal and rest breaks. As California employers look ahead to their 2022 goals and try to lessen their risk of class action employment claims based on … Continue Reading

Divided Ninth Circuit Reinstates Part of California’s Anti-Arbitration Law

Photo of Greg MersolPhoto of Joseph S. PersoffBy Greg Mersol and Joseph S. Persoff on Posted in Antitrust, Arbitration, California, Supreme Court, Uncategorized
For many years, state and federal courts in California have opposed arbitration and have manufactured frameworks under which they become unenforceable despite the clear directives of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and countless Supreme Court cases. While a string of Supreme Court cases over the past decade gave employers some respite, the Ninth Circuit has … Continue Reading

California Employers Must Pay Meal and Rest Period Premiums at the Regular Rate of Pay

Photo of Joseph S. PersoffBy Joseph S. Persoff on Posted in California
When a California nonexempt employee is not provided a meal or rest period, Cal. Labor Code 226.7 requires an employer to pay a penalty to that employee in the amount of one hour of that employee’s “regular rate of compensation.”  It was an open question whether an employee’s “regular rate of compensation” meant the employee’s … Continue Reading

Order Sending Former Mail Sorter to Arbitration Teaches Some Lessons About Who Is a Transportation Worker and Agreement Coverage

Photo of John LewisBy John Lewis on Posted in Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, California
Since 2019, we have been tracking the decisions struggling to interpret the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) Section 1 exemption for transportation workers. In other words, we’ve looked at who qualifies as a transportation worker “actually engaged in the movement of goods in interstate commerce,” as Circuit City Stores Inc. v. Adams, 532 … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Rejects Airline’s Constitutional Challenges to California’s Wage Statement Statute

Photo of Matthew GoodmanBy Matthew Goodman on Posted in Wage and Hour
Virtually by definition, many transportation workers, and many employees of airlines and railroads in particular, regularly travel and work in many states. For the most part, that does not impede their work or their employers’ businesses, but what if one state’s laws (read California’s) are unusually burdensome? That issue arose in a pair of class … Continue Reading

Travel Time Compensable Under California Law Despite Contrary Union Agreement

Photo of Todd DawsonBy Todd Dawson on Posted in Wage and Hour
While California’s wage-and-hour rules recognize a number of exceptions for employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement, the California Supreme Court’s denial of review in Gutierrez v. Brand Energy Svcs. of Calif. is a reminder that such exceptions are not without limits. Case No. A154604, review denied 9/9/20. The California wage order at issue in … Continue Reading

Something Is Rotten in the State of California? Ride Share Misclassification Ruling Is Merely Act I

Photo of Todd LebowitzBy Todd Lebowitz on Posted in California
“To be or not to be” are the opening words of a soliloquy by Prince Hamlet. With that, I have exhausted what I remember about Shakespearean plays without consulting Wikipedia. Having consulted Wikipedia, I can confirm that this soliloquy occurs in Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1. A lot happens in Act III and beyond, and if … Continue Reading

District Court Temporarily Enjoins Enforcement of California’s AB 51 Anti-Arbitration Provision

Photo of Joseph S. PersoffPhoto of John LewisPhoto of Greg MersolBy Joseph S. Persoff, John Lewis and Greg Mersol on Posted in Arbitration
A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order halting the enforcement of Assembly Bill 51, California’s latest attempt to prevent arbitration of claims brought under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. We initially wrote about this statute, which sought to criminalize the use of arbitration agreements, on Oct. 11, 2019. AB 51, slated … Continue Reading

The Ninth Circuit Rules That both an Arbitrator and a Trial Court May Have a Role in a Case with Individual and PAGA Claims

Photo of John LewisBy John Lewis on Posted in PAGA
Employers, plaintiffs, and courts continue to grapple with the difficult issue of the interplay between the California Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) and arbitration agreements. We’ve addressed these issues several times on this blog, including a March 30, 2017 blog in which we discussed the case of Hernandez v. Ross Stores, Inc., No. E064026, 2016 … Continue Reading

Court Dismisses California Class Action Due to Limited California Nexus

Photo of Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in Class Action Litigation
It is no secret that California is a desired and favorable forum for class action litigation. It is therefore not surprising that plaintiffs might try to take advantage of that forum even when the connection between employment and California could be questioned. But how far do California’s tentacles reach? In Vidrio v. United Airlines, Case … Continue Reading

Arbitration of PAGA Claims: Another California Divide Emerges

Photo of John LewisBy John Lewis on Posted in Arbitration
In a March 8, 2017, article, we talked about how the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals compelled the arbitration of a California Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) representative claim in Valdez v. Terminix International Co., L.P., No. 15-56736 (9th Cir. Mar. 3, 2017). And, while we mentioned potential difficulties in arbitrating such cases, we didn’t … Continue Reading

California Enacts Laws Aimed at Choice of Law Provisions in Arbitration Agreements and the Conduct of Arbitral Proceedings

Photo of John LewisBy John Lewis on Posted in Arbitration
Given California’s past resistance to mandatory arbitration agreements with class action waivers, it should come as no surprise that the state has now enacted two laws primarily directed at arbitration. On Sept. 25, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill (Senate Bill 1241) that amended the state’s Labor Code to prohibit an employer from requiring as … Continue Reading

Court Grants Summary Judgment for Employer in California Class Action Vacation Pay Case

Photo of Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in Wage and Hour
Underlying claim premised on PowerPoint slide invalid Most California employers know that California treats vacation pay largely as a vested benefit that cannot ordinarily be “forfeited.” In common parlance, the state prohibits “use it or lose it” policies. To prevent employees from accruing, or claiming to have accrued, large amounts of vacation time, most California employers … Continue Reading

California Supreme Court Tells Employers to Sit a Spell While Courts Review Individual Factors for Suitable Seating

Photo of Jeffrey VlasekBy Jeffrey Vlasek on Posted in Class Certification
“Shut the door. Have a seat.” The phrase immediately conjures emotions from the recipient. Most likely, life-changing (typically bad) news is about to be imparted. For Mad Men fans, it harkens to the third-season finale when the partners decide to split and start their own firm (and when Betty finally tells Don to take a … Continue Reading

Court Grants Summary Judgment for Employer in Apple Class Action Seeking Pay for Time Spent in Security Checks

Photo of Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in FLSA
Free Choice Tanks Plaintiffs’ Claims Just last year, the Supreme Court held in Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk, 135 S. Ct. 513 (2014) that employees working at an Amazon.com warehouse were not entitled to overtime pay for time they spent in exit security checks designed to ensure that they were not taking company product … Continue Reading

The California Divide: Federal Courts Refuse to Follow State Supreme Court’s Iskanian Decision

Photo of John LewisPhoto of Dustin DowBy John Lewis and Dustin Dow on Posted in Arbitration, PAGA
One of the last barriers to full enforcement of arbitration agreements with class action waivers sustained another blow last week.  A California federal district court disagreed with the California Supreme Court in holding that an employment arbitration agreement can waive an employee’s right to pursue a representative claim under the state’s Private Attorney General Act … Continue Reading

The California Court of Appeal Disregards Differences Among Cell Phone Plans; Orders Reconsideration of Refusal to Certify Class Seeking Reimbursement of Employee Expenses

Photo of Vartan MadoyanBy Vartan Madoyan on Posted in Class Certification
We are now seeing “bring your own device policies” in the class action context, and at least one court has glossed over differences among cell phone plans and usage to leave open the possibility of certifying a class in that context. In Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service, Inc., Case No. B247160 (Cal. App. 2d Dist., … Continue Reading

California District Court Rejects Class Action Settlement Due To Fee, Enhancement, and Other Issues

Photo of Greg MersolBy Greg Mersol on Posted in Meal and Rest Periods
Do your homework before you seek approval of a class action settlement! Meals on airlines have all but disappeared for anyone other than those in first class, but the company Sky Chefs contends on its website that it still serves over  a million airplane meals a day.  No, really!  And, apparently, many of those meals are … Continue Reading
LexBlog