Ridings v. PeaceHealth, 2026 WL 2871881 (9th Cir. 2026)

Karly Ridings, a registered nurse who was pregnant at the relevant time, sent a letter to her employer (the PeaceHealth hospital system in Oregon) requesting a religious exemption from its COVID-19 vaccination policy, citing her Christian beliefs and her religious objection to the use of fetal cell lines derived from abortions in vaccine development. PeaceHealth…

Smith v. Burbank Unified Sch. Dist., 123 Cal. App. 5^th 1172 (2026)

Douglas Smith, a high school chemistry teacher who had worked for the Burbank Unified School District since 1992, refused on religious grounds to comply with the District’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate. The District granted Smith’s request for a religious exemption but placed him on unpaid leave (rather than permitting him to continue…

San Diego-Tomas v. Aspire Bakeries, LLC, 2026 WL 3181846 (Cal. Ct. App. 2026)

After Aspire Bakeries prevailed on summary judgment in this FEHA discrimination and retaliation action, the judgment provided that “as the prevailing party,” Aspire could recover its costs, and Aspire then filed a memorandum of costs totaling $15,397.96, which the trial court awarded. The former employee, Cecilia San Diego-Tomas, did not challenge…

Villasenor v. Schneiter, 2026 WL 3205537 (Cal. Ct. App. 2026)

In this FEHA action for sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and related claims, the plaintiff sought to hold the owner of the defendant corporations liable on an alter ego theory. Applying the common law presumption that a corporation is separate from its owners, the trial court required the plaintiff to prove that the corporations’ distinct…

Chaudhry v. State of California, 123 Cal. App. 5^th 690 (2026)

Farzana Chaudhry, a dental assistant at a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (the CDCR) facility, alleged that after she complained to her supervisor and Cal-OSHA about workplace safety issues, she was subjected to an unwarranted letter of instruction, a one-month unpaid suspension, two terminations (both later overturned or withdrawn), and other…

A.S. v. Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist., 123 Cal. App. 5^th 519 (2026)

Two applicants for employment with the Los Angeles Unified School District (one for a part-time after-school program position and the other for a legal secretary position) were rejected based on their prior misdemeanor convictions (for battery and grand theft, respectively), both of which had been expunged pursuant to Cal. Penal…

McInerney v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 2026 WL 3059160 (Cal. Ct. App. 2026)

John McInerney, who had drug-related convictions from 2005 and 2007, received a conditional offer for an office assistant position at UCLA. While his background check was pending, McInerney sent UCLA staff a series of angry emails objecting to the use of his old convictions (including one describing HR employees…

Civil Rights Dep’t v. City of Torrance, 2026 WL 3215987 (Cal. Ct. App. 2026)

In September 2022, the City of Torrance rescinded a conditional offer of employment for a custodian position after a background check revealed the applicant’s multiple criminal convictions. The applicant filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Department (the CRD) under the Fair Chance Act (Cal. Gov’t Code § 12952), and…