Tony Oncidi
Partner
Anthony J. Oncidi heads the Labor & Employment Law Group in the Los Angeles office.
Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including litigation and preventive counseling, wage and hour matters, including class actions, wrongful termination, employee discipline, Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, executive employment contract disputes, sexual harassment training and investigations, workplace violence, drug testing and privacy issues, Sarbanes-Oxley claims and employee raiding and trade secret protection. A substantial portion of Tony’s practice involves the defense of employers in large class actions, employment discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination litigation in state and federal court as well as arbitration proceedings, including FINRA matters.
Subscribe to all posts by Tony Oncidi
The California Court of Appeal has ruled that date of birth and/or a driver’s license number cannot be used to identify individuals in an electronic search of the criminal index of court records. All of Us or None v. Hamrick. This ruling complicates and further restricts how and even whether (from a practical standpoint) employers … Continue Reading
We invite you to review our newly-posted July 2021 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Board of Directors Quota Law May Be Unconstitutional 2:1 Ratio of Punitive to Compensatory Damages Was Appropriate High School Football Coach’s Title VII Claim Was … Continue Reading
Wilson v. The La Jolla Group, 61 Cal. App. 5th 897 (2021) The trial court declined to certify a class action filed by individuals who worked as signature gatherers for the La Jolla Group (“LJG”) on behalf of political campaigns and political action committees. LJG classified these workers as independent contractors, though they alleged they were … Continue Reading
Van Buren v. United States, 593 U.S. ___, 141 S. Ct. 1648 (2021) Nathan Van Buren, a former police sergeant, ran a license-plate search in a law enforcement computer database in exchange for money. Among other things, Van Buren was charged with violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) for “exceed[ing] authorized access” to … Continue Reading
Magadia v. Wal-Mart Assocs., Inc., 999 F.3d 668 (9th Cir. 2021) In this class action, Roderick Magadia, a former Walmart employee, alleged violations of California’s meal-break and wage-statement requirements (Cal. Lab. Code §§ 226.7 and 226(a)). After the district court (Judge Lucy H. Koh) determined that Magadia suffered no meal-break violation, it decertified the class, but … Continue Reading
Usher v. White, 64 Cal. App. 5th 883 (2021) The plaintiffs in this putative class action lawsuit (service technicians) alleged they had been misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees. They amended their complaint to add Shirley White and her son Jeff White as individual defendants in the case, relying upon Cal. Lab. Code § 558.1, … Continue Reading
Bruni v. The Edward Thomas Hospitality Corp., 64 Cal. App. 5th 247 (2021) Theodore Bruni worked as a restaurant server at the Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica before he was laid off when the Hotel eliminated all part-time positions in food and beverage operations. At the time of his layoff in October 2018, Bruni … Continue Reading
Martinez v. Rite Aid Corp., 63 Cal. App. 5th 958 (2021) Following two prior trials, which resulted in reversal of the judgments by the Court of Appeal, this wrongful termination/discrimination case was tried for a third time in 2018. The jury awarded Maria Martinez $2 million on her wrongful termination claim against her former employer (Rite … Continue Reading
Verceles v. Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist., 63 Cal. App. 5th 776 (2021) Junnie Verceles, who is Filipino and 46 years old, alleged that he was removed from his school and placed on reassignment with the local district office for three years (which he calls “teacher jail”) due to an allegation of misconduct involving a student. … Continue Reading
Smith v. BP Lubricants USA, Inc., 64 Cal. App. 5th 138 (2021) Robert Smith’s employer, Jiffy Lube, held a presentation for its employees to learn about a new Castrol product. Castrol employee Gus Pumarol made several comments during the presentation that Smith considered to be racist and offensive. Smith sued Castrol (a dba of BP) and … Continue Reading
Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist., 991 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2021) Joseph Kennedy, a high school football coach, was not rehired after he repeatedly kneeled with team members (some of whom may have felt pressured to join him) and prayed at mid-field following games. The school district warned Kennedy that his actions, which attracted media attention, … Continue Reading
Contreras-Velazquez v. Family Health Ctrs. of San Diego, Inc., 62 Cal. App. 5th 88 (2021) Rosario Contreras-Velazquez sued her former employer, Family Health Centers (“FHC”), for disability discrimination after she suffered a work-related injury and was terminated. A jury found FHC not liable, but the trial court ordered a new trial as to three claims; after … Continue Reading
Meland v. Weber, 2021 WL 2521615 (9th Cir. 2021) In 2018, the California Legislature enacted Senate Bill 826, which requires all corporations headquartered in California to have a minimum number of females on their boards of directors; corporations that fail to comply with SB 826 are subject to monetary penalties. One shareholder of OSI Systems, Inc., … Continue Reading
Just as California’s employers and small businesses begin to recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic, the state legislature is about to spring another tax increase on them. This time the money is needed to bail out the severely underfunded unemployment insurance (UI) fund (a program recently featured in the news for paying as much as … Continue Reading
Meland v. Weber, ___ F.3d ___, 2021 WL 2521615 (9th Cir. 2021) In 2018, the California Legislature enacted Senate Bill 826, which requires all corporations headquartered in California to have a minimum number of females on their boards of directors; corporations that fail to comply with SB 826 are subject to monetary penalties. One shareholder … Continue Reading
As we previously reported (here), Cal/OSHA’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“OSHSB”) held a series of special meetings to revise its controversial Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”) related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. And, on June 17, 2021, OSHSB approved updated ETS language that more closely aligns California’s workplace safety requirements with recommendations from the … Continue Reading
As we previously reported (here), on June 3, 2021, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“OSHSB”) approved some controversial revisions to its Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”) related to COVID-19. Among other highly-contested provisions, the updated ETS would have required even fully-vaccinated individuals to don masks indoors unless everyone in a room was fully-vaccinated. However, … Continue Reading
In a closely-watched vote, yesterday (June 3, 2021), California’s Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board approved controversial amendments to the Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”) related to COVID-19. If approved by the Office of Administrative Law within the 10 day review period, the new ETS (available here) will require (among many other things) most California workers … Continue Reading
The California Court of Appeal has determined that a wrongful discharge claim cannot be based upon an alleged violation of a municipal ordinance. Bruni v. The Edward Thomas Hospitality Corporation. The California Supreme Court has previously ruled that wrongful termination claims must be based upon a violation of a “fundamental public policy.” In the years … Continue Reading
On May 18, 2021, Santa Clara County issued a new Order of the Health Officer (the “Order”) that took effect on May 19th. Of particular note, the Order imposes two new obligations: First, it mandates that employers require all personnel to immediately alert their employer if they test positive for COVID-19 and were present in … Continue Reading
Last week, New York announced new tax increases that will subject certain of its residents to higher personal income tax rates than even Californians pay. Before the pages on that bill had cooled, the California legislature was well on its way to showing it would not relinquish its top-of-the-heap status without a fight by proposing … Continue Reading
We have long reported about that modern marvel of well-intentioned legislation gone awry known as the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) – and we also have noted that in practice, PAGA stands for Pretty-much All Goes to the Attorneys. A recently published report (the “Report”) from some of the former leaders of the California Department … Continue Reading
On April 27, 2021 the Employment Round Table of Southern California is hosting a complimentary new webinar titled The Biden Administration’s First 100 days: What California Employers and Employees Need to Know. Proskauer partner Tony Oncidi will be joined by Andrew H. Friedman, an employment law partner at Helmer Friedman LLP. Tony and Andrew will … Continue Reading
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) recently updated its Guide to COVID-19 Related Frequently Asked Questions to include wage and hour issues related to employer-mandated COVID-19 tests or vaccinations. According to this latest guidance, if an employer requires employees to obtain a COVID-19 test or vaccination, the employer must pay “for the time it takes for … Continue Reading
New Restriction on Background Checks in California
July 2021 California Employment Law Notes
Trial Court Properly Failed to Certify Signature Gatherers’ Class Action
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Class Actions, Independent Contractors
Police Sergeant Who Accessed Computer Database in Exchange for Money Did Not Violate CFAA
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Jury verdicts, Uncategorized
Ninth Circuit Overturns $100 Million Wage-Hour Judgment Entered Against Walmart
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Class Actions, Meal Periods and Rest Breaks
Owner Was Not Personally Liable for Misclassification of Employees
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Class Actions, Independent Contractors
Hotel Did Not Violate Santa Monica’s Recall Ordinance
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in California Labor & Employment Law
Economic Damages Award Should Have Been Reduced by Post-Termination Earnings
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Discrimination, Wrongful Termination
Teacher’s Discrimination Claim Should Not Have Been Dismissed
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Anti-SLAPP, Discrimination
Third Party Was Not Liable for Aiding and Abetting Harassment
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Discrimination, Harassment
High School Football Coach’s Title VII Claim Was Properly Dismissed
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Religion, Title VII
2:1 Ratio of Punitive to Compensatory Damages Was Appropriate
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Disability, Discrimination
Board of Directors Quota Law May Be Unconstitutional
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion
Tax Hikes Proposed to Bail Out California Unemployment Fund
By Tony Oncidi and Ryan McGill on Posted in New and Proposed Laws and Legislation
Board of Directors Quota Law May Be Unconstitutional
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Diversity and Inclusion, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation
California Safety Board Narrows Emergency Temporary Standards (Effective Immediately)
By Tony Oncidi, Kate Gold, Philippe A. Lebel and Wesley C. Shelton on Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19
California Revokes Controversial Masking Rules
By Tony Oncidi, Philippe A. Lebel and Michelle Lappen on Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19
California Workers Can’t Ditch Masks Just Yet
By Tony Oncidi, Kate Gold and Philippe A. Lebel on Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19
Alleged Employer Violation of a Local Ordinance Cannot Support a Wrongful Discharge Claim
Big Brother Comes to Santa Clara County with Latest COVID-19 Order
By Tony Oncidi and Philippe A. Lebel on Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19
California Mulls More Job Killer Bills, Major Tax Hikes
PAGA Has Failed Californians – Unless You’re A Plaintiff’s Lawyer That is
By Tony Oncidi and Dylan K. Tedford on Posted in Attorney's Fees, Class Actions, PAGA
The Biden Administration’s First 100 days: What California Employers and Employees Need to Know
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Biden Administration Coverage
One More for Good Measure: Another Round of Mandatory Vaccination Guidelines
By Tony Oncidi and Michelle Lappen on Posted in Coronavirus, COVID-19, Employment Policies, Wage and Hour
