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.
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California Governor Jerry Brown has signed Assembly Bill 2770 (Assembly Member Irwin; D-Thousand Oaks), an act to amend Section 47 of the Civil Code. The bill should protect both sexual harassment victims and employers against defamation claims from alleged harassers. The bill was sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce and passed the Legislature with unanimous, bipartisan … Continue Reading
We invite you to review our newly-posted July 2018 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Supreme Court Bars Mandatory Union Dues For Public Employees Supreme Court Upholds Employee Class Action Waivers Court Reverses Defense Verdict In Sexual Harassment Case Employer May Be … Continue Reading
Maldonado v. Epsilon Plastics, Inc., 22 Cal. App. 5th 1308 (2018) Olvin Maldonado filed this class action against his employer based upon an improperly adopted Alternative Workweek Schedule (“AWS”). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment of the trial court, finding that Epsilon failed to prove that there had been a preadoption vote of the … Continue Reading
Canales v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 23 Cal. App. 5th 1262 (2018) Fabio Canales and Andy Cortes sued Wells Fargo under PAGA for an alleged violation of Cal. Lab. Code § 226 for failure to provide an itemized wage statement concurrently with a terminated employee’s final wages paid in-store. The trial court granted summary judgment … Continue Reading
Campbell v. State of Hawaii Dep’t of Educ., 892 F.3d 1005 (9th Cir. 2018) Patricia Campbell was employed by the Hawaii Department of Education (“DOE”) for nine years until she resigned because she was allegedly harassed and degraded by students on the basis of her race (white) and her sex. She alleges that students called … Continue Reading
Fierro v. Landry’s Rest. Inc., 23 Cal. App. 5th 325 (2018) Jorge Fierro filed this class action, claiming that he and the other members of the putative class were misclassified as exempt employees and that, in fact, they were non-exempt, non-managerial employees who are owed unpaid overtime wages and penalties. Landry’s responded by filing a … Continue Reading
Raines v. Coastal Pac. Food Distrib., Inc., 23 Cal. App. 5th 667 (2018) Terri Raines sued Coastal Pacific individually and under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) for failure to furnish her and other employees accurate itemized wage statements showing the applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period and the corresponding number of … Continue Reading
Newland v. County of Los Angeles, 234 Cal. Rptr. 3d 374 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018) Donald Prigo worked as a Deputy Public Defender for the County. One day on his way home from work, Prigo hit a car driven by Kevin Vargas who was forced off the road and injured a pedestrian (plaintiff, Jake Newland). … Continue Reading
Liberty Surplus Ins. Corp. v. Ledesma & Meyer Constr. Co., 233 Cal. Rptr. 3d 487 (Cal. S. Ct. 2018) Ledesma & Meyer Construction Company (“L&M”) contracted with the San Bernardino Unified School District to manage a construction project at a middle school where a 13-year-old student (“Jane Doe”) was allegedly sexually abused by Darold Hecht, … Continue Reading
Snapp v. BNSF Ry., 889 F.3d 1088 (9th Cir. 2018) Danny Snapp sued his former employer, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. (“BNSF”), for failure to accommodate his alleged disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Snapp worked as a division trainmaster, but due to “tiredness and low energy,” he went … Continue Reading
Camacho v. Target Corp., 234 Cal. Rptr. 3d 223 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018) Adrian Camacho, a former Target cashier, sued for alleged sexual orientation discrimination, harassment causing a hostile work environment, retaliation, constructive termination in violation of public policy and related claims. Prior to resigning his employment with Target, Camacho settled a workers’ compensation (“WC”) … Continue Reading
Taswell v. The Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 23 Cal. App. 5th 343 (2018) Carl Taswell, M.D., alleged he was retaliated against for his whistleblowing activities regarding patient safety at the brain imaging center during his employment with the University of California, Irvine. Prior to commencing his civil action, Taswell filed an internal complaint … Continue Reading
Wassmann v. South Orange County Cmty. Coll. Dist., 2018 WL 3063946 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018) Carol Wassmann challenged her dismissal from employment as a tenured librarian at Irvine Valley College in a five-day administrative proceeding brought pursuant to the Education Code. The administrative law judge determined there was cause to terminate Wassmann’s employment, and the … Continue Reading
Abed v. Western Dental Servs., Inc., 23 Cal. App. 5th 859 (2018) Western Dental posted a job opening for a dental assistant in its Napa, California office while Ada Abed was working there as a student extern. Although Abed originally had been assured that the externship was a four- to six-week “working interview” and that … Continue Reading
Meeks v. AutoZone, Inc., 2018 WL 3062555 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018) Natasha Meeks worked as a store manager for AutoZone and claimed that she had been sexually harassed by Juan Fajardo, another store manager. Among other things, Meeks testified that Fajardo would comment on her body and clothes; ask her to go out with him; … Continue Reading
Epic Sys. Corp. v. Lewis, 584 U.S. ___, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018) The United States Supreme Court ruled that employers may require their employees to arbitrate disputes with the employer individually and waive their right to pursue or participate in a class or collective action against the employer. In a 5-4 ruling in favor … Continue Reading
Janus v. AFSCME, 585 U.S. ___, 2018 WL 3129785 (2018) In a highly anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court held that it is a violation of the First Amendment to require public sector employees who are not members of a union to pay any union dues, even when a portion of those dues is … Continue Reading
On July 4th, U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez issued an order enjoining California from enforcing parts of the California Immigration Workers Protection Act (Assembly Bill 450), a new state law that restricted private employers from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. See our previous blog post regarding the lawsuit here. Among other things, the law … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, a Los Angeles jury did what L.A. juries do so often these days — they awarded tens of millions of dollars to an ex-employee who claimed she had been the victim of discrimination, wrongful termination and retaliation. Codie Rael, who worked as a materials buyer for a dental supply company, claimed that she … Continue Reading
In a highly anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court today held that it is a violation of the First Amendment to require public sector employees who are not members of a union to pay any union dues, even when a portion of those dues is attributable to the costs of collective bargaining on behalf … Continue Reading
In the immortal words of Mao Zedong: “Let a hundred flowers blossom!” Multiple cities and hamlets throughout California have enacted slightly differing and, of course, maddeningly confusing non-uniform minimum wage laws. Not surprisingly, no one in Sacramento seems at all concerned about the administrative burden to California employers in having to monitor and comply with so … Continue Reading
Earlier this month, San Francisco’s Public Safety & Neighborhood Services Committee unanimously approved an ordinance that requires certain cannabis business permit applicants to agree to enter into a collective bargaining agreement (a “Labor Peace Agreement”) with a “Bona Fide Labor Organization” as a condition of receiving a cannabis business permit. The measure applies to business … Continue Reading
California Assembly Member Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) has introduced legislation (Assembly Bill 3042) that would recognize “International Workers’ Day” as a public holiday for students and school employees in the state. The bill would authorize school districts and charter schools to designate May 1 as “International Workers’ Day” with schools to be closed – and … Continue Reading
The California Office of Administrative Law recently approved new amendments to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”), strengthening the protections afforded to applicants and employees, including individuals who are undocumented, on the basis of their national origin. Although the FEHA already prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of national origin, these new … Continue Reading
New California Statute Shields Victims/Employers from Defamation Claims
July 2018 California Employment Law Notes
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, Employment Law Notes
Employer Improperly Adopted Alternative Workweek Schedule But Wage Statement Penalties Are Reversed
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Employment Law Notes, Wage and Hour
Employer Need Not Provide Wage Statement Concurrently With Payment of Employee’s Final Wages
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Employment Law Notes, PAGA
Former High School Teacher’s Race/Sex Discrimination Claims Were Properly Dismissed
Successive Class Action Was Not Barred By Statute Of Limitations
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Class Actions, Employment Law Notes
PAGA Wage Statement Claim Does Not Require Proof of Injury
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Employment Law Notes, PAGA
Employer Not Vicariously Liable For Injuries Caused By Employee During His Commute
Negligent Hiring Claim May Be Covered By CGL Insurance Policy
Ninth Circuit Affirms ADA Judgment In Favor Of Employer
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in ADA, Disability, Employment Law Notes
Release Executed In Workers’ Compensation Case Did Not Bar Subsequent Civil Action
Whistleblower Lawsuit Should Not Have Been Dismissed
Former Librarian’s Discrimination Claims Were Barred On Various Legal Grounds
Employer May Be Liable For “Thwarting” Pregnant Extern From Applying For Job
Court Reverses Defense Verdict In Sexual Harassment Case
Supreme Court Upholds Employee Class Action Waivers
Supreme Court Bars Mandatory Union Dues For Public Employees
By Tony Oncidi on Posted in Employment Law Notes, Supreme Court
Some California “Sanctuary State” Employer Obligations Are Struck Down
By Tony Oncidi and Tracey Silver on Posted in Form I-9, Immigration, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation
