Hughes v. Pair, 46 Cal. 4th 1035 (2009)
Suzan Hughes, the third wife of Herbalife founder Mark Hughes, sued Christopher Pair, one of the three trustees of Mark’s estate, for sexual harassment under Civil Code § 51.9 (which prohibits sexual harassment in certain business, service and professional relationships) and for intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Although this case does not involve an employment relationship,
Scotch v. Art Inst. of Cal.-Orange County, Inc., 173 Cal. App. 4th 986 (2009)
Carmine Scotch sued his former employer, the Art Institute of California-Orange County, Inc. (“AIC”) for discrimination based on his disability (HIV), failure to make reasonable accommodation, failure to engage in the required interactive process, failure to maintain a workplace free of discrimination, and retaliation. The Court of Appeal affirmed summary
Gross v. FBL Fin. Servs., Inc., 557 U.S. 167, 129 S. Ct. 2343 (2009)
Jack Gross worked for FBL as a claims administration director until he was reassigned to the position of claims project coordinator. At the time of his reassignment, many of Gross’s job responsibilities were transferred to a newly created position (claims administration manager) that was filled by Lisa Kneeskern, one of
Ricci v. DeStefano, 557 U.S. 557, 129 S.Ct. 2658 (2009)
One hundred eighteen firefighters took written examinations administered by the city of New Haven, Connecticut in order to qualify for promotion to the rank of lieutenant or captain. When the examination results showed that white candidates had outperformed minority candidates, the mayor and other local politicians opened a public debate that “turned rancorous.” Some
Gross v. FBL Fin. Servs., Inc., 557 U.S. 167, 129 S. Ct. 2343 (2009)
Jack Gross worked for FBL as a claims administration director until he was reassigned to the position of claims project coordinator. At the time of his reassignment, many of Gross’s job responsibilities were transferred to a newly created position (claims administration manager) that was filled by Lisa Kneeskern, one of
Ricci v. DeStefano, 557 U.S. ___, 129 S. Ct. 2658 (2009)
One hundred eighteen firefighters took written examinations administered by the city of New Haven, Connecticut in order to qualify for promotion to the rank of lieutenant or captain. When the examination results showed that white candidates had outperformed minority candidates, the mayor and other local politicians opened a public debate that “turned rancorous.”
D’Este v. Bayer Corp., 565 F.3d 1119 (9th Cir. 2009)
The Ninth Circuit has certified two questions of law to be answered by the California Supreme Court pursuant to Cal. Rule of Court 8.548: (1) Does a pharmaceutical sales representative (“PSR”) qualify as an “outside salesperson” under Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders 1-2001 and 4-2001 if the PSR spends more than half the working
FLIR Sys., Inc. v. Parrish, 2009 WL 1653103 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009)
FLIR Systems purchased Indigo Systems, which manufactures and sells microbolometers (a device used in connection with infrared cameras, night vision and thermal imaging), for $185 million in 2004. William Parrish and Timothy Fitzgibbons were shareholders and officers of Indigo before the company was sold to FLIR; after the sale, they continued working
Haro v. City of Rosemead, 174 Cal. App. 4th 1067 (2009)
Randy Haro and Robert Ballin filed an action against the city of Rosemead alleging a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The trial court denied plaintiffs’ motion to have the class certified pursuant to Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 382 (the California class action statute) on the ground that an
Martorana v. Marlin & Saltzman, 2009 WL 1875681 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009)
Ron Martorana was a class member in a wage and hour class action that had been filed against his former employer, Allstate Insurance Company. The Los Angeles Superior Court approved a settlement of the class action, but Martorana did not recover any portion of the settlement because he had failed to timely