Mamou v. Trendwest Resorts, Inc., 165 Cal. App. 4th 686 (2008)
Tamer Mamou was employed as a project director for Trendwest (a company that sells timeshares at various resort locations) when he was terminated after approximately 12 years of employment. Trendwest terminated Mamou after it became aware that he had filed documents with the California Secretary of State in which it appeared Mamou was
Alch v. Superior Court, 165 Cal. App. 4th 1412 (2008)
In this ongoing putative class action filed by television writers alleging “industry-wide” age discrimination, the writers served subpoenas on the Writers Guild of America (“WGA”) and other third parties, seeking demographic information, including dates of birth, employment data such as writers’ employers, job titles, credits and dates of employment, and anecdotal evidence of age
Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, 165 Cal. App. 4th 25 (2008)
In this case, the Court of Appeal decided a number important issues concerning employee class action claims for alleged rest break violations, meal period and “early lunching” violations and off-the-clock/“time shaving” violations. The Court of Appeal determined the claims were not amenable to class treatment because individual issues predominated and, accordingly, granted
Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP, 44 Cal. 4th 937 (2008)
CPA Raymond Edwards II was hired in 1997 as a tax manager for the Los Angeles office of the now defunct accounting firm Arthur Andersen LLP (“Andersen”). As a condition of his employment, Edwards was required to execute a noncompetition agreement that prohibited his (1) “perform[ing] professional services” for 18 months post-termination on behalf
Chamber of Commerce v. Brown, 554 U.S. 60, 128 S. Ct. 2408 (2008)
Assembly Bill 1889, enacted in 2000, prohibited private employers that receive state funds – whether by reimbursement, grant, contract, use of state property or pursuant to a state program – from using such funds to “assist, promote, or deter union organizing.” Violators were to be liable to the state for the
Steele v. Youthful Offender Parole Bd., 162 Cal. App. 4th 1241 (2008)
Lisa Steele worked as an office assistant/receptionist for the YOPB. In her spare time, Steele competed in several bikini contests that were sponsored by a local radio station. On the day of the final contest, Raul Galindo, chairman of the YOPB, asked Steele if she was going to participate in any other
Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Lab., 554 U.S. 84, 128 S. Ct. 2395 (2008)
When the United States government ordered Knolls (one of the contractors that maintains the nation’s fleet of nuclear-powered warships) to reduce its workforce, the company conducted an involuntary reduction in force, resulting in the layoff of 31 employees, 30 of whom were age 40 or older. Twenty-eight of the laid-off
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. v. Superior Court, 163 Cal. App. 4th 575 (2008)
The trade secret owner in this case, Silvaco Data Systems, develops and licenses electronic design automation software. In late 1998, a former Silvaco employee, working for Circuit Systems, Inc. (“CSI”), incorporated Silvaco’s “SmartSpice” trade secrets into CSI’s product, “DynaSpice.” Silvaco sued the employee as well as CSI and in 2003 entered into a
Westrec Marina Mgmt., Inc. v. Arrowood Indemn. Co., 163 Cal. App. 4th 1387 (2008)
Westrec sued its insurance carrier, Arrowood, after the carrier refused to provide a defense to an employment discrimination lawsuit on the ground that Westrec had failed to timely report the third-party claim as required under the terms of two successive directors and officers liability insurance policies issued by Arrowood. Bette
Caso v. Nimrod Productions, Inc., 163 Cal App. 4th 881 (2008)
Christopher Caso, a professional stuntman, suffered severe head injuries while performing a stunt during the production of a television show. Caso and his wife (who sought damages for loss of consortium) sued defendants (the director and the stunt coordinators and their respective loan-out corporations) for negligence. The trial court granted defendants’ motion for