Murphy v. Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc., 134 Cal. App. 4th 728 (2005)
Former store manager John Paul Murphy sued Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. (KCP), a small, upscale retail clothing store, for violations of the wage and hour law, asserting that he was improperly classified as an exempt employee. After resigning his employment, Murphy filed a complaint with the Labor Commissioner. The Labor Commissioner awarded
Greka Integrated, Inc. v. Lowrey, 133 Cal. App. 4th 1572 (2005)
Greka Integrated sued its former safety manager, Gary Lowrey, for breach of a non-disclosure agreement and conversion associated with Lowrey’s taking emails and other documents that belonged to the company and for disclosing those documents to third parties, including Greka’s competitors. Lowrey contended that he discovered many violations of worker safety and environmental
Figueroa v. Northridge Hosp. Med. Ctr., 134 Cal. App. 4th 10 (2005)
One year after she filed suit against Northridge Hospital for discrimination and failure to accommodate her pregnancy, among other things, Raquel Figueroa requested leave to file an amended complaint to include class action claims for failure to pay wages and unfair business practices on behalf of all current and former nurses and
MacIsaac v. Waste Mgmt. Collection & Recycling, Inc., 134 Cal. App. 4th 1076 (2005)
North Bay Disposal Corporation purchased from Empire Waste Management a contract to provide waste disposal services to the City of Santa Rosa. As part of the agreement, Empire Waste transferred to North Bay one mechanic and 41 garbage truck drivers who would drive the same routes for the City, use
Doe 1 v. Superior Court (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles), 132 Cal. App. 4th 1160 (2005)
Petitioners in this case, 26 Roman Catholic priests, filed this action to prevent the Los Angeles Archdiocese from publicly disclosing written summaries that were made of the personnel records of more than 100 priests who were accused of sexually molesting minors. The summaries were prepared for purposes
County of San Luis Obispo v. WCAB, 133 Cal. App. 4th 641 (2005)
While working as a mental health therapist for the County of San Luis Obispo, Art Martinez sustained injuries to his neck, spine, wrist and shoulder when he was assaulted by a violent patient. When Martinez returned to work three years later, he was placed in a different job at a different
Farmers Bros. Coffee v. WCAB, 133 Cal. App. 4th 533, 35 Cal. Rptr. 3d 23 (2005)
When Rafael Ruiz, an illegal alien, sought workers’ compensation benefits from his employer, Farmers Brothers Coffee, the company asserted that the California law under which Ruiz could be considered an employee was preempted by the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). The WCAB rejected the
First Aid Services of San Diego, Inc. v. California Employment Dev. Dep’t, 133 Cal. App. 4th 1470 (2005)
First Aid Services of San Diego, Inc. challenged the California Employment Development Department’s decision to grant unemployment benefits to Tiffany Whittaker, an emergency medical technician employed by an ambulance service, who supplemented her income by accepting assignments from First Aid, a company that sends EMT’s to
IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez, 546 U.S. 21, 126 S. Ct. 514 (2005)
Non-exempt meat packing employees of IBP, Inc. (the world’s largest producer of fresh beef, pork and related products) filed a class action lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the employees who alleged that they should have been paid for the
Raghavan v. Boeing Co., 133 Cal. App. 4th 1120 (2005)
Krishnan Raghavan sued Boeing for defamation, among other things, based upon a written reprimand that Raghavan received in which he was accused of (1) failing to disclose all relevant information concerning a business trip he had made to Russia in April 2001 and (2) providing false or misleading information to Boeing executives during a