Jordan v. Northrop Grumman Corp., 370 F.3d 869 (9th Cir. 2004)
Vicki Jordan worked as a senior administrative secretary for Northrop from 1984 to 1995 at which time she applied for long-term disability benefits following her diagnosis with fibromyalgia — a syndrome whose cause is unknown and symptoms are entirely subjective. Northrop’s plan administrator denied Jordan’s disability claim after determining that her “condition is
Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders, 542 U.S. 129, 124 S. Ct. 2342 (2004)
Nancy Drew Suders alleged sexual harassment by her supervisors, officers of the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), of such severity that she was forced to resign. The question before the U.S. Supreme Court in this case was whether the PSP could avail itself of the Ellerth/Faragher affirmative defense first enunciated by the
RUI One Corp. v. City of Berkeley, 371 F.3d 1137 (9th Cir. 2004)
In 2000, the City of Berkeley enacted its living wage ordinance, which mandated minimum hourly wages and employee benefits be provided by private employers located within the Berkeley Marina or that received some form of financial benefit from the City (e.g., City contract awardees, lessees of City property, City financial aid
Janik v. Rudy, Exelrod & Zieff, 119 Cal. App. 4th 930 (2004)
Plaintiffs’ attorneys, who produced a class action recovery of more than $90 million for their clients, were sued by those same clients for malpractice because the attorneys had failed to allege a claim for Unfair Competition (Business & Professions Code § 17200) along with the single claim they did assert for unpaid
Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 137 (N.D. Cal. 2004) (Jenkins, J.)
Plaintiffs in this Title VII class-action lawsuit alleged that women employed in Wal-Mart stores are paid less than men in comparable positions, despite having higher performance ratings and greater seniority, receive fewer promotions to in-store management positions, and those who are promoted must wait longer than their male counterparts to advance.
Sinatra v. Chico Unified School Dist., 119 Cal. App. 4th 701 (2004)
Charles F. Sinatra, a former assistant principal at Chico High School, alleged wrongful termination in violation of the public policy purportedly embodied in California Education Code § 44922, which permits a school district to allow older, full-time employees to work part time without jeopardizing their retirement and health care benefits. Sinatra alleged
Prince v. CLS Transp., Inc., 118 Cal. App. 4th 1320 (2004)
Ronald Prince and two other employees filed a class-action complaint against CLS Transportation, Inc., seeking unpaid wages on behalf of more than 500 CLS drivers. CLS demurred on the ground that there was no well-defined community of interest and that a class action was not superior to other methods of adjudicating these particular
SEC v. Gemstar-TV Guide Int’l, 367 F.3d 1087 (9th Cir. 2004)
As part of its announced plans to restructure its management and corporate governance, Gemstar-TV Guide entered into negotiations for termination agreements with its CEO and CFO. The CEO’s termination agreement provided for a “termination fee” of $22.45 million, an additional $7.03 million in unpaid salary, bonuses, and unused vacation and millions of shares
Soukup v. Stock, 118 Cal. App. 4th 1490, 15 Cal. Rptr. 3d 303 (2004)
Peggy Soukup, a former employee of the Law Offices of Herbert Hafif, sued Ronald C. Stock for abuse of process and malicious prosecution based upon Stock’s prosecution of an earlier lawsuit against Soukup on behalf of the Hafifs and their law firm. The underlying lawsuit, which involved Soukup’s alleged disclosure
Siebel v. Mittlesteadt, 118 Cal. App. 4th 406, 12 Cal. Rptr. 3d 906 (2004)
Thomas M. Siebel, the CEO of Siebel Systems, Inc. (SSI), sued Carol L. Mittlesteadt and E. Rick Buell, II (the Lawyers), for malicious prosecution based on their representation of Debra Christoffers, a former SSI employee. Through the Lawyers, Christoffers sued Siebel (individually) as well as SSI for wrongful termination, fraud,