Martinez-Rodriguez v. Giles, 2022 WL 1132809 (9th Cir. 2022)
Plaintiffs are six citizens of Mexico (all licensed in Mexico as either animal scientists or veterinarians) who were recruited to work as “Animal Scientists” at Funk Diary in Idaho under the TN Visa program for professional employees, as established under the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”). However, once they arrived at Funk Dairy to
Doe v. Anderson Union High School Dist., 2022 WL 1404140 (Cal. Ct. App. 2022)
A teacher at Anderson Union High School allegedly had a sexual relationship with one of his students, which included sexual activities in the classroom. The student sued the school district, the principal and superintendent for negligent hiring and supervision. The trial court granted the school district’s motion for summary judgment,
LGCY Power, LLC v. Superior Court, 75 Cal. App. 5th 844 (2022)
California resident Michael Jed Sewell worked as a sales representative and sales manager for LGCY Power, which is headquartered in Salt Lake County, Utah. In 2015, Sewell signed a “Solar Representative Agreement,” which included noncompetition, nonsolicitation and confidentiality provisions as well as Utah choice of law and forum provisions. In 2019, Sewell
Shields v. Credit One Bank, N.A., 2022 WL 1436839 (9th Cir. 2022)
Karen Shields worked as an HR Generalist for Credit One Bank before her position was eliminated, which occurred after she took a medical leave of absence as an accommodation under the ADA. The district court granted the Bank’s motion to dismiss on the ground that Shields had failed to plead facts sufficient
Scheer v. The Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 76 Cal. App. 5th 904 (2022)
Arnold Scheer, M.D., M.P.H., sued the Regents of the University of California and others for alleged whistleblower retaliation. Dr. Scheer asserted claims under Cal. Lab. Code § 1102.5 (“Section 1102.5”), Cal. Gov’t Code § 8547, et seq., and Cal. Health & Safety Code § 1278.5. Among other things,
In Michelle Roman v. Hertz Local Edition Corp., a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of Hertz, and against former employee Michelle Roman, whose employment was terminated after she contracted COVID. Roman claimed that her job should have been protected by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) while she suffered from mild symptoms
In a significant change of course among major employers, Netflix recently made several modifications to its employee culture memo, which is now called “Netflix Culture – Seeking Excellence.”
Among other things, Netflix inserted a section on “Artistic Expression.” In it, the company acknowledges that “[e]ntertaining the world is an amazing opportunity and also a challenge because viewers have very different tastes and points
A federal court judge pared down last year’s jaw-dropping $137 million damages award against Tesla in a racial bias lawsuit. As covered previously here, a San Francisco federal court jury awarded $6.9 million in emotional distress damages and $130 million in punitive damages to a Black former elevator operator who worked at Tesla’s Fremont facility for approximately one year before quitting his employment in
On March 17, Rover—a digital application connecting pet owners with daily pet-care providers—argued to the Ninth Circuit that it should uphold a California federal judge’s finding that a dog-sitter was properly classified as an independent contractor.
While maintaining that it passes the strict three-pronged “ABC test”—which we have reported on here, here, and here—Rover also asserted that it is a “referral
The California Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee recently passed Senate Bill 1044, moving the legislation one step closer to a vote by the full state senate. SB 1044 would permit employees, without notice, to leave their workplace—or not show up to work at all—if they “feel unsafe.”
SB 1044 would prohibit employers from taking any adverse action against employees who decide to leave