In a ruling that has garnered significant interest among employers, the U.S. Supreme Court held on Wednesday that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts the California Supreme Court’s efforts to impose heightened unconscionability standards on class action waivers in consumer arbitration agreements. This decision may also sound the death knell for similar restrictions imposed by California and other states on arbitration agreements in the employment setting.
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March 2011 California Employment Law Notes
By Proskauer Rose on
We invite you to review our newly posted March 2011 California Employment Law Notes — a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
- NASA Employees’ Privacy Was Not Invaded By Background Check
- Pregnancy Harassment Claim Was Properly Dismissed, And Employee Waived Attorney-Client Privilege By Using Employer’s Computer
- U.S. Supreme Court Recognizes "Cat’s Paw" Liability Theory
- U.S.
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Your Lawyer Said What? — Court Rules Employee’s Communications with Lawyer Over Company Email Are Not Privileged
By Proskauer Rose on
A California court has ruled that an employee’s emails with her lawyer over the company’s computer system were not privileged because they “were akin to consulting with her lawyer in her employer’s conference room, in a loud voice, with the door open, so that any reasonable person would expect that their discussion of her complaints about her employer would be overheard.” Holmes v. Petrovich Dev. Co., 2011 WL 117230 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011).
Ahead of Brinker, Court of Appeal Holds Employers Need Only Provide Meal and Rest Breaks
By Proskauer Rose on
While California employers continue to await a definitive ruling from the California Supreme Court, the California Court of Appeal this week issued a ruling determining that employers need only provide employees with meal and rest breaks and need not necessarily ensure that employees take them.
Vacation Policy Pitfall: Superior Court Awards $8.3 Million in Vacation Pay Dispute
By Proskauer Rose on
California employers should take heed of yet another reminder about the need to carefully craft and administer employee leave and benefits programs such as a paid vacation policy.
California Supreme Court Rules There Is No Private Right of Action for Misappropriation of Employee Tips
By Proskauer Rose on
The decision establishes that employees have no right to sue under the California Labor Code to recover tips or gratuities allegedly withheld or misappropriated by their employer.
California Supreme Court Abandons “Stray Remarks Doctrine”
By Proskauer Rose on
The California Supreme Court has restricted, if not eliminated the "stray remarks doctrine," one of the most common defenses employers rely upon in workplace discrimination cases. The ruling erects another significant barrier to keeping tenuous discrimination claims from proceeding to trial.
California Courts Further Clarify Class Certification Requirements in Wage-and-Hour Suits
By Proskauer Rose on
Recent developments demonstrate that an employer’s uniform policy of classifying employees as exempt from wage-and-hour laws is insufficient to establish the requirements of class certification.
Just in Time for Summer: New Federal and State Guidelines on Intern Pay
By Proskauer Rose on
It’s that time of the year. School is out. The weather is warm. And high school and college students all over the country are descending on the workforce in search of temporary summer employment. That means it’s also time for businesses who take on temporary summer workers to familiarize themselves with the federal and state regulations governing the wages and hours of "interns."
Supreme Court Limits Scope of Wage and Hour Liability
By Proskauer Rose on
The California Supreme Court unanimously held that businesses cannot be liable under state wage and hour laws for the failure of an independent contractor to properly pay wages to its employees and confirmed the bar on personal liability for officers, directors and agents of a business for violations of state wage and hour laws.
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