Employers all over California are once again hearing the siren call of arbitration in the wake of a $15.4 million single-plaintiff verdict that a Los Angeles jury delivered to a former Los Angeles Times sports columnist on Monday. T.J. Simers sued the paper for age and disability discrimination. Simers quit his job in 2013 following an investigation into a possible ethical breach on his
We invite you to review our newly-posted May 2019 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
Garcia v. Salvation Army, 918 F.3d 997 (9th Cir. 2019)
Ann Garcia worked as social services coordinator for the Salvation Army but “left the Church” and stopped attending religious services there a few years before taking a lengthy medical leave of absence due to fibromyalgia and eventually being fired for failing to report to work despite being cleared by her doctor. Garcia sued
We invite you to review our newly-posted January 2019 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
Biel v. St. James School, 2018 WL 6597221 (9th Cir. 2018)
Kristen Biel was fired from her fifth grade teaching position at St. James Catholic School after she told the school that she had breast cancer and would need to miss work to undergo chemotherapy. Following her termination, Biel alleged that the school had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The district
Nunies v. HIE Holdings, Inc., 2018 WL 5660625 (9th Cir. 2018)
Herman Nunies was a delivery driver for HIE Holdings who injured his shoulder and wanted to transfer to a part-time, less-physical warehouse job. The requested transfer was approved and was set to go through until Nunies told HIE about his shoulder injury after which the company allegedly rejected his transfer request and
Snapp v. BNSF Ry., 889 F.3d 1088 (9th Cir. 2018)
Danny Snapp sued his former employer, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. (“BNSF”), for failure to accommodate his alleged disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Snapp worked as a division trainmaster, but due to “tiredness and low energy,” he went to a doctor and was diagnosed with sleep
Dunlap v. Liberty Natural Products, 2017 WL 6614570 (9th Cir. 2017)
Tracy Dunlap sued her employer Liberty Natural Products for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Oregon state law when Liberty terminated her employment after she was diagnosed with bilateral lateral epicondylitis in both elbows. The jury awarded Dunlap $70,000 in noneconomic damages, and the district court awarded her $13,200 in
Cornell v. Berkeley Tennis Club, 2017 WL 6524707 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017)
Ketryn Cornell is a severely obese woman (BMI > 50) who was fired from her job as a manager and tennis court washer for the Berkeley Tennis Club. Following her termination, she sued the Club for disability discrimination, failure to accommodate her disability, disability harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge in violation of public