California Employment Law Notes

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Sheppard v. David Evans & Assoc., 694 F.3d 1045 (9th Cir. 2012)

Kathryn Sheppard filed a brief, two-and-a-half page complaint in federal court alleging discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”) and wrongful termination under Oregon state law. The district court dismissed Sheppard’s complaint with prejudice under FRCP 8(a)(2) after concluding she had failed to plead a cause of action with sufficient…

Alamo v. Practice Mgmt. Info. Corp., 2012 WL 4450066 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012)

Lorena Alamo sued her former employer Practice Management Information Corp. (“PMIC”) for pregnancy discrimination and retaliation in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) and wrongful termination in violation of public policy. Alamo was terminated for poor work performance after she returned from maternity leave. Following a jury…

We invite you to review our newly-posted September 2012 California Employment Law Notes – a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: 

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Effective January 1, 2013, California employers will be required to accommodate their employees’ religious dress and grooming practices. Governor Brown has signed into law the “Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2012” (authored by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis)), which specifies that religious dress and grooming practices shall be considered a protected religious observance under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.  The bill defines “religious dress…

Harris v. Superior Court, 207 Cal. App. 4th 1225 (2012)

Plaintiffs in this case are insurance claims adjusters who claim they were misclassified as exempt from overtime under the administrative exemption. The Court of Appeal held that because the adjusters’ primary work duties are the day-to-day tasks of adjusting individual claims and are not directly related to management policies or general business operations, the…

LeFiell Mfg. Co. v. Superior Court, 2012 WL 3570743 (Cal. S. Ct. 2012)

O’Neil Watrous and his wife Nidia filed a civil action against LeFiell Manufacturing for injuries O’Neil suffered while he was operating a swaging machine at work. The swaging machine is a “power press machine” within the meaning of Cal. Labor Code § 4558 – an injury from which provides an exception…

Hooper v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 2012 WL 3124970 (9th Cir. 2012)

Nyle J. Hooper brought suit against Lockheed Martin under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (the “FCA”). Hooper filed suit in the District Court for the District of Maryland, which transferred the suit at Lockheed’s request to the Central District of California on forum non conveniens grounds. The California district…

Robles v. Employment Dev. Dep’t, 207 Cal. App. 4th 1029 (2012)

Jose Robles worked as a service technician for Liquid Environmental Solutions for four years prior to his termination. His job was to collect food grease from restaurants and other food outlets. Robles’s employment was terminated after he attempted to buy shoes for a friend with the $150 annual shoe allowance that Robles received…

Bell v. H.F. Cox, Inc., 2012 WL 3846827 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012)

Oscar Bell and other truck drivers filed a putative class action against Cox, alleging wage and hour violations. Among other things, the drivers alleged that Cox had failed to pay promised vacation benefits to current employees (it paid them a flat rate of $500 of vacation pay per week, which was later…

Hernandez v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., 2012 WL 3579567 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012)

Rogelio Hernandez appealed from the order denying his motion for class certification and granting Chipotle’s motion to deny class certification as to his claims that Chipotle denied non-exempt employees their meal and rest breaks. Chipotle moved to deny class certification on the ground that it had met its responsibility under California…