California Employment Law Notes

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Kaiser Found. Hospitals v. Wilson, 201 Cal. App. 4th 550 (2011)

The trial court considered hearsay evidence in issuing injunctions under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 527.8, prohibiting Jeff Wilson (the husband of a terminated Kaiser employee) from committing acts of violence or making threats of violence against two Kaiser employees. The trial court considered hearsay evidence that Wilson had threatened to “put [the…

Johnson v. Board of Trustees, 2011 WL 6091313 (9th Cir. 2011)

Patricia Johnson, who had a history of depression and bipolar disorder, taught special education for a school district in Idaho for a decade. Before her teaching certificate expired in 2007, Johnson failed to take sufficient college courses to obtain a renewal of the certificate because she experienced a “major depressive episode.” As a…

Haligowski v. Superior Court, 200 Cal. App. 4th 983 (2011)

While employed by Safway Services, Inc., Lieutenant Mario Pantuso was called to active duty with the United States Navy. When Pantuso returned from his six-month deployment in Iraq and asked for his job back, his immediate supervisor and the regional manager informed him that he was terminated from employment. Pantuso sued Safway and the…

Fuentes v. AutoZone, Inc., 200 Cal. App. 4th 1221 (2011)

Marcela Fuentes worked as a part-time customer service representative (cashier) for AutoZone. Fuentes alleged that two managers (Melvin Garcia and Gonzalo Carrillo) had spread rumors that Fuentes had sexually transmitted herpes; that she and a coworker were engaged in a sexual relationship; and that she could make more money working as a stripper. On…

Cordero-Sacks v. Housing Authority of Los Angeles, 200 Cal. App. 4th 1267 (2011)

Ada Cordero-Sacks was terminated from her position as an attorney in the Los Angeles Housing Authority’s Office of Internal Control following her investigation of alleged internal misconduct and fraud within the Authority. Cordero-Sacks’s claim for retaliatory discharge under the California False Claims Act (the “FCA”) was tried to a jury, which…

Pirjada v. Superior Court, 201 Cal. App. 4th 1074 (2011)

Putative class representative Obaidul H. Pirjada filed a complaint on behalf of himself and a putative class of all security guards who had been employed in California by Pacific National Security, Inc. during the preceding four years. The complaint alleged a failure to provide meal-and-rest periods and various other wage-and-hour violations as well as…

Harris v. Superior Court, 53 Cal.4th 170 (2011)

Plaintiffs in this case are claims adjusters employed by two insurance companies. They filed four putative class actions, claiming they had been erroneously classified as exempt administrative employees and seeking damages based upon unpaid overtime. The court of appeal held as a matter of law that plaintiffs were non-exempt employees who were entitled to overtime pay.…

Comite de Jornaleros de Redondo Beach v. City of Redondo Beach, 657 F.3d 936 (9th Cir. 2011) (en banc)

In May 1987, the City of Redondo Beach adopted an ordinance that prohibits any person to “stand on a street or highway and solicit…employment, business, or contributions from an occupant of any motor vehicle.” In 2004, the city initiated the “Day Labor Enforcement Project” in…

In re Roman Catholic Archbishop of Portland, 657 F.3d 1008 (2011)

Documents that were produced in discovery and filed in the bankruptcy court contained allegations that Fathers “M” and “D” (two priests who were not parties to the Portland Archdiocese’s bankruptcy case) had sexually abused children. The bankruptcy court held that the discovery documents could be disclosed to the public because the public’s interest…

Solis v. State of Washington, 656 F.3d 1079 (9th Cir. 2011)

The U.S. Secretary of Labor filed a complaint against the State of Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services (“DSHS”), alleging a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (“FLSA”) based upon the DSHS’s classification of its social workers as “learned professionals” exempt from the FLSA’s overtime pay requirements. The district…