California Employment Law Notes

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Ventress v. Japan Airlines, 603 F.3d 676 (2010)

Martin Ventress, a flight engineer for Japan Airlines (“JAL”), alleged his employment was terminated in violation of the California whistleblower statute (Labor Code § 1102.5(b)) for allegedly reporting safety violations six months after they occurred. JAL moved for judgment on the pleadings, asserting complete federal preemption by the Federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, as amended…

Mendoza v. ADP Screening & Selection Servs., Inc., 182 Cal. App. 4th 1644 (2010)

William Mendoza sued ADP Screening and Selection Services, Inc. (“SASS”) for violations of Penal Code §§ 290.4 and 290.46, the Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act and declaratory relief based upon SASS’s apparent disclosure to a prospective employer of information uncovered during a background check conducted on Mendoza, indicating his status…

JustMed, Inc. v. Byce, 600 F.3d 1118 (9th Cir. 2010)

Michael Byce developed the source code used in the software of a digital audio larynx device that JustMed owned. JustMed contended that Byce was its employee when he developed the code and that the code, therefore, belonged to JustMed under the work-for-hire doctrine of the federal Copyright Act. Byce, however, contended he was an…

Gutierrez v. G&M Oil Co., 184 Cal.App.4th 551 (2010)

Maria Gutierrez filed a wage-and-hour class action lawsuit against G&M Oil Company, an operator of a chain of gas stations throughout California. Michael Gray was G&M’s vice president and general counsel and its registered agent for service of process Gray agreed to accept service of the complaint from Gutierrez’s attorney and decided to handle the…

Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, 603 F.3d 571 (2010) (en banc)

The district court certified a class encompassing all women employed by Wal-Mart at any time after December 26, 1998 who claimed gender discrimination under Title VII and who sought injunctive and declaratory relief, back pay and, in a separate opt-out class, punitive damages. Among other things, plaintiffs claim they received lower pay and fewer…

Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc., 596 F.3d 577 (2010)

Misty Cumbie worked as a waitress at the Vita Café (owned and operated by Woody Woo, Inc.). Woo required its servers to contribute their tips to a “tip pool” that was redistributed to all restaurant employees, including the kitchen staff (dishwashers and cooks). Cumbie filed this putative collective and class action against Woo, alleging that…

Lara v. WCAB, 182 Cal.App.4th 393 (2010)

The Metro Diner hired Luis Lara as a gardener twice during a 12-month period to prune the bushes around the diner. Lara fell off the roof of the diner while pruning the bushes and injured his head, back, neck and other parts of his body. After the fall, Lara filed a workers’ compensation claim against Metro and…

Diaz v. Carcamo, 182 Cal.App.4th 339 (2010)

Dawn Diaz was seriously injured when she was struck by a car that jumped a freeway center divider following its collision with a truck that was driven by Jose Carcamo (a truck driver who was employed by Sugar Transport). Diaz sued both drivers as well as Sugar Transport and obtained a jury verdict in the amount of…