California Employment Law Notes

Subscribe to California Employment Law Notes via RSS

D’Este v. Bayer Corp., 565 F.3d 1119 (9th Cir. 2009)

The Ninth Circuit has certified two questions of law to be answered by the California Supreme Court pursuant to Cal. Rule of Court 8.548: (1) Does a pharmaceutical sales representative (“PSR”) qualify as an “outside salesperson” under Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders 1-2001 and 4-2001 if the PSR spends more than half the working…

FLIR Sys., Inc. v. Parrish, 2009 WL 1653103 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009)

FLIR Systems purchased Indigo Systems, which manufactures and sells microbolometers (a device used in connection with infrared cameras, night vision and thermal imaging), for $185 million in 2004. William Parrish and Timothy Fitzgibbons were shareholders and officers of Indigo before the company was sold to FLIR; after the sale, they continued working…

Haro v. City of Rosemead, 174 Cal. App. 4th 1067 (2009)

Randy Haro and Robert Ballin filed an action against the city of Rosemead alleging a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The trial court denied plaintiffs’ motion to have the class certified pursuant to Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 382 (the California class action statute) on the ground that an…

Martorana v. Marlin & Saltzman, 2009 WL 1875681 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009)

Ron Martorana was a class member in a wage and hour class action that had been filed against his former employer, Allstate Insurance Company. The Los Angeles Superior Court approved a settlement of the class action, but Martorana did not recover any portion of the settlement because he had failed to timely…

Arias v. Superior Court, 2009 WL 1838973 (Cal. S. Ct. 2009)

Jose Arias sued his former employer, Angelo Dairy, for a number of alleged violations of the California Labor Code, including five claims that he asserted on behalf of himself as well as other current and former employees under the Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”). The trial court granted the employer’s motion to strike all…

Oravecz v. New York Life Ins. Co., 95 Cal. Rptr 3d 1 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009)

Paul Oravecz sued Steve Roth and New York Life (which was allegedly Roth’s employer) after losing money in an investment in an offshore foreign currency trading fund, which Oravecz alleged was a “Ponzi scheme.” Among the claims Oravecz alleged against New York Life were negligent misrepresentation, failure to…

Nein v. HostPro, Inc., 174 Cal. App. 4th 833 (2009)

Randy Nein was employed by HostPro as a salesperson. In December 2000, he approached AT&T and suggested that HostPro provide web-hosting services to some of AT&T’s business customers. The transaction was still being negotiated a year later when Nein’s employment was terminated. He filed this lawsuit to recover commissions associated with the AT&T transaction…

Owen v. Macy’s, Inc., 2009 WL 1844338 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009)

Lisa Owen worked as a sales associate at Robinsons-May until it was acquired by Macy’s in August 2005. In January 2006, employees at the Arcadia store where Owen worked were informed that the store would close by April. After the store closed on March 18, 2006, Owen received her final pay, which included…

Chau v. Starbucks Corp., 174 Cal. App. 4th 688 (2009)

Jou Chau, a former Starbucks “barista,” brought a class action against the company, challenging Starbucks’ policy of permitting shift supervisors to share in tips that customers place in a collective tip box. Chau alleged the policy violated California’s Unfair Competition Law based on a violation of Labor Code § 351. The trial court certified…

14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett, 556 U.S. 247, 129 S. Ct. 1456 (2009)

Plaintiffs, members of the Service Employees International Union (the “SEIU”), filed a complaint with the EEOC alleging age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and, after receiving their right-to-sue letters, filed suit against their employer alleging age discrimination. In response, the employer filed a motion to compel arbitration…