California Employment Law Notes

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McCarther v. Pacific Telesis Group, 163 Cal. App. 4th 176 (2008)

Kimberly McCarther alleged that her employer, SBC Services, violated Cal. Labor Code § 233 (the “kin care” leave statute) when it failed to pay her for her absence for seven consecutive workdays in 2004 to care for two of her children who were ill. McCarther and another employee sued on behalf of themselves…

Profit Concepts Mgmt., Inc. v. Griffith, 162 Cal. App. 4th 950 (2008)

Profit Concepts sued Greg Griffith, a former employee, for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets in Orange County Superior Court. Griffith, who was an Oklahoma resident at the time, moved to quash service for lack of personal jurisdiction. (The contract contained a prevailing party attorney’s fees provision.) Profit Concepts filed…

Mendiondo v. Centinela Hosp. Med. Ctr., 521 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir. 2008)

Marie Bernadette Mendiondo, who worked as a nurse at the medical center, alleged she was terminated in retaliation for her complaints regarding allegedly false billing and reimbursement practices and substandard patient care in violation of the Federal and California False Claims Acts. Although the district court dismissed her claims, the Ninth Circuit…

SDV/ACCI, Inc. v. AT&T Corp., 522 F.3d 955 (9th Cir. 2008)

SDV/ACCI (a consulting and staffing service company) and its principals sued AT&T after one of AT&T’s employees sent several e-mails in and outside the company stating that SDV/ACCI would no longer be providing services to AT&T because SDV/ACCI was having “financial difficulties.” The district court granted summary judgment to AT&T, but the Ninth…

Diaz v. Eagle Produce, 521 F.3d 1201 (9th Cir. 2008)

Phoenix Agro Invest, Inc. and SAM Management, Inc. operate a commercial broccoli and melon farm in Arizona and usually lay-off workers during the winter months. Among others, the company laid off plaintiffs, four workers over the age of 50 years old, who challenged the lay off under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”).…

Flores v. Autozone West, Inc., 161 Cal. App. 4th 373 (2008)

Juan Rodriguez Flores was injured by Erwin Gomez, an Autozone employee, when Gomez struck Flores on the head with a steel pipe. Flores sued Autozone for assault and battery based on a respondeat superior theory and for negligent hiring and related torts. The trial court granted Autozone’s motion for summary judgment, but the…

Miller v. American Greetings Corp., 161 Cal. App. 4th 1055 (2008)

Holly and Paul Miller sued Christopher Magdaleno and American Greetings, his employer, for injuries Holly sustained when Magdaleno hit her with his pick-up truck while she stood next to her car on a road in Pasadena. The Millers subpoenaed Magdaleno’s cellphone records, which indicated that Magdaleno had been speaking to his crew chief…

Harvey v. Sybase, Inc., 161 Cal. App. 4th 1547 (2008)

Marietta Harvey was hired and supervised by Nita White-Ivy in the human resources departments of two different companies, including Sybase. When Sybase terminated Harvey, she alleged discrimination on the basis of race or gender. The jury agreed and returned a verdict in Harvey’s favor in the amount of $1.3 million in compensatory damages and…

Bradstreet v. Wong, 161 Cal. App. 4th 1440 (2008)

Toha Quan and Anna Wong owned the capital stock and served as corporate officers or directors of three San Francisco garment manufacturing companies (the “Wins Corporations”). For several months during the summer of 2001, the Wins Corporations failed to meet their payroll obligations, and the owners encouraged the employees to continue working without pay. After…

Lonicki v. Sutter Health Central, 43 Cal. 4th 201 (2008)

Antonina Lonicki, a certified technician of sterile processing, was fired when she failed to return to her job at Sutter, following a leave of absence. During the leave, Lonicki continued to perform the same job duties at Kaiser in the same geographic area. In her lawsuit, Lonicki alleged Sutter had violated the California Family…