California Employment Law Notes

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Ochoa v. Fordel, Inc., 146 Cal. App. 4th 898 (2007)

The employers in this action filed a motion to disqualify the employees’ counsel from prosecuting the action on the ground that one of their attorneys, Shelley G. Bryant, had previously been employed by a law firm representing one of the employers in the lawsuit. The Court applied the “modified substantial relationship test” and determined…

Sarka v. The Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 146 Cal. App. 4th 261 (2006)

George Sarka, M.D., was employed as a primary care physician at UCLA’s student health center. He filed a grievance challenging the university’s decision to discharge him for repeatedly refusing to follow the directions of his superior to modify his approach to patient care to be more in accord with…

Ward v. Circus Circus Casinos, 473 F.3d 994 (9th Cir. 2007)

During a meeting to distribute leaflets and inform other union members of the progress on contract negotiations, one employee, Al Williams, stood on a chair and spoke about union members’ defending their employment rights, which resulted in other participants’ chanting and shouting phrases such as “union, yes” and “we want a contract.” Soon…

Christian Research Inst. v. Alnor, 2007 WL 602954 (Cal. Ct. App. Feb. 28, 2007)

William Alnor, a former employee of the Christian Research Institute (CRI), maintains a website that reports on the fundraising and spending practices of various Christian organizations. Suspicious of CRI’s claims that it had lost a substantial amount of money as a result of the misdirection of certain of its mail…

Lowdermilk v. United States Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 2007 WL 678221 (9th Cir. Mar. 2, 2007)

Plaintiffs in this class action sought unpaid wages and penalties under Oregon state law as well as costs and attorneys’ fees for a total amount of alleged damages that did not exceed $5 million. The Bank removed the action to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act of…

Amalgamated Transit Union v. Superior Court, 2007 WL 602519 (Cal. Ct. App. Feb. 28, 2007)

Two labor unions representing mechanics and transit operators filed this lawsuit against several transit company employers, alleging the employers had failed to provide their employees with the meal and rest periods required by law. The unions asserted they had standing to sue under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and…

Incalza v. Fendi N. Am., 2007 WL 656355 (9th Cir. Mar. 6, 2007)

Giancarlo Incalza, a native and citizen of Italy, was the manager of the Beverly Hills Fendi store, an Italian fashion designer. He had an E-1 visa that was secured with Fendi’s assistance. When French nationals purchased a majority interest in Fendi, Fendi’s immigration counsel told the company that although the E-1…

Gambini v. Total Renal Care, Inc., 2007 WL 686350 (9th Cir. Mar. 8, 2007)

Stephanie Gambini sued her former employer, Total Renal Care, Inc., d/b/a DaVita, Inc., alleging that it had discriminated against her in violation of Washington state law prohibiting disability discrimination and the federal Family Medical Leave Act. Gambini was terminated from her employment as a contracts clerk after she exhibited a…

Jones v. The Lodge at Torrey Pines P’ship, 147 Cal. App. 4th 475 (2007)

Scott Jones was employed by The Lodge at Torrey Pines (LTP) as its outlet manager and was responsible for the restaurant, bar, catering, banquet events and the beverage cart service to golfers. At trial Jones testified that Jean Weiss, LTP’s food and beverage director, and another employee directed graphic “gaybashing”…

United States v. Ziegler, 474 F.3d 1184 (9th Cir. 2007)

After the owner of Frontline Processing contacted the FBI with a tip that an employee, Brian Ziegler, had accessed child pornography on the Internet from a workplace computer, Frontline entered Ziegler’s locked office and made a copy of the computer’s hard drive, which was provided to the FBI. Forensic examiners at the FBI discovered…