California Employment Law Notes

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ViChip Corp. v. Lee, 438 F. Supp. 2d 1087 (N.D. Cal. 2006)

ViChip sued Dr. Tsu-Chang Lee, the company’s former CEO, president, secretary, CFO and sole director, for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, trade secret misappropriation, violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. § 1030, and conversion. Lee asserted counterclaims against ViChip, alleging misappropriation, unjust enrichment, intentional…

Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc., 474 F.3d 1214 (9th Cir. 2007)

Plaintiffs in this Title VII class-action lawsuit alleged that women employed in Wal-Mart stores are paid less than men in comparable positions, despite having higher performance ratings and greater seniority, receive fewer promotions to instore management positions, and that those who are promoted must wait longer than their male counterparts to advance. The class,…

Robinzine v. Vicory, 143 Cal. App. 4th 1416 (2006)

Kimberly and Clifford Robinzine sued their former employer, RPM Company, and a number of coworkers for employment discrimination and related claims. The Robinzines also asserted a claim for malicious prosecution, which arose from a temporary restraining order that the employer had obtained against Clifford for an alleged threat of workplace violence. (When RPM was subsequently…

United States v. Tuff, 469 F.3d 1249 (9th Cir. 2006)

James H. Tuff received non-qualified stock options as an employee of RealNetworks, which he twice exercised in 1999 to purchase shares in the company that were worth more than $460,000. Tuff contended that he realized income only when the shares were later liquidated by Morgan Stanley (and were worth substantially less) rather than when…

Cassady v. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, 145 Cal. App. 4th 220 (2006)

Ralph Cassady was employed as “of counsel” to Morgan Lewis for a 13-month period, during which time he performed legal services for a longtime client of his, Rallie P. Rallis. Years later, Rallis sued Cassady, Morgan Lewis, and other firms and attorneys with whom Cassady had been affiliated for a variety…

Valdez v. Himmelfarb, 144 Cal. App. 4th 1261 (2006)

Elias Valdez alleged that he was injured in the course of his employment as a cook, janitor, dishwasher, and gardener at defendants’ Malibu restaurant. Valdez sued for personal injury, unfair competition, and declaratory relief based on defendants’ failure to carry workers’ compensation insurance as required by statute, but defendants contended that Valdez’s claims were barred…

Delfino v. Agilent Technologies, Inc., 2006 WL 3635399 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 14, 2006)

Michelangelo Delfino and Mary E. Day sued Agilent Technologies after a series of threatening e-mails and Yahoo! Message Board postings about them were created by one of Agilent’s former employees (who used the pseudonym “crack_smoking_jesus”). Agilent moved for summary judgment pursuant to the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA), which…

Bates v. United Parcel Serv., 465 F.3d 1069 (9th Cir. 2006)

One of the requirements applied by UPS to those applicants seeking to drive the familiar brown “package cars” was that they pass the physical examination (including a hearing exam) that the DOT requires of drivers of commercial vehicles of a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of at least 10,001 pounds. (UPS’s vehicles had…

Taylor v. City of Los Angeles, 144 Cal. App. 4th 1216 (2006)

Eric Taylor, an electrical engineer employed by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, alleged that he suffered from multiple acts of retaliation by his supervisor (Bruce Hamer) after Taylor acted as a “supporting and material witness” on behalf of a former subordinate (Donald Coleman) in Coleman’s claim that he had…

Alvarez v. May Dep’t Stores Co., 143 Cal. App. 4th 1223 (2006)

Plaintiffs in this case are 56 current and former Area Sales Managers employed by May Department Stores who alleged that they were improperly classified as exempt administrative employees and that they were not paid statutory overtime that was owed to them. The trial court sustained without leave to amend May’s demurrer based…