California Employment Law Notes

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In re Cossu, 410 F.3d 591 (9th Cir. 2005)

Jefferson Pilot Securities filed a claim in the bankruptcy proceeding of Claude Cossu, one of its former broker-dealers, who had failed to report his outside business activities to Jefferson Pilot (for which he was an NASD-registered representative). Cossu was aware that under NASD guidelines, he was not permitted to engage in private securities transactions without…

Valles v. Ivy Hill Corp., 410 F.3d 1071 (9th Cir. 2005)

David Valles and John Breslin sued their employer, the Ivy Hill Corporation, for failing to provide them and other unionized employees with adequate meal periods and rest breaks in violation of the California Labor Code and the applicable wage regulations. In response to the lawsuit, Ivy Hill removed the action to federal court…

Sunderland v. Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Sys. Support Co., 130 Cal. App. 4th 1 (2005)

While they were waiting in line at the In-N-Out Burger Restaurant in Lancaster, Ali Mazloom, a Lockheed field service representative, rear-ended Kristi Sunderland. In her personal injury action against Mazloom and Lockheed, Sunderland alleged that Mazloom had been acting within the course and scope of his employment when the accident…

Trop v. Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., 129 Cal. App. 4th 1133 (2005)

Anne Trop was terminated from her position as an assistant to Betty Thomas, a movie producer and director for Tall Trees Productions, a motion picture production company with a “first look” deal with Columbia Pictures (a division of Sony). Prior to her termination, Trop had discussed her pregnancy (and her efforts to…

Helmer v. Bingham Toyota Isuzu, 129 Cal. App. 4th 1121 (2005)

Kevin Helmer alleged that Bingham Toyota Isuzu and Bob Clark, his former supervisor, fraudulently induced him to leave a prior job based on false promises made to him by Clark. A jury awarded Helmer $450,913 in compensatory damages (for future lost income) and $1.5 million in punitive damages, which the trial court later…

Smith v. City of Jackson, 544 U.S. 228, 125 S. Ct. 1536 (2005)

A group of police officers older than 40 challenged the decision of the City of Jackson, Mississippi to raise the starting salaries of officers with less than five years of seniority in order to bring starting salaries up to the regional average. Since officers with less than five years of seniority…

Ampex Corp. v. Cargle, 128 Cal. App. 4th 1569 (2005)

Ampex Corporation and its president and chairman of the board, Edward J. Bramson, sued an anonymous poster to an Internet message board (Scott Cargle, a former employee of iNEXTV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ampex) for defamation after Cargle posted messages critical of Ampex and Bramson. Cargle responded to the defamation action with a motion…

Blakemore v. Superior Court, 129 Cal. App. 4th 36 (2005)

In this class action, Raven Blakemore and several other women who sold Avon beauty products as independent sales representatives alleged, among other things, a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL). The representatives alleged that Avon would “stuff” unwanted or unordered merchandise in with products they did order and would then refuse to credit…

Boyer v. Jensen, 129 Cal. App. 4th 62 (2005)

Holly Boyer was in an automobile accident with Russell Jensen, who was employed by Valley Mechanical Services at the time of the accident. Jensen sued Boyer for negligence shortly before the expiration of the statute of limitations. Approximately five months later, Boyer cross complained against Jensen; six months after that, Boyer amended her cross complaint…

Woods v. Fox Broadcasting, 129 Cal. App. 4th 344 (2005)

Mel Woods and Stan Golden, former shareholders of Fox Family Worldwide, Inc. (a joint venture between Saban Entertainment and Fox Entertainment and affiliates) sued Fox Entertainment, et al., after the sale of Fox Family to the Walt Disney Company. Woods and Golden alleged that as part of the deal with Disney, Fox insisted that…