California Employment Law Notes

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Reynolds v. Bement, 107 Cal. App. 4th 738 (2003)

In this class action lawsuit brought by shop managers and assistant shop managers of Earl Scheib, Inc., the managers asserted that the officers and directors of Earl Scheib were personally liable for unpaid overtime in that they were “employers” within the meaning of Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order No. 9. The trial court sustained…

Weber v. United Parcel Serv., 107 Cal. App. 4th 801 (2003)

Gary Weber, who was employed as an aircraft mechanic for UPS, underwent periodic hearing tests in accordance with the company’s internal safety policies and the requirements of the California Code of Regulations. Eventually, the tests revealed that Weber was losing his hearing in his left ear, which could have been a symptom of…

Palmer v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 107 Cal. App. 4th 899 (2003)

Patricia Palmer, who worked as a clinical laboratory technologist at the UCLA Medical Center, sued the UC Regents for wrongful termination in violation of public policy following the restructuring of the department in which she had worked and the termination of her employment after 21 years. Palmer alleged that she…

Freund v. Nycomed Amersham, 326 F.3d 1070 (9th Cir. 2003)

Jeffrey R. Freund worked as a pharmacist in Nycomed’s nuclear pharmacy in San Diego. After a few years of employment, Freund’s relationship with his supervisor, Mike Wakefield, “soured.” Freund lodged complaints about staffing, expressing his concern that overwork of staff members increased the probability that they would make a mistake that would endanger their…

Dodge, Warren & Peters Ins. Serv., Inc. v. Riley, 105 Cal. App. 4th 1414 (2003)

James W. Riley and several of his co-workers were terminated from Dodge, an insurance brokerage firm, after Dodge learned of their intention to obtain copies of documents maintained in Dodge’s files and computer storage media before opening their own competing insurance brokerage. Dodge filed a complaint against Riley, et…

Oracle Corp. v. Falotti, 319 F.3d 1106 (9th Cir. 2003)

Oracle Corporation terminated the employment of Pier Carlo Falotti, a senior executive of the company who was based in Switzerland, four months before he was scheduled to vest in stock options that were worth more than $85 million. Oracle filed this action in federal court seeking a declaration that Falotti was neither entitled to…

Huang v. L.A. Haute, 106 Cal. App. 4th 284 (2003)

Ai Zhen Huang was employed as a housekeeper at the home of Brad Hunter, but was on the payroll of L.A. Haute, a furniture manufacturing business in which Hunter was a partner. Huang was employed for approximately two years before her employment was terminated on April 15, 1999. On August 9, 2000, Huang filed…

Reeves v. Hanlon, 106 Cal. App. 4th 433 (2003)

Attorney Robert L. Reeves filed a lawsuit against attorneys Daniel P. Hanlon and Colin T. Greene and their law firm, Hanlon & Greene (H&G), after Hanlon and Greene abruptly resigned from their positions with Reeves & Hanlon (R&H) and allegedly persuaded certain R&H employees to join H&G, solicited R&H’s clients, misappropriated trade secrets, destroyed computer…

Winterrowd v. American General Annuity Ins. Co., 321 F.3d 933 (9th Cir. 2003)

Three commissioned sales employees were laid off after their employer’s parent company was acquired by American General Corporation. As commissioned salespeople, the employees were not eligible for severance benefits under the employer’s Job Security Plan. However, the employees were offered and did agree to accept a different severance package in exchange…

Korea Supply Co. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 29 Cal. 4th 1134 (2003)

Korea Supply Company (KSC) sued Lockheed Martin for violation of California‘s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and for interference with prospective economic relations after Lockheed Martin’s predecessor, Loral Corporation, was awarded a contract to provide military equipment to the Republic of Korea. KSC alleged that the contract was awarded to Loral …