California Employment Law Notes

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Le Parc Community Ass’n v. WCAB, 110 Cal. App. 4th 1161 (2003)

Tim Curren, an employee of Advance Property Management (APM), was injured when he fell from a roof while cleaning the rain gutters of one of the properties owned by Le Parc Community Association. (Le Parc had retained APM to perform roof repairs, tree trimming and other maintenance activities.) In addition to filing…

Hoblitzell v. City of Ione, 110 Cal. App. 4th 675 (2003)

Timothy Hoblitzell, a construction contractor, sued three employees of the City of Ione and the city itself after the employees identified themselves to one of Hoblitzell’s customers (a property owner) as building inspectors, told the customer that Hoblitzell had been performing the construction without permits and made disparaging remarks about the quality of…

Alvarez v. IBP, Inc., 339 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2003)

Meat packing employees of IBP, Inc. (the world’s largest producer of fresh beef, pork and related products) filed a class action lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employees (all of whom were non-exempt from the overtime requirements of state and federal law) alleged that they should have been…

USS-Posco Indus. v. Edwards, 111 Cal. App. 4th 436 (2003)

Ezell Edwards was terminated from his employment as a mill worker at USS-Posco Industries’ (UPI’s) tin mill after he made generalized threats of violence against UPI, including a statement that “they’re going to have to change the company’s name from USS-Posco to USSColumbine.” The trial court issued a three-year injunction in the name of…

Jalali v. Root, 109 Cal. App. 4th 1768 (2003)

Farideh Jalali sued her former employer for racial discrimination and sexual harassment. During the first phase of the trial, the jury awarded Jalali $750,000 in compensatory damages. During the punitive damages phase of the trial, the employer offered to settle the matter for $2.75 million for all claims, conditioned on confidentiality. Jalali accepted the offer…

Smith v. IBEW, Local 11, 109 Cal. App. 4th 1637 (2003)

Donald Smith was terminated from his job as a union organizer for Local 11 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Smith alleged that his employment was terminated in violation of the public policy against age and disability discrimination and in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. The Court…

Operating Engineers Local 3 v. Johnson, 110 Cal. App. 4th 180 (2003)

Bonita Vinson and her union, Operating Engineers Local 3, filed this lawsuit against Sylvia Johnson, the Chief Probation Officer of the County of Alameda and the county, alleging violation of Vinson’s right to privacy. Vinson alleged that Johnson had made an announcement at a managerial meeting, in the presence of other employees…

Du Charme v. IBEW, Local 45, 110 Cal. App. 4th 107 (2003)

Frank Du Charme sued the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local 45 and Cecil Wynn, the individual who was assigned to operate Local 45 after it was placed in trusteeship in conjunction with an investigation into its financial operations. Among other things, Du Charme alleged defamation in connection with Wynn’s posting…

Koo v. Rubio’s Restaurants, Inc., 109 Cal. App. 4th 719 (2003)

An attorney representing a corporate defendant in a class action lawsuit concerning allegedly unpaid overtime wages for managers filed a declaration stating that he represented both the employer and its managers. The attorney later clarified that his only intention was to put opposing counsel on notice that the employer’s managerial agents were “represented…

Herr v. Nestlé U.S.A., Inc., 109 Cal. App. 4th 779 (2003)

Richard Herr alleged age discrimination in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) against his former employer, Nestlé, and obtained a jury verdict in the amount of $5,163,600. Herr also successfully asserted a claim under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) in which he obtained equitable relief from the trial court…