ZL Technologies, Inc. v. Does 1-7, 13 Cal. App. 5th 603 (2017)
ZL Technologies brought suit, alleging libel per se and online impersonation, against seven anonymous individuals who represented themselves as current or former ZL employees and who posted critical reviews of ZL’s management and work environment on Glassdoor (a website where workers can post “reviews” of their employers). ZL served a subpoena on
Jury panels in the Los Angeles Superior Court (which is often referred to as “The Bank” by the plaintiffs’ bar) have recently delivered multimillion-dollar verdicts to former-employee plaintiffs. Many employers doing business in California already have insulated themselves from such disasters by adopting comprehensive arbitration regimes, which would require that such cases be heard by a retired judge or employment lawyer rather than a jury
We invite you to review our newly-posted July 2017 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
Shames v. Utility Consumers’ Action Network, 2017 WL 2807920 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017)
Michael Shames filed this lawsuit against the Utility Consumers’ Action Network (“UCAN”), alleging various causes of action stemming from the termination of his employment. Although his amended complaint alleged UCAN’s breach of contract for its failure to pay him multiple bonus payments, Shames did not seek attorney’s fees under that cause
McKeen-Chaplin v. Provident Sav. Bank, 2017 WL 2855084 (9th Cir. 2017)
Mortgage underwriters at Provident Savings Bank review mortgage loan applications using guidelines established by Provident and investors in the secondary mortgage loan market, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA. In this lawsuit for unpaid overtime arising under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”), the United States Court of Appeals
Kao v. Joy Holiday, 2017 WL 2590653 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017)
Ming-Hsiang Kao was employed by Joy Holiday (a travel tour company) initially performing IT-related duties and then eventually as its office manager. While he was still in Taiwan, Kao worked with Jessy Lin (one of the owners of Joy Holiday) as a tour organizer. Kao later arrived in California on a tourist visa
Bartoni v. American Med. Response W., 11 Cal. App. 5th 1084 (2017)
Current and former employees of an ambulance service company sued their employer for unpaid meal and rest periods. The complaint alleges claims on behalf of a putative class as well as non-class claims under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”). The trial court denied plaintiffs’ class certification motion, but in
CRST, Inc. v. Superior Court, 11 Cal. App. 5th 1255 (2017)
Hector Contreras was employed as a truck driver by CRST when the truck he was driving collided with the car of Matthew and Michael Lennig. In this writ proceeding, CRST sought summary adjudication of the Lennigs’ prayer for punitive damages. The Court of Appeal issued a writ of mandate directing the trial court
Tucker Ellis LLP v. Superior Court, 2017 WL 2665188 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017)
Evan C. Nelson, who is a California attorney specializing in asbestos defense, was employed as a trial attorney by Tucker Ellis in the firm’s Mass Tort & Product Liability Practice Group. The firm promoted Ellis to the position of “non-capital partner” approximately two years before he left Tucker Ellis to join
EEOC v. McLane Co., 857 F.3d 813 (9th Cir. 2017)
Damiana Ochoa filed a charge with the EEOC alleging sex discrimination (based on pregnancy) in violation of Title VII, when, after she tried to return to her job following maternity leave, her employer (McLane Co.) informed her that she could not come back to the position she had held for eight years as a