Employee Benefits

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Schachter v. Citigroup, Inc., 159 Cal. App. 4th 10 (2008)

During his employment, David B. Schachter, a former securities salesperson for Salomon Smith Barney, participated in Smith Barney’s voluntary Capital Accumulation Plan, which allowed him to direct Smith Barney to pay him five percent of his total compensation in the form of restricted stock; the stock was purchased at a 25% discount below its…

Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. v. WCAB, 114 Cal. App. 4th 1174 (2004)

Clifford Bryan filed a workers’ compensation claim against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) after he was forced to leave work in October 2001 due to the stress of his job in interacting with customers who did not like the company and due to the financial problems affecting PG&E during that…

Black & Decker Disability Plan v. Nord, 538 U.S. 822 (2003)

Kenneth L. Nord was employed by a Black & Decker subsidiary as a material planner in a job classified as “sedentary” because it required up to six hours of sitting and two hours of standing or walking per day. Nord consulted with a physician about hip and back pain from which he had…

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…

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…

Opinion of Att’y Gen. Bill Lockyer, No. 02-213, 2003 WL 174019 (Jan. 24, 2003)

In this opinion, the California Attorney General determined that employees who are residents of and employed in California are not entitled to the employment-related benefits established under California Military & Veterans Code § 395.05 for leaves of absence occasioned by service in another state’s militia. The Attorney General observed that…

Alexander v. Codemasters Group Ltd., 104 Cal. App. 4th 129 (2002)

Craig Alexander alleged breach of contract against Codemasters (a United Kingdom-based computer game company) for its failure to provide Alexander (a former executive with the company) with options to purchase 35,000 shares of Codemasters’ stock at an exercise price of $3.25 per share. In its successful motion for summary judgment, Codemasters asserted that…

Vizcaino v. Microsoft Corp., 290 F.3d 1043 (9th Cir. 2002)

In this class action, eight former “freelance” Microsoft workers alleged that the company had improperly deprived them of employee benefits, including participation in the Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Nine years after the case was filed, the parties settled the matter when Microsoft agreed to pay approximately $97 million into a settlement fund. Plaintiffs’ attorneys…