Skillin v. Rady Children’s Hosp. of San Diego, 2017 WL 6029754 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017)

David Skillin brought a Private Attorneys General Act lawsuit against his former employer, Rady Children’s Hospital of San Diego, based upon allegedly unauthorized payroll deductions that the hospital made from his wages, resulting in higher than desired contributions to his retirement plan. The trial court granted summary judgment in

Bell v. H.F. Cox, Inc., 2012 WL 3846827 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012)

Oscar Bell and other truck drivers filed a putative class action against Cox, alleging wage and hour violations. Among other things, the drivers alleged that Cox had failed to pay promised vacation benefits to current employees (it paid them a flat rate of $500 of vacation pay per week, which was later

LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, Inc., 552 U.S. 248, 128 S. Ct. 1020 (2008)

James LaRue directed DeWolff, his former employer, to make certain changes to the investments in his individual 401(k) account, but DeWolff failed to effect those changes as directed. LaRue alleged that DeWolff breached its fiduciary duty to him under ERISA by failing to carry out his instructions, which resulted

Golden Gate Restaurant Ass’n v. City & County of San Francisco, 512 F.3d 1112 (9th Cir. 2008)

In 2006, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed and the mayor signed into law the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance which, among other things, requires employers with more than 20 employees to make healthcare expenditures on behalf of their employees. The ordinance was scheduled to go

Coleman v. Standard Life Ins. Co., 288 F. Supp. 2d 1116 (E.D. Cal. 2003)

Floyd Coleman, who was employed as a probation officer for the County of Sacramento, sued Standard Life Insurance Company after it denied him long-term disability benefits for his knee condition and chronic back pain. Coleman sued for a violation of ERISA and under state law for breach of contract and

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

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

Bui v. AT&T, 310 F.3d 1143 (9th Cir. 2002)

Nga Bui brought this action on behalf of her deceased husband’s estate against various parties, including his former employers, AT&T and Lucent Technologies. Bui’s husband, Hung M. Duong, died at Erfan Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after undergoing two unsuccessful operations and suffering two myocardial infarctions. In the week before his death, Duong had to

Stewart v. U.S. Bancorp, 297 F.3d 953 (9th Cir. 2002)

The employees in this case sued their employer for breach of contract and violation of the Oregon wage law when they were given eight weeks’ severance pay instead of the 12 months’ severance that was provided to “middle management.” The employer removed the case to federal court and moved to dismiss it, asserting that