Arenas v. El Torito Restaurants, Inc., 183 Cal. App. 4th 723 (2010)

The plaintiffs in this case are salaried managers at El Torito, El Torito Grill and Guadala Harry’s restaurants in California from May 2002 to the present. Plaintiffs alleged they were misclassified as employees exempt from overtime because they routinely spent more than half of their working hours performing duties delegated to non-exempt…

Wald v. Truspeed, 184 Cal. App. 4th 378 (2010)

Alex Wald, who is in the business of “finding, buying and then selling again used Porsches,” found 11 Porsches for Truspeed (a car dealer), which Truspeed sold without paying Wald the finder’s fee. In response to Wald’s lawsuit against Truspeed alleging breach of contract, unjust enrichment and fraud, Truspeed asserted that Wald lacked a dealer’s…

Ventress v. Japan Airlines, 603 F.3d 676 (2010)

Martin Ventress, a flight engineer for Japan Airlines (“JAL”), alleged his employment was terminated in violation of the California whistleblower statute (Labor Code § 1102.5(b)) for allegedly reporting safety violations six months after they occurred. JAL moved for judgment on the pleadings, asserting complete federal preemption by the Federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, as amended…

Mendoza v. ADP Screening & Selection Servs., Inc., 182 Cal. App. 4th 1644 (2010)

William Mendoza sued ADP Screening and Selection Services, Inc. (“SASS”) for violations of Penal Code §§ 290.4 and 290.46, the Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act and declaratory relief based upon SASS’s apparent disclosure to a prospective employer of information uncovered during a background check conducted on Mendoza, indicating his status…

JustMed, Inc. v. Byce, 600 F.3d 1118 (9th Cir. 2010)

Michael Byce developed the source code used in the software of a digital audio larynx device that JustMed owned. JustMed contended that Byce was its employee when he developed the code and that the code, therefore, belonged to JustMed under the work-for-hire doctrine of the federal Copyright Act. Byce, however, contended he was an…

Gutierrez v. G&M Oil Co., 184 Cal.App.4th 551 (2010)

Maria Gutierrez filed a wage-and-hour class action lawsuit against G&M Oil Company, an operator of a chain of gas stations throughout California. Michael Gray was G&M’s vice president and general counsel and its registered agent for service of process Gray agreed to accept service of the complaint from Gutierrez’s attorney and decided to handle the…

Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, 603 F.3d 571 (2010) (en banc)

The district court certified a class encompassing all women employed by Wal-Mart at any time after December 26, 1998 who claimed gender discrimination under Title VII and who sought injunctive and declaratory relief, back pay and, in a separate opt-out class, punitive damages. Among other things, plaintiffs claim they received lower pay and fewer…

A recent decision by the California Supreme Court could have resounding implications for the enforceability of arbitration awards – a matter of great concern in employment law given the prevalence of arbitration agreements governing employment relationships – and opens the door for employees to petition the courts to compel arbitrators to decide the merits of their statutory claims.
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Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc., 596 F.3d 577 (2010)

Misty Cumbie worked as a waitress at the Vita Café (owned and operated by Woody Woo, Inc.). Woo required its servers to contribute their tips to a “tip pool” that was redistributed to all restaurant employees, including the kitchen staff (dishwashers and cooks). Cumbie filed this putative collective and class action against Woo, alleging that…