Spring in California can only mean one thing, and no, it’s not Coachella, Dodgers games or even the return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano—it’s the annual release of the California Chamber of Commerce’s list of “Job Killer Bills.”
Once again, this list proves that former California Governor Jerry Brown had it right when he wrote in a legislative veto message: “Not every
We invite you to review our newly-posted January 2023 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
Kemp v. Superior Court, 86 Cal. App. 5th 981 (2022)
In 2020, the background reporting agency in this case disclosed to an employer a conviction of an individual from 2011 who had applied for a job. Following receipt of the report, the prospective employer withdrew its job offer. The individual then filed this lawsuit against the reporting agency on the ground that the conviction/parole
In the weeks and months since it changed its name from the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to the California Civil Rights Department (“CRD”), the agency has been busy. Most recently, the CRD released proposed modifications to the regulations under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) related to the use and consideration of criminal history information in employment decisions—a process that is already
Horne v. District Council 16 Int’l Union of Painters & Allied Trades, 2015 WL 681433 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015)
Raymond E. Horne was a glazier and a member of the glazier’s union. He also served as an officer and a member of the council and of the executive board of the union. Horne, who is African American, twice applied for an organizer position with
U.S. v. Nosal, 642 F.3d 781 (2011)
In this criminal proceeding brought under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), the United States government filed a 20-count indictment against David Nosal (a former employee of Korn/Ferry International) and his accomplices (also from Korn/Ferry) as a result of their obtaining information from their employer’s computer system for the purpose of defrauding Korn/Ferry and helping Nosal
People v. Tabb, 170 Cal. App. 4th 1142 (2009)
Edward Nathaniel Tabb, Sr. was convicted by a jury for grand theft of his employer’s property. Tabb worked as a “runner or helper for pipe fitters” at BAE Systems. Over a period of approximately two months, Tabb brought new or used ship parts to A to Z Auto Dismantling, a recycling company, and sold them
Starbucks Corp. v. Superior Court, 168 Cal. App. 4th 1436 (2008)
Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and approximately 135,000 other Starbucks applicants who had sought jobs at some 1,500 Starbucks locations throughout California. Plaintiffs contended that the Starbucks application violated California Labor Code §§ 432.7 and 432.8, prohibiting employers from asking about marijuana-related convictions that are more than two
United States v. Betts, 511 F.3d 872 (9th Cir. 2007)
Marcus Brandon Betts, who worked for TransUnion (one of the three major credit reporting agencies), took bribes to conspire with his co-defendants to falsely improve credit scores. According to the Ninth Circuit, “it was a kind of private sector ticket-fixing scheme.” Betts falsified 654 credit histories, which generated about a million dollars in losses
United States v. Sutcliffe, 505 F.3d 944 (9th Cir. 2007)
Sutcliffe, a computer technician, was convicted of three counts of making interstate threats (via the Internet) to injure another and five counts of transferring social security numbers with the intent to aid and abet unlawful activity. Global Crossing terminated Sutcliffe’s employment shortly after he was hired because he had failed to provide his social