Verdugo v. Alliantgroup, L.P., 237 Cal. App. 4th 141 (2015)

Rachel Verdugo, an associate director in the Irvine office of Alliantgroup, filed this putative class action against her employer for various violations of the California Labor Code governing overtime compensation, meal and rest breaks, vacation pay, the Private Attorneys General Act and accurate wage statements. When she was hired, Verdugo had signed an “Employment

Von Nothdurft v. Steck, 2014 WL 2900132 (Cal. Ct. App. 2014)

Brenda Leigh Von Nothdurft worked as a resident manager of an apartment building owned by John Steck. Both signed a management agreement that provided that Von Nothdurft would be compensated in part by “free rent of a three bedroom apartment during the term as manager.” Von Nothdurft later sued, claiming she was not

Ellis v. U.S. Sec. Assocs., 224 Cal. App. 4th 1213 (2014)

When Ashley Ellis applied to work as a security guard for U.S. Security Associates, she signed an employment application that purported to limit the statute of limitations to six months for any employment-related claims. Later, Ellis claimed to have been sexually harassed by her supervisor and filed a lawsuit within 12 months of

Bradley v. Networkers Int’l, LLC, 2012 WL 6182473 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012)

The three named plaintiffs in this case were among approximately 140 skilled workers retained by Networkers to provide repair and installation services at cell sites. Each worker was required to sign a standard contract, which stated that he or she was an independent contractor rather than an employee. The purported independent contractor

Fillpoint, LLC v. Maas, WL 3631266 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012)

Michael Maas sold his stock in Crave Entertainment Group, Inc. to Handleman Company and signed a stock purchase agreement that contained a three-year covenant not to compete. Maas signed a separate employment agreement with Crave that contained a one-year covenant not to compete, which would become operative when Maas’s employment with Crave ended. Maas

Grafton Partners LP v. Superior Court, 115 Cal. App. 4th 700, 9 Cal. Rptr. 3d 511 (2004)

Grafton Partners and related parties (Grafton) retained PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to perform an independent audit on their accounting records. The parties’ engagement letter contained a predispute jury waiver whereby both parties agreed not to demand a trial by jury “in the unlikely event” that differences should arise between

Murphy v. Schneider Nat’l, Inc., 349 F.3d 1224 (9th Cir. 2003)

Charles E. Murphy was injured on premises owned by Trane Company while he was working as a long-haul trucker for Schneider National, Inc. Murphy filed a personal injury action against Schneider (which had failed to maintain a workers’ compensation policy) and Trane in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon

Tomlinson v. Qualcomm, Inc., 97 Cal. App. 4th 934 (2002)

While working on a reduced schedule as part of a family leave of absence, Lona Tomlinson was selected for layoff and terminated. Tomlinson asserted that her termination violated the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), Cal. Gov’t Code § 12945.2, based on her contention that employees who are on family leave are “immune” from layoff