We invite you to review our newly posted July 2011 California Employment Law Notes — a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law.  The highlights include:

Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, 563 U.S. ___, 131 S. Ct. 1968 (2011)

In 1996, Congress created E-Verify, which is “an internet-based system that allows an employer to verify an employee’s work-authorization status.” In 2007, Arizona enacted the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which allows Arizona to suspend or revoke the licenses necessary to do business in the state if an employer knowingly or intentionally

Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. v. Napolitano, 544 F.3d 976 (9th Cir. 2008)

In 2007, Arizona enacted the Legal Arizona Workers Act (the “Act”), which targets employers that hire illegal aliens and provides a principal sanction in the form of a revocation of state licenses to do business in Arizona. Various businesses and civil-rights organizations filed this lawsuit, asserting that the Act is preempted

Reyes v. Van Elk, Ltd., 148 Cal. App. 4th 604 (2007)

Plaintiffs were employed by Van Elk on allegedly public works projects that were subject to California’s prevailing wage law. Van Elk filed a motion for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiffs did not have standing to sue because they were undocumented workers. Plaintiffs’ discovery responses affirmed that they were not born in

Farmers Bros. Coffee v. WCAB, 133 Cal. App. 4th 533, 35 Cal. Rptr. 3d 23 (2005)

When Rafael Ruiz, an illegal alien, sought workers’ compensation benefits from his employer, Farmers Brothers Coffee, the company asserted that the California law under which Ruiz could be considered an employee was preempted by the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). The WCAB rejected the

Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 U.S. 137 (2002)

The employer in this case, Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc., was found to have violated Section 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it selected four known union supporters for layoff. During a compliance hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), one of the four employees, Jose Castro, testified that he was born