Biel v. St. James School, 2018 WL 6597221 (9th Cir. 2018)
Kristen Biel was fired from her fifth grade teaching position at St. James Catholic School after she told the school that she had breast cancer and would need to miss work to undergo chemotherapy. Following her termination, Biel alleged that the school had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The district
Snapp v. BNSF Ry., 889 F.3d 1088 (9th Cir. 2018)
Danny Snapp sued his former employer, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. (“BNSF”), for failure to accommodate his alleged disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Snapp worked as a division trainmaster, but due to “tiredness and low energy,” he went to a doctor and was diagnosed with sleep
Rizo v. Yovino, 887 F.3d 453 (9th Cir. 2018) (en banc)
Aileen Rizo, who is an employee of the public schools in Fresno County, sued for violation of the federal Equal Pay Act (“EPA”) after she learned that her male counterparts were being paid more for performing the same work. In its summary judgment motion, the county argued that it paid
By Anthony J. Oncidi and Nayirie Kuyumjian
On Monday, the Ninth Circuit issued a significant opinion, Rizo v. Yovino, 2018 WL 1702982 (9th Cir. April 9, 2018), authored by the late “liberal lion” Judge Stephen Reinhardt, holding that an employer’s consideration of prior salary information cannot serve as a justification for sex-based wage differentials under the federal Equal Pay
Kenny v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 881 F.3d 786 (9th Cir. 2018)
Kris Kenny filed a putative class action in California state court, challenging Wal-Mart’s policy requiring employees who have suffered workplace-related injuries to submit to drug and/or urine testing. Wal-Mart filed a demurrer in response to the complaint, but before the hearing date on the demurrer, Wal-Mart removed the action to federal court
Arizona ex rel. Horne v. The Geo Group, 2016 WL 945634 (9th Cir. 2016)
Alice Hancock was employed by Geo as a correctional officer at the Arizona State Prison. Geo contracts with the Arizona Department of Corrections to maintain and operate two facilities in the state. Hancock filed a charge of discrimination and harassment based on sex and also alleging retaliation. After concluding its
United States ex rel. Mateski v. Raytheon, 816 F.3d 565 (9th Cir. 2016)
Steven Mateski worked as an engineer at Raytheon. Mateski filed a complaint in federal court alleging that Raytheon had violated the False Claims Act (“FCA”) by failing to comply with numerous contractual requirements in developing a project for the government, fraudulently covering up areas of noncompliance and improperly billing the government
Mendoza v. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles, 2016 WL 1459214 (9th Cir. 2016)
Alice Mendoza worked as a full-time bookkeeper for a small parish church. She took sick leave for 10 months, during which time the pastor of the church took over the bookkeeping duties himself and determined that Mendoza’s job could be done by a part-time bookkeeper. When Mendoza returned from
Sanders v. Energy Northwest, 2016 WL 560809 (9th Cir. 2016)
David W. Sanders, a maintenance manager for Energy Northwest (a nuclear power plant), claimed his employment was terminated in retaliation for his objection to the severity level designation of an internal “condition report” that was generated by other employees at the plant. Sanders filed a whistleblower complaint with the Department of Labor (the “DOL”),
Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Ass’n v. Perez, 2016 WL 706678 (9th Cir. 2016)
Pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 203(m) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), an employer may fulfill part of its hourly minimum wage obligation to a tipped employee with the employee’s tips. This practice is known as taking a “tip credit.” The employers in this case did not take a tip