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Employment Law

Industry alone may decide who DOL probes

01/25/2018

Even employers that scrupulously adhere to federal employment laws may have to contend with U.S. Department of Labor investigators. That’s because a particular employer’s conduct often has little to do with the DOL knocking on an employer’s door.

Settlement in case alleging disability-related questions

01/23/2018

Strataforce, a staffing company that operates in four states including California, has settled charges its hiring procedures violated the ADA.

Administrative exemption focuses on core business

01/23/2018

In order to claim a worker is exempt under the administrative exemption of the California Labor Code, an employee must do work directly related to management policies or general business operations of his employer or employer’s customers. Mere support work doesn’t count.

One case, two destinations: Arbitration and court!

01/23/2018

Here’s a decision that may complicate matters for employers that use arbitration agreements to keep employment disagreements out of federal courts.

Court of Appeal rules multiple arbitration agreements are permissible

01/23/2018

Employers that want to arbitrate all employment-related disputes have won support from California’s state appellate court system, which ruled it acceptable to create different arbitration agreements for different employment-related purposes, each with different terms and conditions.

‘Political correctness’ doesn’t matter: Political belief isn’t a protected characteristic

01/23/2018

Some recently fired employees looking for reasons to sue their employers have started grasping at the gunwales of a “political correctness” lifeboat. Nice try but no dice was the verdict in a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case.

Beware promises made during hiring process

01/23/2018

What managers say during the hiring process can spell trouble later if anything they say sounds like a promise that induces a candidate to accept a job offer and the employer fails to follow through.

Right to return after pregnancy depends on job

01/23/2018

Under California’s pregnancy discrimination protection laws, new mothers returning from pregnancy leave are entitled to return to their previous jobs, much as they are under the federal FMLA. However, there are real and practical limits to that right to return.

Tax reform bans deducting harassment settlement costs

01/23/2018

Confidential sexual harassment settlements will cost more under tax reform legislation enacted at the end of December.

Woebegone, Keillor says he was fired without investigation

01/18/2018

Former “Prairie Home Companion” host Garrison Keillor alleges his firing from Minnesota Public Radio was completed without a proper investigation of sexual harassment allegations made against him.