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Employment Law

Cal/OSHA puts heat on contractor after flash fire injures welder

06/16/2011
The California Division of Occu­pa­tional Safety and Health has fined a public works contractor more than $235,000—and threatened to put it out of business and criminally prosecute executives—after a welder suffered severe burns in a workplace flash fire.

LAPD pays huge judgment for sexual orientation retaliation

06/16/2011
A state court jury has awarded more than $1 million to a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) sergeant who sued the department for retali­a­tion after he complained about shoddy treatment because he is gay.

Employee cites mental distress? Ask for mental exam

06/16/2011
Employees who sue but can’t show they suffered any monetary damages sometimes claim mental distress instead. Fortunately, courts don’t just take their word it, especially if the employee claims she had to undergo psychiatric treatment.

Know the other side’s Achilles’ heel! Plaintiffs must act fast to win court injunctions

06/16/2011

Once a lawsuit has been filed, courts sometimes issue immediate orders—called injunctions—to prevent irre­parable harm. But to get an injunction, the party seeking the order has to show what harm could occur—and convince the court it will probably win the case on its merits. That’s unlikely if the litigant waits too long to ask for relief.

Follow up after bias complaint to make sure employee isn’t experiencing retaliation

06/16/2011

Taken separately, what a supervisor does or says to an employee who has filed a complaint might not equal retaliation. But if the slights add up, the picture changes. That’s why you should follow up several times with each complaining employee to verify there’s no pattern of retaliation.

Disabled employee can’t work at all? You can terminate without violating FEHA

06/16/2011
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act doesn’t require employers to provide unlimited time off for employees with disabilities. The fact is, employees with disabilities are still expected to come to work (at least some of the time) and perform the essential functions of their jobs with or without accommodations while they are there.

Owner, foreman get jail time for worker’s fatal plummet

06/16/2011
A California court has sentenced a company owner and a foreman to a year in jail for allowing unsafe working conditions that led to a roofer’s accidental death.

Employee must prove class action is warranted

06/16/2011
Lately, California employers have faced a flood of class-action lawsuits claiming they misclassified employees. Now that tide might turn, thanks to a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Tell staff: Break data rules, risk prosecution

06/16/2011

When explaining your computer-use policy, make sure employees understand they may be criminally prosecuted if they violate the rules and gain access to information they have no business reading. That should make them think twice about obtaining confidential in­­for­ma­tion and passing it on to the competition.

Know the risks of DOL’s new time sheet app

06/16/2011
A few weeks ago, U.S. employees gained a powerful new tool to prove their wage-and-hour cases: the new “Timesheet” app for smartphones from the DOL’s Wage and Hour Divi­sion. Impact: Now employees may claim they have the most accurate time records! All the more incentive for you to accurately track actual hours worked—not just hours written on a time sheet.