California Labor Law Legal News Articles & Interviews

Los Angeles, CA An American Airlines pilot has been vindicated of sexual assault and harassment. Two former flight attendants did not convince the eight-person Los Angeles jury, which delivered the unanimous California labor verdict to U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald on September 25.

Los Angeles, CA On September 23, Antonia Rodriguez filed a class action lawsuit against Darden Restaurants in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges that Darden, the parent company of California restaurants, including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, the Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V's, failed to pay overtime and did not provide hourly workers with full, uninterrupted meal and rest periods in violation of California labor law. A collection of derivative allegations follows, including failure to provide accurate wage statements and failure to pay all wages due on termination of employment.

Oakland, CA A California federal judge certified a Southwest Airlines class action lawsuit filed by flight attendants accusing the airline of systemic interference with employees’ federally protected family and medical leave rights. The California labor complaint accuses Southwest Airlines of penalizing employees who took legally entitled leave, leading to denied disciplinary point reductions, and in some cases, wrongful terminations.

Oakland, CA On July 31, Megan Garland filed a class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California alleging that BigLaw firm Duane Morris discriminated against attorneys of color and female attorneys in violation of the California labor code. Garland v. Duane Morris alleges that the firm promoted women and people of color primarily to salaried partnerships rather than equity partnerships. There is a big difference.

San Francisco, CA On September 3, Tamenang Choh and Grace Kirk, one a former and the other a current student-athlete at Brown University, withdrew their objection to a $2.78 billion settlement proposed by a consortium of Ivy League colleges to end athletes’ “name, image and likeness” (NIL) lawsuit.  

Santa Clara, CA A California federal judge has given the greenlight to a background actor’s class action lawsuit against Amazon Studios for wage law violations. U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall determined that federal labor law doesn't preempt the claims, which involved hourly rate payments that didn't fall under collective bargaining agreements with the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).  

Santa Clara, CA A racial discrimination class action lawsuit against Tesla filed in 2017 will go to trial in September 2025, said Alameda County Superior Court Judge Noël Wise during a case management conference in August. Noting that the plaintiff filed his California labor complaint in 2017, Judge Wise said that, "everybody, the plaintiffs and the defense, needs to have closure on these issues." It was the third racial discrimination lawsuit filed against Tesla that year and the first to seek class action status.

Santa Clara, CA A California federal judge has been urged to certify a proposed age discrimination collective action against X Corp, formerly Twitter, on behalf of older workers who were fired during Elon Musk’s massive layoffs in 2022.

Oakland, CA On August 8, the California Court of Appeal denied Tesla’s motion to dismiss a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuit brought by former Tesla employees. At its simplest, Sharonda Taylor v. Tesla, Inc. is about the workers’ struggle to access their own wage and hour records.

San Francisco, CA On August 15, 2024, the Supreme Court of California in Stone v. Alameda Health Systems held that: