Employment Legal News Articles & Interviews

Oakland, CA It doesn’t matter how many times a California business changes its name or sells to another company—a union contract stays put. Case in point: the United Food and Commercial Workers, (UFCW) pressured two pot shops on behalf of their weed workers, despite the dispensaries changing hands a few times, and they came to a $75,000 settlement over back pay, specifically union raises.

Los Angeles, CA On November 9, two individual and two company plaintiffs, including Uber and Postmates, filed a California labor lawsuit against the State of California. Olson v. Becerra challenges the constitutionality of AB 5 and related laws. In December, California filed a motion to dismiss, claiming that the Second Amended Complaint does little to remedy the flaws that led to the lawsuit’s dismissal without prejudice in September. This time California seeks to bar the lawsuit permanently.

San Francisco, CA  On December 22, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California heard arguments in James v. Uber Technologies Inc., a class action California labor lawsuit. Judge Edward Chen appeared to focus particularly on whether the facts of the case would support the inclusion of drivers who also have other jobs in the class seeking certification.

Los Angeles, CA On December 1, 91-year-old actor Ed Asner and nine other participants in the Screen Actors Guild-Producers Health Plan filed a class action ERISA lawsuit against the SAG-AFTRA Health Fund and Trustees of the Plan. The early coverage of the lawsuit focuses on what appears to be age discrimination against veteran actors, many of whom sacrificed television residuals for pre-1960 movies to fund the health plan at its outset.

Los Angeles, CA A California labor lawsuit claiming wage and labor violations has finally been agreed upon for $3 million. The Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), originally filed in 2015, sought to represent over 250 former and current nursing home workers employed by Five Star Quality Care Inc.

San Mateo, CA  On December 18, the California Superior Court refused to dismiss a Complaint alleging that Oracle America, Inc. systematically paid women less than men for comparable work. The California labor lawsuit, describes a pattern all-too-familiar from other gender discrimination lawsuits against Silicon Valley tech giants, including Google, Uber and HP as well as Oracle.

San Francisco, CA On December 1, the California Supreme Court heard arguments by nurse recruiters seeking to revive a California labor lawsuit against AMN Services LLC. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2014, arose from the way the company’s time-rounding software had tracked employees’ required meal breaks.

Richmond, VA  On November 24, the Fourth Circuit gave new life to a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit brought by restaurant workers who accused their employer of violating the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements by mis-classifying gratuities and permitting ineligible employees to share in the tip pool. Wai Tom v. Hospitality Ventures LLC wades into a dense thicket of questions surrounding how the FLSA protects tipped workers.

Sacramento, CA The latest ruling over Ralphs Grocery Store seating for cashiers – initially filed in 2016— has reversed a trial court’s decision to link two California labor lawsuits that accuse parent company The Kroger Co. of not providing its employees with seating. On November 20, the California state appeals court found that cases implicating different job titles, time periods and claims could be litigated separately.

Boston, MA  Toomey v. DeMoulas Super Markets, Inc., a class action ERISA lawsuit filed in the Massachusetts District Court in 2019, will settle for $17.5 million and prospective changes to the plan’s investment strategy, pending the court’s final approval in April 2021. While ERISA industry advisors have characterized the DeMoulas (Restated) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust’s investment management style as “too conservative,” the Complaint is far more brutal. It describes the performance of the investment fund as “abysmal.”