Employment Legal News Articles & Interviews

San Francisco, CA On June 28, the Ninth Circuit confirmed that, in lawsuits brought under the California Labor Code, even very small amounts of work time – measured in seconds, not minutes – must be counted and compensated. The opinion in Rodriguez v. Nike should put an end to latest employer-driven campaign to revive the federal de minimus standard in California labor lawsuits.

Washington, DC It’s semiannual prognostication time for ERISA lawsuits, and in our crystal ball, we see a mysterious stranger, great fortune and heartbreak. No, actually, not. But relying on our lesser powers, we suspect that, for the next six months, three issues will loom large.

San Francisco, CA: After two years of litigation, a California labor lawsuit involving about 4,500 technicians has finally settled for $7.5 million, after legal fees. The federal class action alleged that O.C. Communications Inc., a tech talent supplier, and Comcast Corp. violated state and federal laws, including not paying the workers for all the hours worked and failure to compensate the techs for piecework, overtime or minimum wages.

Washington, DC The Department of Labor has proposed changes in the interpretation of the “joint employer rule.” The rule allows workers, especially in class action wage and hour lawsuits, to reach beyond an immediate employer to seek recovery from a franchisor, corporate parent or other related business entity. If the change goes into effect, it will affect the application of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but it will not necessarily limit wage and hour protections under California labor law.

Los Angeles, CA Chelsea Hamilton and Alyssa Hernandez brought a class action California labor lawsuit against Wal-Mart, claiming that going through the mandatory security check took so much time and was so intrusive that they were left with less than their legally protected half-hour meal break. Taking feminine hygiene stuff out of their purses was embarrassing. Ms. Hernandez also said the break room was crowded and noisy. They were not prevented from taking the break, but they were discouraged out of it. In April, they won a $6.1 million jury award on behalf of Wal-Mart workers.

Sacramento, CA: Uber and Lyft have become wildly successful, mainly due to classifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, but misclassification is a violation of the California labor law and should the state Senate pass Bill AB5, the gig might be up for them and many other companies whose workers may be re-classified as employees.

Los Angeles, CA Residential care workers can win California unpaid wages lawsuits when they sue their employers for wage theft and other illegal employment practices. That’s the good news. But the bad news is that they are still having trouble getting paid, and the violations of California state labor laws continue.

Los Angeles, CA: The Terranea Resort, which calls itself Los Angeles’ Hidden Gem and the only luxury destination resort on the LA coast, can also be known as the “Fake Break” Resort.

Los Angeles, CA Marshall v. Northrop Grumman Corp a class action ERISA lawsuit alleges that fiduciaries of the Northrup Grumman Savings Plan (“Plan”) squandered nearly $10 million in employee 401k retirement money through mismanagement that included paying unnecessary administrative fees between 2010 and 2016.

Denver, CO On April 30, 2019, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ended Jolene Provencio’s lawsuit against Intel Corporation. She claimed that she had been retaliated against for participating in an internal discrimination investigation involving a co-worker. It’s a different state and a different judicial circuit, but some of the lessons of Provencio v. Intel Corporation apply in California workplace retaliation lawsuits, as well.