Employment Legal News Articles & Interviews

Oakland, CA Here’s the big question:  Does it make sense to resolve pay cap disputes between college athletes and the NCAA under federal antitrust law; or will justice be better served if courts understand the issue through the lens of wage and hour laws, including California labor law?  

Santa Clara, CA T-Mobile will pay $8 million to settle California labor law violations. The telecommunications company allegedly failed to pay minimum and overtime wages; and compensation for off-the-clock work, and didn’t provide workers proper meal and rest breaks.

Washington, DCOn December 4, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in an ERISA lawsuit that may have lasting implications for the ability of plan participants to sue over mismanagement of retirement funds. As Christopher Sulyma argues in his Supreme Court brief, ERISA plan participants should not be assumed to know about (and perhaps have consented to) suspect  financial decisions disclosed in a “Russian nesting doll” style series of linked online documents.

Los Angeles, CADelta Air Lines has agreed to pay $3.5 million to a class of approximately 3,300 past and present Delta workers to settle claims that the airline failed to pay overtime as required under the provisions of California labor law. The dispute centered on a complicated pay formula that included shift differential pay, non-discretionary bonuses, profit-sharing payments, and the fair market value of employee travel passes.

San Francisco, CA DoorDash customers, Jennifer Peter and Karson Theiss, have filed a class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California alleging that DoorDash’s practice of pocketing tips intended for delivery drivers is an unfair business practice that misleads those who use the delivery service. Many who follow the litigation surrounding DoorDash may already be familiar with California labor lawsuits that claim that DoorDash drivers are misclassified as independent contractors.

Santa Clara, CA: A former truck driver for Halliburton Energy Services on October 3 told a California Federal Court that they are working on an agreement to settle a lawsuit claiming California labor law violations. The settlement notice said the court will be asked to voluntarily dismiss plaintiff Luis Guerrero’s allegations against one of the world's largest oil field service companies.

City, CA On October 4, the Northern District of California approved a settlement that will pay roughly 2,000 Southwest Airlines pilots close to $19 million for benefits that Southwest allegedly failed to credit during short periods of military leave. The lawsuit that prompted the settlement is grounded in the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), rather than the provisions of California labor law.

Sacramento, CA Gov. Gavin Newsome signed the Fair Play to Pay Act into law on September 30. The law would prevent California state and private universities from prohibiting student athletes from making money from endorsement deals. So far, the coverage has focused on looming disputes and likely lawsuits between the schools and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, rather than the finer points of California labor law.

San Francisco, CA In August, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Charles Schwab Corp. could force plan participants to individually arbitrate their claims that fiduciaries of the Schwab Retirement Savings and Investment Plan (Plan) had mismanaged plan assets. The ERISA lawsuit decision sent shock waves through the Ninth Circuit as it appears to reverse nearly 35 years of judicial precedent about forced arbitration of ERISA claims.

Los Angeles, CA The Central District of California has refused to approve a $1.75 million settlement designed to end a class action California labor lawsuit brought by more than 2,000 Hertz Transportation Inc. workers. The workers claim that their paystubs were inaccurate, in violation of California labor employment law.