Employment Legal News Articles & Interviews

Santa Clara, CA Tesla is facing yet another lawsuit alleging it failed to prevent racist and sexual harassment and retaliation at its Fremont and Lathrop factories. The California labor lawsuit was filed by 14 current and former Tesla workers on June 17th in the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda. This lawsuit is similar to others filed by Black and Hispanic workers over the past several years, which illustrates how racism is still rampant at the electric car company.

Santa Clara, CA A discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) alleging that Microsoft gave workers lower bonuses and unfavorable performance reviews for taking leave has settled for $14.4 million. The settlement includes those who worked for Microsoft in California for at least 90 days during the settlement period that from May 13, 2017 and the present and took one or more leaves of absence.

San Francisco, CA Two female Apple employees in a proposed class action accuse Apple of paying women lower salaries than men for similar work. The California labor lawsuit, filed in San Francisco state court, says the tech giant violates California's Equal Pay Act, which bars sex discrimination in pay.

Santa Clara, CA Chemical companies making PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals” are advised to “do what you can, while you can, before you get sued”, but the battle has already begun for some manufacturers. For instance, 3M agreed to pay water utilities nationwide at least $10 billion for cleanup costs and at least thirty state attorneys general have also sued PFAS makers for widespread contamination. If you aren’t familiar with the extent of PFAS damages, a recent New York Times article is an eye-opener, to say the least, and the fallout will likely feed into PFAS litigation.

Honolulu, HIIt was error after error that killed Julie Bond. She was the 31-year-old wife of former Army Staff Sgt. Donald Bond and a healthy mother of three. She just wanted to lose those extra pregnancy pounds. But six weeks after laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery, she was dead. Tripler Army Medical Center ultimately settled the medical malpractice lawsuit brought by her family for $9.5 million.

New Orleans, LA On July 9, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard a new challenge to a Department of Labor rule, which permits ERISA plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their plan investment decisions.

Everett, MA It’s the “dunk doughnuts, not wages” protest phrase over again for Dunkin Donuts. And perhaps add “over” to the phrase "time to make the donuts".

Los Angeles, CA A California federal judge has denied the U.S. Department of Defense’s motion to dismiss a California discrimination class action lawsuit brought by LGBTQ Veterans. The DOD claims it has been providing relief to the veterans and argued that they haven't shown their constitutional rights have been violated, but the judge ruled that the former LGBTQ service members discharged under the military's former "don't ask, don't tell" ban continue to be discriminated against.

San Diego, CA – On May 24, the Southern District of California denied Qualcomm Inc.’s motion to dismiss a class action 401k lawsuit brought by participants in the Qualcomm Incorporated Employee Savings and Retirement Plan. Perez-Cruet v. Qualcomm, Inc. alleges that Qualcomm violated the fiduciary duty and anti-inurement provisions of ERISA by using the forfeited money to reduce future employer matching contributions instead of eliminating the expenses that were charged to participant accounts.

Los Angeles, CA A T.J. Maxx employee claims that thousands of its California employees had to work through their rest breaks but were forced to mark otherwise on their time sheets. The retailer is facing other California labor violations stated in the proposed class action, which the retailer has a habit of repeating.