Unpaid Wages Legal News Articles & Interviews

Santa Clara, CA Apple Inc. workers who filed a wage-and-hour dispute in a California court have settled for $500,000. An investigation, which began in early 2022, showed that Apple’s overtime pay rate each month did not include the commissions that Solutions Consultants earned that month and Apple did not pay all Solutions Consultants for travel time between required meetings and their worksites.

San Francisco, CA X.Corp, formerly Twitter Inc., asked a California federal judge at the beginning of August to dismiss a proposed California labor class action alleging the company illegally denied bonuses. The social media company argued that it decides whether to pay or deny extra incentive pay. But Twitter employees who were told that they would receive their bonus for 2022 disagree. The lawsuit represents employees who worked for Twitter during the first quarter of 2023 and were covered by Twitter's bonus plan but did not receive any incentive pay for 2022.

Anaheim, CA More than 25,000 Disney employees will see a pay increase following a California appellate court ruling in July that said Walt Disney Parks must follow Anaheim city law and pay its Disneyland Resort employees a living wage.

Los Angeles, CA A group of current and former female employees at Walt Disney Co. claim they were paid at least $150 million less than men in similar middle-management positions, which violates the Fair Employment & Housing Act and California's Equal Pay Act.

San Francisco, CATwo attorneys who filed a racial discrimination complaint and then a retaliation complaint against their former employer, East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD, also known as East Bay MUD), were awarded $6 million. After the California Labor trial in June before Judge Alex Tse, the jury agreed that the former employees, one Asian-American and the other African-American, were retaliated against after they complained about racial discrimination. They were both forced to resign. And EBMUD has a history of discrimination complaints.

San Francisco, CA A Home Depot wage & hour class action lawsuit is seeking preliminary approval of a $72.5 million settlement, which will resolve allegations of unpaid off-the-clock work. The complaint was brought under California's Private Attorneys General by the home improvement company’s workers going back to early 2016 and a trial was slated for this year. The preliminary California labor settlement was filed last month in a San Francisco federal court and covers more than 272,000 people employed by Home Depot in the state since March 8, 2012.

Fresno, CA Over 100 furloughed Bitwise Industries employees have file a class action lawsuit against the tech company for violating the WARN Act and other California labor law violations. The workers claim they were not provided written notices of their furloughed status, and that Bitwise failed to notify the Economic Development Department and the City of Fresno of the mass layoffs. On May 30, Bitwise Industries announced it is furloughing its entire workforce.

North Hollywood, CA After numerous labor complaints ranging from safety issues to retaliation from management, a group of exotic dancers had enough. They picketed and sought a union vote at their workplace -- the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood – and after more than a year’s fight they became the first strippers since the 1990s to unionize.

Santa Clara, CA Labor lawsuits, particularly wage and hour claims, have skyrocketed in the past decade. In fact, wage and hour claims are among the most common lawsuits that California employers face. For instance, Shamrock Foods Co. was hit with a meal and rest break violation in March; the popular eatery Breakfast Republic is facing several violations of California labor law including meal and rest breaks; and in April Community Hospice of Modesto was slammed with a class action lawsuit over unpaid wages and other California labor law violations.

San Francisco, CAIn John Ordono et al. v Marriott International Inc., San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan P. Schulman has tentatively found that banquet servers were entitled to $8.97 million because reasonable customers might have concluded that mandatory service charges were intended as gratuities. Under California Labor Code 351, gratuities or tips belong to employees, and employers may not take them or deduct any amount from a worker's wages.