Diego v. City of Los Angeles

While a police department could not legally discriminate against its employee police officers based on their ethnicity, it could legally take adverse employment action against them based on the race of the man they shot.  This decision reverses a $4 million jury verdict in favor of two policemen who complained that they were discriminated against…

Nakai v. Friendship House Assn. of American Indians, Inc.

Plaintiff, who was fired when his wife complained to his boss (who was also her mother) that plaintiff was armed, angry and on drugs, failed to state an actionable claim for discrimination based on marital status.  Plaintiff failed to state an actionable claim for discrimination based on marital status.  He was fired when his wife…

Marsh v. J. Alexander’s, LLC

The Ninth Circuit rejects the Department of Labor’s informal interpretation of the dual job limitation on tip credit against the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage; “two jobs” is determined by occupation, not individual tasks.  Under the FLSA (29 USC 203(m)), an employer must pay a tipped worker at least $2.13 per hour but may count…

Cortez v. Doty Bros. Equipment Co.

A collective bargaining agreement explicitly requires arbitration of wage and hour claims by referencing a wage order; so long as a Private Attorney General Act claim survives, decertification of a class is not immediately appealable. Following Munoz v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (2015) 238 Cal.App.4th 291, this decision holds that an order dismissing class action…

Stoetzl v. State of California

Unionized prison guards’ pay is governed by the union’s memorandum of understanding, which was passed as state legislation, not general state wage and hour laws; but those general laws do apply to non-unionized prison workers.  State prison guards spent time before and after performing their principal guard duties at state prisons with activities including checking…

Aviles-Rodriguez v. Los Angeles Community College Dist.

The Fair Employment and Housing Act’s one year statute of limitations starts to run from the date of termination of employment of a faculty member, rather than the earlier date on which he was denied tenure for allegedly discriminatory reasons.  Following Romano v. Rockwell Internat., Inc. (1996) 14 Cal.4th 479, this case holds that FEHA’s…

Light v. California Department of Parks & Recreation

The trial court improperly granted summary judgment to employer defendant on employee plaintiff’s claim of FEHA-prohibited retaliation for supporting a co-worker’s complaint of sex discrimination, after she provided sufficient evidence of (1) adverse employment actions and (2) retaliatory motive.  The trial court improperly granted summary judgment to defendant on plaintiff’s claim of retaliation in violation…

Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc.

Suits under the Private Attorney Act are unlike class actions in that plaintiffs cannot belatedly add new plaintiffs to carry on the suit in place of the original named plaintiffs, if it turns out the original plaintiffs’ claims fail.  After receiving the California Supreme Court’s answers to certified questions, the Ninth Circuit dismisses this day-of-rest…

Esparza v. KS Industries, L.P.

Claims for statutory damages or penalties payable to individual employees are arbitrable; only Private Attorney General Act claims for civil penalties payable to the state are not arbitrable.  Under Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348, only claims that are brought on behalf of the state under PAGA and seek civil…

Williams v. Superior Court

In a Private Attorney General Act suit, the plaintiff is entitled, as a matter of course, to discovery of identification information of all employees affected by the employer’s alleged violations of wage and hour laws.  At the very outset of this PAGA suit, the plaintiff employee sought to compel the employer to provide a list…

Minnick v. Automotive Creations, Inc.

When an employer’s policy states that an employee does not begin to earn vacation pay until after a full year’s employment, the employer does not owe an employee any vacation pay if employment is terminated less than a year after the date of initial employment.  Following Owen v. Macy’s, Inc. (2009) 175 Cal.App.4th 462, this…

Kao v. Holiday

A foreign national who was invited to the US to work for defendant was not an “intern” or “trainee” during the 11 months he worked before securing a green card, because the work he did consisted of typical work tasks rather than education; so he was entitled to minimum wages under both federal and state…