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California

Employment Lawyer Network:
California

Joseph L. Beachboard (Editor)

California Employment Law

Joe.Beachboard@OgletreeDeakins.com
(213) 239-9800

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Joseph L. Beachboard is a nationally recognized expert on employment law issues who speaks regularly at SHRM and other HR events. He also is a regular contributor to several national and California publications. In 2000, Mr. Beachboard sold The Labor Letters, Inc., a publisher of monthly employment law journals that he founded to advise human resource professionals. He is a founding member and executive director of the Management Employment Law Roundtable, a national, invitation only, organization of management labor and employment lawyers.

It’s time to scrap pay-secrecy policies

04/01/2021
Traditionally, employers have tried to keep a lid on compensation-related discord by asking employees not to discuss pay. To some extent, that’s just the way it’s always been. But today, no-talk-about-pay rules are under legal assault, challenged for violating the law and helping perpetuate income inequality.

Recruit broadly to ensure diverse applicant pool

01/14/2021
Employees and job applicants can win age discrimination lawsuits if they prove an employer’s personnel practices have a negative disparate impact on older persons.

Act ASAP to prevent customer from harassing

01/14/2021
Title VII doesn’t just outlaw co-worker and supervisor harassment, it also holds employers responsible for preventing and stopping harassment from outside the organization. As much as you don’t want to alienate customers, you must intercede if they harass your employees.

#MeToo era: Say goodbye to token settlements

12/30/2020
Once upon a time, employers could make many sex discrimination and harassment complaints go away with a discreet, relatively small settlement. That’s a fairy tale now.

Ignore harassment complaints, plan on lawsuit

12/17/2020
Some managers mistakenly assume that if they ignore harassment complaints long enough, victims will quit and the problem will disappear. That’s wishful thinking.

Beware firing employee during medical testing

11/19/2020
Remind supervisors: Firing an employee while she is undergoing medical testing could easily trigger a lawsuit. Reason: It’s illegal to discriminate against an employee based on suspicions she might become ill or disabled in the future. That would amount to regarding her as disabled, which violates the ADA.

How to discipline despite ‘protected’ activity

07/02/2020
Employees who know they are about to be disciplined sometimes think the best defense is going on offense, filing internal discrimination, harassment or whistleblower complaints. If you follow your usual disciplinary rules, treat the employee just like other similarly situated workers and keep detailed, dated records, it’s unlikely a court will find retaliation.

Steer clear of basing pay on previous compensation

06/18/2020
Attorneys who represent employees and job applicants are starting to win equal-pay cases they might have lost in years past. They are claiming that basing a new employee’s starting pay on how much he or she earned before so perpetuates past bias that it is itself a discriminatory act.

Don’t let assistive technology affect hiring

04/23/2020
Warn hiring managers not to disregard an applicant because assistive technologies indicate he or she might be disabled. Those systems provide evidence of bias that can be used against you in court.

3 lawsuit-proof alternatives to layoffs

03/19/2020
With business slowing nationwide because of the coronavirus pandemic, many employers have already laid off staff, and many more fear they will have to do so soon. Before you commit to wholesale reductions-in-force, there are three alternatives worth considering.