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Employment Law

‘Barbaric’ conditions cited in ruling against labor firm

05/23/2014
Beverly Hills-based Global Horizons, Inc., awaits a trial to determine damages that will go to Thai workers who toiled at Hawaiian plantations.

Jet Propulsion Lab misfired by disciplining disgruntled workers

05/23/2014
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology was schooled in the NLRA after it disciplined five employees who challenged lab policies.

Why the spike in pro se cases? Courts are helping employees

05/23/2014
More employees are acting as their own attorneys when they sue employers or prospective employers. The reason may be simple: Word is getting around that some federal courts are making it easy to do.

Don’t require FMLA certification for CFRA leave

05/23/2014
California employees have additional rights to family and medical leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). Don’t require an employee to provide an FMLA certification form if she is seeking CFRA leave.

Specify which state’s laws apply to arbitration agreements covering teleworkers

05/23/2014
If you happen to use an arbitration agreement in employment contracts for out-of-state telecommuters, be aware that you may have to specify what state law you want to apply to the contract. Otherwise, the court will likely presume the employee’s state of residence applies.

Pettiness and lousy judgment may be bad, but they don’t prove discrimination

05/23/2014

While HR professionals certainly should strive to create a respectful, courteous and pleasant workplace, don’t worry too much if you fall short. The fact is, supervisors sometimes play favorites and exhibit questionable judgment.

When deciding ADA accommodations, demand complete medical information

05/23/2014

Disabled employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations, which must be decided on the basis of an interactive discussion between the employer and employee. Some employees, perhaps sensitive about their medical histories, try to limit the information their employers can see. That can compromise the interactive process.

California among top 10 states for 2013 EEOC charges

05/23/2014
Ten states—mostly home to the nation’s largest cities or located in the South—accounted for 56% of all EEOC charges filed in 2013. California logged the third highest total.

Court expands scope of ‘me too’ evidence

05/23/2014

Employees who sue for retaliation sometimes try to bolster their cases by claiming others who complained also experienced retaliation. Until recently, courts hearing California cases had limited so-called “me too” evidence to very similar cases.

Can we fire employees who collaborated on writing letter complaining about pay cuts?

05/22/2014
Q. We recently notified employees that we will be cutting pay due to difficult economic times. Then we received an anonymous letter expressing concerns about this decision. It suggested alternatives to pay cuts, such as eliminating our employer 401(k) match. We determined that the letter was written by one employee and edited by another. Can we terminate them?