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Employment Law

Pay stub slip-up costs employer $72,000

08/19/2011
Under most states’ wage payment laws, each failure to provide a pay stub to an employee counts as a separate violation. A new court ruling shows how liability can add up quickly … and it serves as another cautionary tale about mislabeling employees as independent contractors.

Can we require grooming standards without being guilty of religious bias?

08/18/2011
Q. Our company requires male employees to keep their hair short. However, a recent applicant has stated that his religion does not allow him to cut his hair. Will requiring him to cut his hair to get the job violate federal law?

Can we make a deaf employee and his boss learn sign language?

08/18/2011
Q. Our company recently hired a deaf employee who communicates exclusively by written notes. We are finding that this process is time consuming and adversely affects productivity. May we require that both the deaf worker and his supervisor learn sign language and terminate their employment if they refuse?

Make note if employee actually requests arbitration

08/18/2011
Arbitration agreements with onerous terms are sometimes struck down under California contract law. But in some cases, courts will grant arbitration anyway.

Ensure arbitration agreements are fair, reasonable

08/18/2011
If you intend to use arbitration as a way to manage employment discrimination claims and avoid court, make sure the agreement is reasonable. The more one-sided the agreement appears, the more likely a court will rule it unconscionable and unenforceable.

Government agencies: Ensure last-chance agreements allow for pre-termination hearings

08/18/2011

Government employees have a few rights that private-sector employees lack. One is the right to “some sort of” hearing before being terminated. A public employee essentially gets the right to challenge the decision to terminate him before it is final. But what happens if the employee signs on to a so-called last-chance agreement?

Arbitration agreement should stand on its own, separately from employee handbook

08/18/2011
Even if an arbitration agreement is fair and evenhanded enough to meet California standards, employers still have to clear the hurdle of showing that employees knew about the policy and agreed to it. That means making sure that employees actually read the document—or at least sign off that they did or had the opportunity to do so.

Pepsi pays $120K to settle Hayward ADA lawsuit

08/18/2011
Pepsi Bottling Group has agreed to settle an EEOC lawsuit filed on behalf of a truck driver at the company’s Hayward facility who claimed he was fired after requesting time off during a medical emergency.

Great America park sued for anti-gay harassment

08/18/2011
Two gay customers have filed a 10-count lawsuit against California’s Great America amusement park, alleging sexual harassment, discrimination, invasion of privacy and infliction of emotion distress.

‘Me-too’ evidence can show intent to harass

08/18/2011

Employees who are sexually har­assed at work can feel quite vulnerable, especially if they think they have been singled out for such treatment. When an employee finds out others have been treated just as badly, she may sue. Naturally, the employer’s attorney will try to exclude from evidence any incidents that occurred at other times or to employees other than the plaintiff. But now a California appeals court has permitted such “me-too” evidence.