Labor and Employment Law
Newly-Published Labor and Employment Cases
Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int’l Inc. (9th Cir. 17-16096 5/2/19) Wage and Hour. Dynamex should be applied retroactively.
Weil v. Citizens Telecom Servs. Co. (9th Cir. 16-35813 4/29/19) Employment Discrimination/Hearsay. Reversing summary judgment on failure-to-promote claim based on district court’s error in excluding as hearsay a statement by a company employee about the (discriminatory) reasons plaintiff was not selected for role; hearsay does not include statements offered against a party, made by that party’s employee on a matter within the scope of employment while that employee was working for the party. Affirming summary judgment on termination claim under Title VII because employee failed to present affirmative evidence that the employer treated similarly situated employees without the employee’s protected characteristic differently and that the employee satisfactorily performed his job.
Melendez v. S.F. Baseball Associates LLC (SC S245607 4/25/19) “Discharge”/CBA & Labor Code section 201. Lawsuit was not preempted by federal law simply because the collective bargaining agreement was relevant to the lawsuit and may be consulted to resolve the legal dispute.
Lamps Plus, et al. v. Varela (US 17–988 4/24/19) Class Arbitration. Classwide arbitration may not be compelled under the FAA where the arbitration agreement is ambiguous, notwithstanding state law principles construing ambiguities against the drafter.
Savea v. YRC Inc. (CA1/3 A152379 4/10/19) Wage Statements. Employer did not violate Labor Code section 226 by including its fictitious business name (instead of its legal name) or a 5 digit zip code (instead of a mail stop code or a zip + 4 code) on itemized wage statements.
Martinez v. Public Employees’ Retirement System (CA1/2 A153679 4/4/19) Public Employees Retirement Law/Disability Retirement. Dismissal precluding a disability retirement includes the situation of a public sector employee settling a pending termination for cause and agreeing not to seek re-employment.