Labor and Employment eNews

The November issue of our Section’s Labor & Employment Law Review celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the enactment of the Unruh Civil Rights Act. Former DFEH Director Phyllis Cheng provides a retrospective in her article “The Unruh Civil Rights Act at 60.” Workplace investigator and former Chair of the Section Amy Oppenheimer offers an article, co-authored with Aleza Trigueros, titled "The Meaning of Due Process in Harassment Investigations." Read more

Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc.
(CA2/4 B256232 9/26/19)
Wage and Hour Class Action. In a wage and hour class action alleging violations of Labor Code sections 203, 226.7 and 226, the court of appeal held in part: “(1) at-will, on-call, hourly, nonexempt employees who are paid for on-duty meal periods are also entitled to premium wages if the employer does not have a written agreement that includes an on-duty meal period revocation clause (§ 226.7); (2) unpaid premium wages for meal break violations accrue prejudgment interest at seven percent; (3) unpaid premium wages for meal break violations do not entitle employees to additional remedies pursuant to sections 203 and 226 if their pay or pay statements during the course of the violations include the wages earned for on-duty meal breaks, but not the unpaid premium wages; [and] (4) without section 226 penalties, attorney fees pursuant to section 226, subdivision (e) may not be awarded.” Read more

Clifford v. Quest Software Inc. (CA4/3 G055858, filed 7/23/19, ord. pub. 8/14/19) Arbitration/Unfair Competition Law. Different from a UCL claim seeking public injunctive relief, a UCL claim seeking private injunctive relief or restitution may be subject to arbitration. Read more

Thank you to those who participated in and attended our Wage and Hour Conference and Annual Meeting last month. This was our most well-attended Section event to date! Read more

The September issue of our Section’s Labor & Employment Law Review will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the enactment of FEHA. Current DFEH Director Kevin Kish provides an excellent overview in his article “FEHA at 60: Looking Back, Looking Forward.” DFEH’s Chief of Dispute Resolution, Annmarie Billotti (who is also a former member of the Section’s Executive Committee) adds an informative article titled “Did You Know DFEH Has a Dispute Resolution Division?” Read more

Monster Energy Company v. Schechter (SC S251392 7/11/19) Settlement Agreements/Attorneys’ Confidentiality Obligations (applicable to employment settlements). Attorneys may have been bound by the contractual confidentiality obligation in a settlement agreement when they approved it as to form and content and body of agreement referenced that they would be bound. Read more

Even seasoned litigators sometimes feel lost with questions such as how aggressively to open or how to move a negotiation forward without giving too much away. And even seasoned litigators sometimes leave mediation feeling frustrated because a client left money on the table, or paid too much, or a case that should have settled did not. Read more

The July issue of our Section’s Labor & Employment Law Review will feature two articles on "PAGA 15 Years Later," one from the perspective of the employer by Laura Reathaford, and one from the perspective of the employee by Glenn Danas. The authors review recent and ongoing significant PAGA cases, including one filed by the California Business & Industrial Alliance against the State of California that challenges PAGA as unconstitutional on an “as-applied” basis. Read more

Kisor v. Wilkie (US 18-15 6/26/19) Agency Deference Doctrine. Upholding Auer deference doctrine, whereby courts defer to an agency’s reasonable reading of the agency’s own ambiguous regulations. Read more

We are less than 10 days away from our best and largest event of the year, our 9th Annual Advanced Wage & Hour Conference and 36th Labor and Employment Law Section Annual Meeting. As I mentioned last month, the combined conference will have something for everyone, and you can register to attend one or both days. Our Wage and Hour Conference, on July 18, will have an annual update, panels on Dynamex and PAGA, a wage-and-hour-ethics-themed trivia luncheon, and the much-loved judges panel with practical tips on litigating wage and hour class actions. Read more