New Senate Bills introduced that would expand existing California family leave legislation
Family leave requirements are slated to improve for California workers after Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, amended and reintroduced bills that Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed last year. Under current legislation, workers are allowed up to 12 weeks of unpaid protected leave to care for seriously ill family members. Jackson’s Senate Bill (SB) 62 would expand […]
Yoga guru sued for pregnancy discrimination and wrongful termination
Yoga instructor and yoga school administrator Sharon Clerkin filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against yoga guru Bikram Choudhury after she was allegedly terminated for becoming pregnant. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. On November 26, 2016, a California judge ordered Clerkin’s employer, Choudhury, who recently moved to India to be deposed via […]
Former Versace employee files racial discrimination lawsuit
Former employee for a Versace retailer in Pleasanton, California, filed a lawsuit alleging that he was discriminated against based on his race and wrongfully terminated. The lawsuit claims the store employees used a secret code whenever a black customer entered the store. The plaintiff, Christopher Sampiro, claims in the suit that he was wrongfully terminated […]
Employer may be liable for “associational” disability
In Castro-Ramirez v. Dependable Highway Express, Inc., the California Court of Appeals upheld a finding that it is illegal to terminate someone based on associational discrimination, such as when the individual must care for an immediate family member with a disability. Luis Castro-Ramirez had allegedly arranged a work schedule with his supervisors for several years […]
Goodwill Industries sued for sexual harassment and disability discrimination
On December 13, 2016, The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged in a lawsuit against Goodwill Industries of the East Bay Area, with affiliate Calidad Industries, unlawfully permitted sexual harassment and disability discrimination against female janitors in the Oakland facility from at least 2009 to 2012. The suit claimed disability bias under the Americans […]
What to do if you think you were fired due to racial discrimination
If you have reason to believe you were wrongfully terminated from your job because of racial discrimination, you may have legal claims against your employer. There are several actions you can take to advance your rights. 1. Identifying racial discrimination in the workplace Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and California’s Fair Employment and […]
Older workers face risk of age discrimination in tech industry
It is against the law for employers to discriminate against employees based on their age. However, technology companies may be engaging in age bias in some not-so-subtle ways by trying to phase out older workers for younger, cheaper ones. While the average age of U.S. employees is 42, workers in Silicon Valley are an average […]
Top 5 employee wage abuses
With so many unique job roles and employment practices in businesses, it can be difficult to discern whether some payment protocols adhere to state and/or federal law. Wage abuse is a common occurrence in the workplace, and employers and workers would benefit from understanding some of the common situations in which intentional or unintentional wage […]
Los Angeles enacts Ordinance requiring 48 hours of paid sick leave
The City of Los Angeles recently enacted an Ordinance that increases employees’ mandatory sick leave entitlements, doubling the state requirements of 24 hours paid sick leave to 48 regardless of the size of business. On June 2, 2016, Mayor Eric Garcetti approved the Los Angeles Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO) to take effect on July 1, […]
California’s New Fair Pay Act: Equal Pay Protections Prohibiting Gender and Race-Based Inequality
California has passed the toughest equal pay laws in the country, and Californians are beginning to see the results of the law. On January 1, 2016 California passed the California Fair Pay Act, SB 358, amending California Labor Code § section 1197.5, to eliminate the wage gap between men and women. On September 30, 2016, […]
