A uniform policy alone does not establish the predominance of common issues if it is not a means of establishing class-wide liability; so, here, the employer could defeat class certification with evidence that many of its crews did not follow its uniform break policy. Read More
An owner and president of a restaurant corporation could be held liable for civil penalties for violating wage and hour laws since he supervised the corporation's payment practices that violated the laws. Read More
California statute extending state wage laws governing public works to cover delivery drivers of ready-mix concrete is not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act and does not violate concrete companies’ equal protection rights. Read More
First Amendment’s ministerial exception barred seminary dean-plaintiff’s claims for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, but not breach of contract, since the latter is a matter of compliance with a faculty handbook and hence does not turn on an ecclesiastical inquiry or excessively entangle the court in religious matters. Read More
Since plaintiff restaurant workers alleged their employers took the tip credit for unrelated untipped work hours and for related untipped work exceeding 20% of their work time, they stated viable claims for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read More
Under the 2008 amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is no longer necessary for an employee to show that his perceived disability limited or was perceived to limit a major life activity in order to show evidence of “disability”; all that the employee need plead or prove is that the employer regarded him as physically or mentally impaired. Read More
The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act does not preempt the California Labor Commissioner from examining whether truck drivers are independent contractors or employees entitled to the benefit of California's wage and hour laws. Read More
The National Labor Relations Act does not preempt retired professional football players' suit against the NFL for misprescribing them painkillers and other drugs. Read More
A claim for $10/hour minimum wages under San Jose's ordinance is not preempted by the National Labor Relations Act since the claim arose independently of the relevant collective bargaining agreement. Read More
An employer cannot require a disabled job applicant to submit to additional medical tests at his own expense as a condition of employment. Read More
An appeal of a federal district court’s remand order does not stay proceedings in the state court and so does not toll the 5-year deadline for commencing trial. Read More
Class action settlement and judgment in a case brought under the California Labor Code had res judicata effect on a subsequent class action involving same employees and same employer based on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Read More
To appeal from the Labor Commissioner's ruling on an employee’s wage claim, the employer must post a bond in the amount of the award; failure to do so results in dismissal of the appeal unless the employer is indigent. Read More
An employer must give an employee a meal break if the shift is five hours or longer, but if the total work period is not more than six hours, the employer and employee may waive this requirement by mutual agreement, such as through a clear and unmistakable collective bargaining agreement. Read More
An employee cannot state a claim against his employer based on a theory of “receiving stolen property” on the basis that the employer “received” the employee's labor without paying the agreed price for it. Read More
A Washington state law requiring an employer to allow an employee to reschedule accrued vacation time to care for the medical needs of close relatives is not pre-empted by the federal Railway Labor Act, since that preemption extends only far enough to protect the role of labor arbitration in resolving disputes over collective bargaining agreements—which was not at issue in… Read More
The employee is the prevailing party, entitled to a fee award on an employer’s appeal from a Labor Commissioner’s ruling unless the appeal reduces the employer’s liability to $0. Read More
California labor laws do not recognize the federal de minimis doctrine; hence, Starbucks's practice of requiring store managers to work without pay several minutes a day after clocking out was illegal. Read More
Taco Bell’s policy allowing employees to buy discounted meals to eat during their meal breaks—but only if they ate the discounted meal on the premises—did not violate California rule that employees be relieved of all work duties and employer control during meal breaks. Read More
A state law requiring public employees who are non-union members to pay agency fees to the union that is the certified bargaining agent for employees in their work unit violates the First Amendment by compelling the employees to fund speech with which they may not agree. Read More
