The Employer’s Advocate

In Chindarah v. Pick Up Stix (Feb. 26, 2009) 171 Cal. App. 4th 796 and now, Watkins v. Wachovia Corporation, et al (Apr. 16, 2009)  the Appellate Courts for the Second (Watkins) and Fourth (Chindarah) Appellate Districts approved employer settlement agreements with individual, putative class members, effectively ending class-action litigation that alleged employee misclassification and [...]

I recently submitted an editorial reply to The Herald News, in Fall River, MA., in opposition to an article written by Sen. John F. Kerry. To review Sen. Kerry’s article in its entirety, readers should refer to the  following citation:  (www.heraldnews.com/opinions/x955247878/GUEST-OPINION-Free-choice-and-small-business-02-07-09) My opposition to Sen. Kerry’s article now follows:
I had occasion to read an article published [...]

On January 29, 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (Public Law 111-01) became the first bill signed into law by President, Barack Obama.  There are two principal effects of the law:  1). Employees will now have repeated opportunities to file charges and recover damages against their employers for equal-pay violations, because the employers’ acts [...]

On December 3, 2008, the Fourth District Appellate Court overturned a jury verdict awarding $195,000.00 in punitive damages to a former waitress, despite numerous meal and rest period violations by her former employer. This decision constitutes an important victory for California employers at [...]

The California Supreme Court has granted review of the Brinker case, in which a State Appellate Court had ruled, in part, that an employer need only provide its employees with the opportunity to take meal periods and rest periods in accordance with California law, not actually ensure that such breaks are taken.  Because of the [...]

Cedar Rapids, Iowa:  On June 26th and 27th, 2008, in a secret ballot election conducted by Region 18 of the National Labor Relations Board, employees of Clipper Turbine Works, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, voted overwhelmingly against union representation by nearly a three to one margin.  The National Labor Relations Board has certified the results of [...]

Generally, California Labor Code and applicable Wage Orders require employers to provide at least one, thirty-minute meal period to all employees who work at least five hours per day, with a ten-minute rest period provided in the middle of each four-hour work period.  California Labor Code § 226.7 requires an employer to pay an extra [...]

Vindicating the free speech rights of California employers, the United States Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, has overturned California laws that unlawfully interfered with every employer’s constitutionally protected right to engage in a free debate about the question of union representation under the National Labor Relations Act.  The Court reached its decision in the [...]

For employees who believe that their supervisors are alien life forms, there is now judicial confirmation that supervisors are not considered “persons” against whom liability may be imposed for acts of retaliation under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (Government Code § 12940(h)).  So says a majority of the California Supreme Court.  As employees attempt [...]

If the Democrats retake the White House, small employers should brace themselves for a union organizing onslaught arising from a law euphemistically entitled, The Employee Free Choice Act, or “EFCA” (former Senate Bill 1041).  If some version of this Act is passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, it will provide employees [...]