By: Sam G. Sherman, Esq.
On February 9, 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor and California's secretary of labor entered into a memorandum of understanding regarding the misclassification of employees as independent contractors. The goal is to continue to target, and eliminate, employee misclassification. The press release can be found here.
At this point, it is unclear how the memorandum of understanding will impact employers. The press release merely indicates that the two agencies will "embark on new efforts" to prevent…
California patent infringement lawyers expect Kodak's bankruptcy filing to be further complicated by a hostile patent infringement dispute with Apple.
Kodak has accused Apple of infringing on its patents, but last week Apple shot back by alleging that the patents were the property of Apple. According to Apple, back in the 90s, the two companies had collaborated to explore how they could work together on several projects. One of the projects had to do with the commercialization of digital cameras manufactured…
By: Sam G. Sherman, Esq.
Many employers feel that the law has gone so far that they cannot fire any employee for anything without risking liability. Not always true. The Fourth District Court of Appeals recently decided that a church can fire an employee for living with her boyfriend and raising their child together out of wedlock.
Henry v. Red Hill Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tustin involved a female employee teaching in the Church's preschool. Henry was…
By: Sam G. Sherman, Esq. A federal district court in Johnson v. Board of Trustees of the Boundary County School District No. 101, recently clarified the circumstances under which an employer must accommodate a disabled employee or job applicant. The Court ultimately found that the employer need not accommodate an employee in obtaining the qualifications necessary to perform the job. Federal law prohibits an employer from discriminating against disabled employees. To prevail in a…
By: Sam G. Sherman, Esq.
Many employers include arbitration agreements in offer letters, employment agreements, or as part of a packet of pre-employment documents given to employees for signature. Many of those same employers are left frustrated when courts refuse to enforce the very arbitration agreement they have paid lawyers thousands of dollars to draft (or agreements that the employer pulled off the internet in an effort to save lawyers' fees).
A California Appellate Court in Sacramento recently issued a…
DLSE Publishes Template for Information Employers Must Provide Employees Hired After January 1, 2012
By: Sam G. Sherman
Governor Brown recently signed AB 469, which requires employers to provide employees certain information at the time of hire. Employers must provide this information to all employees hired after January 1, 2011. The DLSE has provided a template for employers to use to comply with the act, as well as a "frequently asked questions" page. Both can be found here.
Feel free to call or write if you have any questions about…
By: Sam G. Sherman, Esq.
Most California employers are waiting patiently for the California Supreme Court to issue its ruling in Brinker v. Superior Court. As we posted a few weeks ago, the main issue in that case is whether an employer must ensure that its employees take their breaks or merely provide those breaks to employees.
The Supreme court heard oral argument on November 8, 2011, which would have required the court to issue a ruling by February 6, 2012.…
Verizon and Cablevision have reached a settlement in a dispute closely watched by California business dispute lawyers. The dispute involved a series of Verizon TV ads mocking Cablevision's Internet speeds. The settlement was announced just hours before a US District Court heard opening arguments in the dispute. The terms of the settlement between the two companies have not been revealed.
The dispute involves allegations that Verizon’s TV advertising campaign poked fun at Cablevision's prime time Internet speeds. Those ads mentioned the…
By: Sam G. Sherman, Esq.
In October, we told you about an NLRB Final Rule requiring employers to notify their employees of their rights under the NLRA by November 14, 2011. A few days later, the NLRB issued a press release delaying the implementation of the rule until January 31, 2011. Well, the NLRB has delayed the posting requirement one more time.
On December 23, 2011, the NLRB issued a press release indicating that it would delay the posting requirement until…
The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission is asking Congress for authority to impose tougher financial penalties on companies and individuals who commit fraud.
Chairman Mary Schapiro sent a letter to Senators last week, asking Congress to allow changes to the current financial penalty system at the Securities and Exchange Commission. In her letter, she expressed frustration at the current laws that limit fines based on 2 methods. In one method, the penalty is limited to the equivalent of the…