Category: Uncategorized
Oops! One way or another these articles never got properly categorized.
Antonina Lonicki worked as a technician in the sterile processing department of Sutter Health Central in the Sacramento area. Lonicki performed the same work duties at a second job on weekends for Kaiser Permanente. Over time, Lonicki alleged, her Sutter workload increased and became hectic and stressful. One day, when Sutter unexpectedly changed Lonicki’s shift, […]
In a new California appeals court decision, an employer learned the hard way about the obligation to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs and practices—even if they conflict with work obligations. Request to Attend Religious Convention Lester Young, a Jehovah’s Witness, worked for Gemini Aluminum Corp. in Pomona. Young had attended a church convention almost every […]
A new ruling from the federal appeals court that covers California demonstrates how you can get hit with a retaliation claim following an employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation—even if it turns out the employee wasn’t disabled. The court also pointed out that travel restrictions don’t qualify as limitations on a major life activity for […]
Governor Schwarzenegger has signed new laws changing the information you must include on employee wage statements and clearing up how large the type must be on your whistleblower posters. Join us this fall in San Francisco for the California Employment Law Update conference, a 3-day event that will teach you everything you need to know […]
The largest single settlement Cal/ OSHA ever collected—$462,000—was for a work-related fire. In 1999, Tosco Refining Co. was cited for 33 alleged violations of state workplace safety regulations as a result of a fatal fire at its Avon plant near Martinez. Thankfully, most workplaces won’t experience such tragedies, but even so, OSHA reports that workplace […]
Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. violated the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by delaying an employee’s reinstatement for one month following the employee’s notification that she was ready to return from a medical leave. A federal appeals court said that under the FMLA, job restoration must occur once the employee is capable […]
In 2002, President Bush signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, designed to deter corporate corruption and protect employees who blow the whistle on corporate transgressions. Now the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the agency designated to handle whistleblower complaints under the act, has released final rules regarding the complaint filing and investigation process. […]
A jury in Sacramento recently awarded a staggering $19 million—$15 million of it in punitive damages—to a McKesson Corp. employee who claimed her employer violated disability bias and family and medical leave laws. Charlene Roby allegedly was fired under the company’s no-fault absence policy after several unexcused absences because of a panic disorder. She also […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced the latest in its series of e-laws Advisors. The new Advisor assists federal contractors and subcontractors in understanding basic coverage and compliance information for several laws that the DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs enforces. You can access the new Advisor on the DOL website.
The American workforce is getting older, and age-bias complaints are prevalent. In 2003, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 19,124 age-discrimination claims and recovered $48.9 million in damages for age-bias victims. And big cases regularly hit the headlines. In July 2004, for example, Google, the California-based Internet search engine company, was sued for age bias […]
