Tag: Employment law

Advantage Serena: Employment Issues Raised by Tennis Star’s Return to Work

Serena Williams is one of the greatest athletes of all time–man or woman–period. In her 25-year professional career, she has dominated on the tennis court by winning nearly 40 major titles (singles and doubles). Roger Federer, a tennis legend in his own right, has remarked that Williams is “one of the greatest, if not the […]

metoo

Company Freed from Liability in Harassment Case Based on Prompt Complaint Response

On June 25, 2018, the 11th Circuit held that a district court did not err in rejecting a jury verdict in favor of an employee on her sexual harassment claim and granting judgment in the employer’s favor. After all, the employer took prompt remedial action by immediately instructing the alleged harasser to stay away from […]

English-Only Policies Are Presumptively Unlawful Under New FEHA Regs

California leads the United States in foreign-born and non-English- speaking residents. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, almost half of all Californians speak a language other than English at home. Nearly one-third of the state’s population is foreign-born (10 million people), which accounts for about a quarter of the foreign-born population in the […]

Employee Fails at Thinking Outside the Bun in Suit Against Taco Bell

Taco Bell permits employees to buy a reduced-price meal but requires them to eat the meal in the restaurant. Does that turn what would otherwise be an unpaid meal break into paid time? No, according to a recent decision from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all California employers).

Asia Argento: The Other Side of #MeToo

Asia Argento, one of the first Harvey Weinstein accusers to come forward, now finds herself on the other side of the #MeToo movement in which she had been a prominent figure. According to a recent New York Times report, just months after accusing Weinstein of rape, Argento agreed to pay $380,000 to Jimmy Bennett, an […]

The Devastating Result of a Single Word

A car wash company provided its employees with a handbook setting forth its employment policies. The handbook was written in both English and Spanish, it required arbitration of employment disputes, and it denied an employee’s right to bring an action under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). The English version stated that the denial […]

Appellate Court Upholds $500,000 Jury Verdict for Disability Harassment

A jury awarded an employee with a speech impediment $500,000 because he was harassed by a supervisor who mimicked his stutter. The central issue on appeal was whether the supervisor’s conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive to constitute disability harassment. When does a joking atmosphere become a hostile work environment?

Have ‘Stranger’ Leaves Been Approved? FMLA Lessons from Netflix

While binge-watching everyone’s nostalgic guilty pleasure, Netflix’s Stranger Things, I could not help but empathize with single mother Joyce Byers (played by actress Winona Ryder). Her prepubescent son, Will (Noah Schnapp), was abducted by a monster (the Demogorgon) and sent to a parallel universe (the Upside Down) populated by dog-like monsters. During Will’s disappearance, apparent […]