New Federal Law Allows Plaintiffs to Bring Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment Claims in Court, Despite Mandatory Arbitration Agreements On February 10, 2021, the Senate passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, H.R. 4445 (“Law”), with bipartisan support. The Law was signed by President Biden and took effect […]
Employment Law Update – February 14, 2020 CALIFORNIA’S MANDATORY ARBITRATION BAN SUSPENDED. On January 31, 2020 a California federal court granted a preliminary injunction to enjoin enforcement of AB 51 – which purported to severely restrict the ability of employers to require employees to arbitrate most types of employment disputes – pending a decision by […]
The Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in favor of Ricketts Case’s client the City of Glendale in its lawsuit against Vieste, the owner and operator of a facility Vieste constructed at the City’s landfill. Initially designed to remove unsorted recyclables from the City’s municipal waste stream and later to convert waste into energy, […]
November 12, 2019 CONSUMER LEGISLATION AND CASE DEVELOPMENTS CALIFORNIA EXPANDS DATA-BREACH NOTIFICATION LAW: California’s security breach notification law requires businesses that incur data breaches involving “personal information” to notify the individuals affected and, where more than 500 California residents are notified, the California Attorney General. Assembly Bill 1130, signed into law by Governor Newsom on […]
CALIFORNIA EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE October 22, 2019 In addition to several key new California laws summarized in our October 16, 2019 E-Alert, recapped below are several cases impacting California employers decided thus far in October. CLARIFYING MEAL AND REST PERIOD PENALTY CALCULATIONS: On October 9, 2019, a California appellate court, in Ferra v. Loews Hollywood […]
Governor Newsom and the California Legislature Let Fly a Grand Slam of New Employment Laws for 2020 As the 2019 Legislative season ends, California employers will find it’s a whole new ballgame for 2020. New laws passed by the legislature, and signed into law by Governor Newsom, will make it harder to establish independent contractor […]
Use it or Lose it! Supreme Court Holds Employers Risk Waiving Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies Defense When Not Timely Pled June 13, 2019 Most employers know that, generally, an employee must file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) or relevant state or local agency (Department of Fair Employment and Housing or […]
May 1, 2019 Courts May Not Compel Arbitration of Claims on a Classwide Basis Absent Parties’ Explicit Authorization Authored by Amy Fisher, Esq. On April 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Lamps Plus, Inc., et al., v. Varela, 587 U.S. ___ (2019) (“Lamps Plus”) that a court may not compel class arbitration […]
March 28, 2019 All employers who use the services of a background checking agency to procure a background check report on an employment applicant should know that the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) requires that the applicant sign a written disclosure and an authorization before the report may be obtained. Specifically, to ensure the […]
Here We Go Again: New Year, New Laws-California Employers Get Ready! October 19, 2018 Every Fall California employers brace themselves for another onslaught of new employment laws going into the next calendar year. 2019 will be no exception. To help prepare our clients and friends, we summarize below some of the more significant new developments […]
September 13, 2018 COMPANIES WITH CONTRACTORS: HAVE YOU LEARNED YOUR DYNAMEX A, B, C’S? Executive Summary On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a groundbreaking decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court (Los Angeles), 4 Cal. 5th 903 (2018), regarding the standard by which employers may classify California workers as employees […]
Ricketts Case successfully defended a putative class action filed against PacWest Energy, LLC d/b/a Jacksons Car Wash, alleging violations of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. The Complaint sought injunctive relief as well as damages on behalf of a class of consumers who purchased monthly memberships for unlimited car washes at Jacksons Car Wash locations. On […]