A CLASS of “Review Appraisers,” employed by Bank of America (BoA) through its subsidiary, Landsafe, recently obtained approval of a settlement for $5.8 million. The employees sued BoA for alleged overtime violations, itemaized wage statement violations, meal and rest period violations, waiting time penalties, and civil penalties against the employer. The employees, who primarily proofread…
MARIA Nucci slipped and fell at a Target store in Palm Beach, Florida. She sued Target for personal injury, claiming, among other things, that she has become physically handicapped experiencing emotional pain and suffering, that she lost the ability to earn money, and that she will continue to suffer losses and impairment in the future….
MYRA Becraft was a full-time staff psychiatrist for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at its facility in San Diego. According to the Daily Journal, Ms. Becraft sued her employer for wrongful termination based on disability discrimination. She alleged that her workload increased so dramatically that by 2011, she had to take several leaves…
Stopping those pesky communications THE telephone is one of mankind’s most remarkable inventions. It has allowed people in distant locations to connect within seconds. But like most inventions, it can be a tool for abusive practices. With the invention of cellular phones, the list of communication benefits multiplied. So did the list of complaints about…
WE previously wrote an article about guards who worked at CPS Security Solutions, Inc. CPS provides “trailer guards” for construction sites in California. The guards spend the night at their jobsites in residential-type trailers. They are instructed to investigate alarms and to prevent vandalism and theft. The guards were asked to sign an On-Call Agreement…
CLASSIFYING workers as ‘independent contractors’ (ICs) allows businesses to pass on the costs of running the business to workers. This ploy, however, did not fool the federal Court of Appeal when it ruled against FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. (FedEx) in one of the most important cases to come out last year concerning the correct…
THE year 2014 has been an interesting time for employment law with the legislature and the courts defining additional protections to employees. The following are some of the laws that may interest our readers: New minimum wage laws took effect in July 1, 2014 Effective July 1, 2014, California’s minimum wage was raised from $8…
A JURY in Santa Clara County recently issued a verdict of $16.5 million against an online dating website service for disseminating members’ private information to thousands of websites that members did not sign up for. The Complaint in federal court stated that Successfulmatch.com runs several websites that offer dating service to the public. To expand its…
WE previously reported on a case of warehouse employees at Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., a company which provides warehouse space and staffing to Amazon.com, who sued their employer in a class action, alleging that they spent as much as 25 minutes per day of unpaid time going through required security screenings at the end of…
ROSARIO Juarez, a former female employee of AutoZone, Inc., the auto-parts retailer, sued her employer for discriminating against her because she was a woman, for demoting her after learning she was pregnant, and for firing her when she filed a discrimination claim. The case was tried before a jury of three women and five men….
“ According to EPI, even though the restaurant industry is one of the fastest growing sector of the economy, its workers are some of the lowest paid and are much more likely than other workers to live in poverty or near-poverty level.” THE Economic Policy Institute (EPI) recently published a study on restaurant workers, how…
Q: SEVERAL weeks ago, I was diagnosed with a medical condition that required me to go to my doctor every week for treatment. I had informed my supervisor about my need to take 2-4 hours off work every week for a limited period of time. Last week, HR told me I had too many absences….
Q: AT work, we are required to wear a uniform, which only the employer can provide. The cost of the uniform is deducted from our pay. Is this deduction legal? A: No, this deduction for employer-mandated uniform is prohibited under California law. If the employer requires its employees to wear uniforms at work, the employer…
EVERY now and then, our law firm receives calls from persons who inform us that supervisors reduced their hours, or suspended them for a trump up charge, in order to “get back,” or get even with them for “talking back,” or telling the supervisor he was wrong. The aggrieved employee then asks if they can…
KINDRED Healthcare Incorporated, a healthcare services company that operates hospitals, nursing centers, and rehabilitation services nationwide, was sued by its health care employees in California. The employees alleged that Kindred violated labor laws by failing to pay the correct overtime rate, failing to provide meal periods, and failing to give accurate itemized wage statements to…
Q: I HAD to take a few weeks of medical leave from work because I had to undergo a heart procedure. I gave my employer my doctors’ notes. When I was released to go back to work, my employer told me that my position was no longer available. Since I work for a fairly large…
Q: I HAVE worked at XY Company, a big processing plant in the Inland Empire, for many years. My direct employer is really ABC LLC, which subcontracts labor to XY Company. My coworkers and I often work more than 8 hours per day, 6 to 7 days per week at XY Company but we are…
WE previously discussed the question of whether an employee’s signature to an independent contractor (IC) agreement binds the employee to the terms of that agreement. We noted that the law determines the worker’s status, not the parties’ agreement. Even if there was an IC agreement, workers who are treated as employees will not be bound…
Why a fixed monthly salary may shortchange some employees Q: I WORK as a supervisor/team lead at a manufacturing plant. I supervise a few employees but I can’t hire or fire them. I am salaried and I work a lot of overtime because of a heavy workload. I am not paid overtime because my employer…
When employees are entitled to higher pay ANDREW Prizler worked as an hourly retail sales consultant at AT&T Mobility Services. Being in sales, he was also paid commissions. In June 2012, Prizler sued his employer, alleging that employer failed to pay him and other employees like him, all wages due, including overtime wages. Additionally, when…
IN 2005, Carolyn Gregory was assigned by her employer, a home health care agency, to work in the home of 85-year-old Lorraine Cott, who had long suffered from Alzheimer‘s disease. Carolyn was trained and experienced in caring for Alzheimer‘s patients. She knew they could be violent. Lorraine was combative and would bite, kick, scratch, and…
TERMINATIONS can be difficult situations, particularly where employees see the firing as unfair. Knowing one’s rights upon the end of an employment relationship may help employees weather this challenging time. The following provides some helpful guidelines: First: Make sure that the employment relationship has ended and there is no misunderstanding about this. Employment can end…
Employees’ right to reimbursement COLIN Cochran sued his employer, Schwan’s Home Service, Inc., in a class action on behalf of about 1,500 customer service managers who were not reimbursed for expenses pertaining to the work-related use of their personal cell phones. Under California law, employees are entitled to reimbursements for expenses incurred in direct consequence…
Q: I WORK in a hospital on 12-hour shifts. During my meal break, I sometimes go to our break lounge to take a nap. My supervisor told me sleeping is forbidden. Since it is my 30-minute meal break, I feel that I should be able to spend it however I want. What are my rights?…
JANIS McLean worked for the State of California as a deputy attorney general until she retired from service in 2010. She did not receive her final wages on her last day of employment or within 72 hours of that date. The correct amount of her wages for unused leave and vacation time were not transferred…
(Ten-year meal & rest breaks case is a win for employees) IN 2004, five employees of the restaurant, Chili’s, filed a claim against their employer claiming that they were illegally denied meal and rest breaks. The employees claimed that the restaurant regularly told its employees to take early lunches, often right after starting work, and…
A 56-YEAR old woman who tripped and fell several feet down a parking garage recovered $6.5 million in damages from the parking company and garage owner. According to reports, the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, had her car valet parked on the second floor of a parking garage. She returned to get some things…
Q: I WAS recently forced to quit my job because of my abusive manager. Can I still sue for wrongful termination even if I was the one who left my employment? A: If the manager’s conduct created working conditions that were so oppressive that a reasonable person in the employee’s position is forced to resign,…
ACCORDING to reports, Walgreens, the drug retail chain, was sued by its California employees for, among other things, failure to provide employees the required meal and rest breaks and for failing to pay employees for their spent at work undergoing security searches. The case is on behalf of Walgreens’ hourly managers or assistant store managers…
Q: I AM a salaried employee receiving exactly twice the minimum wage per hour. I have a heavy workload and I supervise a few employees but I can’t hire or fire them. My employer insists that since I am salaried and paid double the hourly minimum wage, I am exempt from overtime pay. Is it…
