Bay Area Employment Lawyer Blog

I’m not so sure why so much attention has been paid to Sullivan v. Oracle, other than the case has been up and down and all around the court system. See, e.g., Sullivan v. Oracle, 51 Cal.4th 1191 (2011); Sullivan v. Oracle, 662 F.3d 1265 (9th Cir. 2011). The recent holdings (by the Ninth Circuit…

On January 3, 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled that an employer cannot prohibit its employees from vindicating their rights through a class action. D.R. Horton, 357 NLRB No. 184 (2012). Employer D.R. Horton required that its employees enter into an arbitration agreement as a condition of employment. The agreement not only mandated…

CantorCO2e’s mandatory employment agreement was riddled with unconscionable provisions, errors, and bias. No wonder the California Court of Appeals decided that the court should determine the validity of the agreement and then determined that the agreement was not valid. Ajamian v. CantorCO2e, LLP, ___Cal.App.4th ___ (Feb. 16, 2012). As part of employers’ end run around…

I know I’ve said this before, but if employers so relish their precious right to force employees to arbitrate all their claims, why can’t they get it right and draft a simple arbitration agreement so that it is enforceable? Mayers v. Volt Management Corp.,__ C.A.4th___ (Feb. 2, 2012) is another example of an employer getting…

The California Court of Appeal overturned a $2 million dollar award to a Los Angeles police officer who it was admitted was fired solely because he complained of sexual harassment. Sounds like a good case? Too good for this court panel, which turned logic on its head in finding that it was legal to fire…

Ms. Rogers was a long term employee of Los Angeles County, serving as a personnel officer in the Executive Office, when she took a nineteen week medical leave of absence. When she returned to work, Los Angeles County notified her that she had been transferred to another position in a different department. Ms. Rogers considered…

Autozone did not accept responsibility for the fact that its managers, and thus Autozone itself, were found guilty of sexual harassment, leading it to appeal the jury’s verdict and claim that the plaintiff’s testimony was somehow “inherently improbable.” The California Court of Appeal was able to accurately discern that the vile and filthy conduct of…

In the arena of sexual harassment, we’ve come a long way, baby. In general, the public is more aware of what conduct is forbidden in the workplace, and many employers train managers and employees alike to prevent such conduct. As a society, we are much more likely to have work environments free from sexual harassment…

The conservative US Supreme Court’s activist agenda is in full throttle in the mandatory arbitration arena. In the AT&T v. Concepcion case (see prior blog of July 6, 2011), the US Supreme Court planted its thumb squarely on the employer’s side of the scales of justice by overturning past law and holding that there is…

Nielsen Media Research convinced the district court to grant summary judgment in this age discrimination case, and the district court held that plaintiff, Ms. Earl, failed to prove that Nielsen’s actions were a pretext for discrimination. Earl v. Nielsen Media Research, Inc., — F.3d —-, 2011 WL 4436250 (9th Cir. Sept. 26, 2011). Nielsen measures…