The state’s new worker classification law takes effect on Jan. 1st. Those behind the AB5 legislative effort know it was an uphill battle – but it appears the fight isn’t over yet. Court cases challenging the law are piling up, some companies are saying they simply won’t cooperate (likely to…
Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog
California Home Day Care Workers’ Right to Unionize Solidified in 2019
2019 has been a banner year for worker rights in California. One important development that might have gotten lost in the shuffle amid all the rest was the passage of AB738 in September. Effective Jan. 1, 2020, home daycare providers will have the right to form, join and participate in…
Effect of Tighter Independent Contractor Rules on California’s Small Businesses
A new law intended to make it harder for companies to misclassify workers as independent contractors rather than employees has been the source of much controversy and litigation – even though it doesn’t take place for another week. Los Angeles employment lawyers know that while AB5 has a fair amount…
SoCal Garment Industry Coming Under Fire for Wage Theft
Southern California’s garment industry has in the past been accused of being one of the biggest wage theft offenders in the state. It’s been so bad in recent years that the California Labor Commissioner’s Office released a brochure specific to the problem for industry workers, noting that garment workers who…
Los Angeles Employer Accused of California WARN Act Violations After Dismissing Dozens of Workers
Roughly 70 workers at a private, non-profit museum in Los Angeles is facing a possible class action lawsuit for allegedly violating California’s WARN Act, which compels employers to offer at least a 60-day advance warning both to employees and local government agencies if there will be a plant closure, major…
California “Trimmigrants” Sue for Violations of U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act
A proposed class action lawsuit by so-called “trimmigrants” against a California cannabis company alleges that workers were compelled to work extended hours in difficult conditions without meal breaks, overtime pay or an accurate accounting of their wages. The workers, whose duties included growing, harvesting, bucking and hanging marijuana plants to…
Report: More than 7 Million Workers Starting 2020 With Higher Minimum Wages
January 2020 will mean higher wages in 22 states for some 7 million workers, who can expect to earn more than $8 billion in additional income over the course of the year. The wages hikes are the result of legislation, inflation adjustments and ballot measures. Twenty states still use the…
Federal Judge Won’t Force Uber to Reclassify California Drivers as Employees
A federal judge in California declined to compel ridesharing company Uber to reclassify its drivers as employees, rejecting plaintiffs’ claims that the alleged misclassification of workers adversely impacts the state of valuable tax dollars due to public assistance spending for low wage workers. Plaintiffs filed the motion for injunction by…
Los Angeles Sexual Harassment, Sexual Battery Defendant Ordered to Pay Former Worker $50 Million in Punitive Damages
In what is believed to be the highest damage award ever in a California employment lawsuit, a billionaire defendant/Hollywood executive/hologram entrepreneur/heir to Coca-Cola to pay a former employee $50 million in damages after jurors found him liable for battery, sexual battery and sexual harassment. The ruling is the third verdict…
Los Angeles Gender Discrimination Lawyers Strike $10 Million Settlement With Tech Company Riot Games
The Los Angeles technology company perhaps best known for its launch of video game League of Legends, has agreed to settle the California class action gender discrimination lawsuit for $10 million. The settlement, which is still pending court approval, will apply to roughly 1,000 women who worked at Riot Games…