Orange County Employment Lawyers Blog

Uber Settles with Drivers in Employment Lawsuit in Los Angeles

April 27, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

By now, most everyone is familiar with Uber. The company makes a smart phone app that you can download and use when you need a ride. When the company first started, it was primarily a black car service. The company got limo drivers to sign up for the service and agree to pick up customers for rides during the time they were not working on their regular jobs.

While this was initially good for black car drivers, it essentially put black car companies out of business, because everyone just gets an Uber ride now instead of calling for a traditional black car service. Then the taxi drivers became upset that someone with no special insurance, and no background check, and no hack license could pick up fares and steal their business. As a result, you can now call a cab on Uber. Continue Reading ›

Former Orange County Assessor’s Office Workers Wrongful Termination Suit Going to Trial

April 25, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news release from the Voice of OC, two former employees at the Orange County Assessor’s Office have filed a lawsuit claiming wrongful termination and various other allegations of violations of the California labor code.

While there was some hope that the case would be settled prior to trial, it now appears that it will likely be heard before an Orange County jury, as the trial is scheduled to start in October of this year. Continue Reading ›

Newspaper Delivery Workers Ruled to Be Independent Contractors

April 22, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

When most people hear the term “contractor” they immediately think of a person you can hire to do work on your home. You may be adding and extra room, building a garage, finishing a basement, or having many other types of work performed on the house.

For example, if you wanted to turn an unfinished basement into a guest apartment, you would have a contractor come over and prepare and estimate, and then you would hire this person to do the work. He or she would tell you how long the job would take and what it would cost. He or she would tell when you should stay out of the home to avoid any disruption and when the work would begin. Continue Reading ›

4,200 Jobs Added in California with Sharp Drop in Unemployment Rate

April 17, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news feature from the Los Angeles Times, 4,200 jobs have been added to the economy in California. At the same time, we are experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in nearly the past decade. The current unemployment rate in the State of California is 5.4 percent.

It should be noted that even at 5.4 percent, which is the best we have seen in California since 2007, these figures are still above the national average of 5 percent, but with the number continuing to fall each month (last month was 5.5 percent), the state may be closer to the national average if current trends continue, and for an economy the size of this state, that is a major accomplishment. Continue Reading ›

Union Workers May Not Benefit from New Minimum Wage in LA

April 14, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

By now everyone is aware that the City of Los Angeles has raised the local minimum to $15 dollars an hour. This was seen as a major victim for the city’s large number of working poor, and is one of the most progressive increases in the nation. However, according to a recent news feature from the Los Angeles Times, union members who work are large hotels are one group that will not be seeing a nearly 70 percent raise in their monthly wages.

The reason for this is because they are members of a union and the job has been officially unionized because enough employees signed onto the union to allow the organization to have exclusive bargaining rights with respect to negotiations between the union and employer. Continue Reading ›

Major Tax Breaks for Two Tech Sector Employers for Adding Jobs in California

April 12, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

If you turn on any cable news network you are likely to see what is going in the Republican primaries, and you are likely to hear about jobs to going to China if you ever see Donald Trump speak. Regardless of your opinion of who, if any of the people running for the presidential nomination in both parties is the right person for the job, there is no question that more jobs in American in a good thing for the nation.

While manufacturing jobs are getting harder and harder to come by in the United States, there is an increase in jobs in the tech sector. While California is well known as the center of the tech industry, many only think of Silicon Valley, and there is good reason for that as it has been a major hub over the years. However, when many may not realize is that due to tax incentives locally, Los Angeles is becoming a major hot bed for tech center jobs, and this only expected to increase over the next several years. Continue Reading ›

California Supreme Court Orders Employer to Let Workers Have a Seat

April 10, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Every time we go into a retail establishment we see workers standing at the register. There is no real reason that these workers can’t be sitting in a chair other than due to the fact that they have always been required to stand. However, just because it has always been done a certain way to does it make a good reason to doing that something that doesn’t make a lot of sense.

While this seem like a trivial issue, those who worked as a cashier know how painful it can be to stand in the same spot for hours on end. While store owners realize it is painful and are often willing to provide a rubber mats for employees to stand on, they are not ever willing to allow these workers to sit in a stool or chair while working the register. Continue Reading ›

American Apparel to Eliminate 300 Jobs in Los Angeles

April 8, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news feature from the Orange County Register, the clothing retailer American Apparel is cutting 300 jobs in Los Angeles and 80 more in Garden Grove. The 80 employees may not be the only ones laid off in Garden Grove as union leaders are preparing for that number to reach 150 in the next week or so. These jobs are at a processing facility run by the clothing manufacturer in the Los Angeles area.

These employees work as sewers, laborers, and even supervisors at the clothing manufacturing plant. As one might expect, the union that represents these workers in not happy with the all the past and future layoffs and has called for a major picket outside of the company’s factory. Continue Reading ›

California Jury Orders Taco Bell to Pay Workers in 10-Year-Old Case

April 7, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

According to a recent news article from Eater, a lawsuit that has dragged on for ten years involving employees who sued for half a million dollars claiming that Taco Bell made them take unpaid lunch breaks is finally over. The lawsuit ended when a California jury awarded the plaintiffs $500,000 in back due wages for the unpaid lunches.

The case was first filed 10 years ago by two employees. These employees consolidated other cases that were already in the system and got it certified as a class action lawsuit. They then recruited enough class members for the litigation to proceed as class action matter. Continue Reading ›

California Domestic Workers Demand Fair Wages

April 5, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

Equal pay for equal work has long been one of the main goals for those fighting for women’s rights. However, while the goal and the protests have been around for decades, we are still a long way from realizing that goal. For this reason, those in the Democratic party running for the presidential nomination have said this will be a major policy issue if they are elected.

This is especially a problem in industries that are dominated by female workers. According to a recent news feature from the Huffington Post, 95 percent of all domestic workers in California are women. They are now demanding better wages. Continue Reading ›