October 2011

California’s prohibition on covenants not to compete is well established.  The statute that reflects this public policy, Business and Professions Code §16600 generally permits such covenants only in narrowly prescribed circumstances.  Those exceptions are all identified by statute at Business and Professions Code §§16601, 16602 and 16602.5.  These exceptions permit covenants not to compete when…

By: Brendan J. Begley

Making California the seventh state in the country to enact such a law, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 22 on October 9, 2011. As reported here in a post dated August 18, 2011, this law bars most employers (except certain financial institutions) from using pre-employment credit checks in the hiring…

Now. 

Trade secrets (especially those relating to customers, pricing, costs and employees) can be a little like love taken for granted:  You don’t notice it until its gone. 

California law often protects such information (sometimes called “soft” trade secrets to distinguish them from product formulas and other “hard” trade secrets) from misuse by former employees…

By: Brendan J. Begley

A supervisor’s failure to return calls from an employee on family or medical leave may support a retaliation claim against an employer under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).  Liability under such circumstances can exist, a federal court in Pennsylvania recently ruled, even if the employer has provided the employee with an appropriate amount of leave.  Although from a distant locale and as yet untested by an appellate court, the decision from the court in Pennsylvania confirms that employers in the Golden State should strive to keep open the lines of communication with and to return calls from employees who are on family or medical leave – especially since there is so much overlap between the FMLA and the California Family Rights Act.

The employee in the Pennsylvania case, Hofferica v. St. Mary Medical Center, No. 10-6026 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 20, 2011), was a registered nurse who started working for the employer in June 2005.  Her doctor diagnosed her with a disease that causes hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo in March 2008.  Shortly after that diagnosis, the nurse applied for a year of intermittent medical leave, which the employer pre-approved.  The nurse had to undergo a series of surgeries to treat her condition, which led her to take full-blown medical leave starting in September 2008.  Her anticipated return-to-work date was November 6, 2008.Continue Reading Refusing to Return Calls from Employees on Leave is a Risky Practice for Employers

You Hire A Top Performing Employee From Your Competitor And Then She Brings Along “Her Team.”

You’ve been working for months to recruit a competitor’s star employee. She arrives at your office telling you that she resisted counteroffers and is now on board.

Almost immediately, her cell phone begins to ring. Subordinates and co-workers from…