LaborEmpSeminarLogoSummary of Program

Most employers know that it is crucial to have well trained supervisors to help ensure that rank and file employees perform their jobs effectively and efficiently.  However, many employers don’t realize how important it is that supervisors be trained to understand the many employment laws that govern the workplace.  Untrained supervisors can take actions (or fail to take actions) that result in significant legal consequences for an employer.  Come join the employment lawyers at Weintraub Tobin for a discussion of best practices for training supervisors and reducing the potential for liability.

Program Highlights

  • An overview of employment laws that impact the workplace and common mistakes supervisors make when they don’t understand those laws.
  • Tips for effective communication between supervisors and employees, including how to give constructive performance feedback.
  • Common supervisor mistakes when hiring and firing.
  • The importance of consistent, objective, and timely discipline.
  • Preventing and responding to harassment and other Equal Employment Opportunity complaints.
  • Documentation:  The good, the bad and the ugly.

Continue Reading Upcoming Seminar: Well Trained Supervisors – Your First Line of Defense

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review California high court’s landmark decision in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, which held that arbitration agreements with mandatory class waivers are generally enforceable, but carved out an exception for the state’s Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) claims.

As discussed in our prior blog post, The New PAGA-Waiver Trap Door, while the California Supreme Court in Iskanian held that an employee cannot waive their right to a PAGA lawsuit, not all California federal courts agree. A number of federal trial judges in California have disagreed and ruled that PAGA waivers are enforceable in their courts. (See, e.g., Lucero v. Sears Holding Mgmt. Corp., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168782 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2014); Mill v. Kmart Corp., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165666 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 26, 2014); Ortiz v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140552 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 1, 2014); Chico v. Hilton Worldwide, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147752 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 7, 2014); and Langston v. 20/20,Companies, Inc., 2014 WL 5335734 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 17, 2014).

CLS and other California employers were hoping the U.S. Supreme Court would resolve this growing conflict. Unfortunately, for now, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided they will not resolve this divide. Accordingly, a PAGA waiver in an arbitration agreement may or may not be enforceable, depending on whether the action is in state or federal court. Employers who wish to have arbitration agreements with PAGA waivers should consult legal counsel to determine if doing so is advisable.

This blog has previously reported on the anti-poaching cases involving various tech companies in Silicon Valley.  The cases arise out of alleged agreements between various tech companies not to recruit each other’s employees.  The U.S. Department of Justice brought antitrust actions as a result of these alleged agreements which resulted in the companies entering into settlements with the government.  In addition to the government’s actions, a class action was filed on behalf of tech employees claiming these “anti-poaching” agreements harmed their earning ability and mobility.

Last year, various tech companies entered into a settlement of these claims for approximately $325 million.  That settlement was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy H. Koh as not being “within the range of reasonableness.”  Earlier this week, the parties to this class action announced that they had entered into a new settlement with Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe proposing to pay $415 million to settle the class action.  The settlement will be submitted to Judge Koh for approval.  If the settlement is not approved, the case is currently set to go to trial this spring.

More details concerning the proposed settlement can be found at the following New York Times Article, “Bigger Settlement Said to Be Reached in Silicon Valley Antitrust Case,” dated January 14, 2015.

Brenden Begley_retouchMany employers have arbitration agreements wherein employees agree to waive the right to file a lawsuit against the employer under various laws, including the California’s Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”).  Employers were disappointed when the California Supreme Court ruled last June that such waivers of PAGA lawsuits are invalid, at least in state court.  See Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, 59 Cal.4th 348 (2014).

However, a number of federal trial judges in the Golden State subsequently disagreed and ruled that PAGA waivers are enforceable in their courts.  See, e.g., Ortiz v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., E.D. Cal. Case No. 2:13-cv-01619 (Sept. 30, 2014).  Because a PAGA waiver still may be enforceable against an employee in federal court, many employers have either kept or inserted such waivers in their arbitration agreements.

This week it became apparent that including a PAGA waiver may destroy an employer’s ability to require arbitration in any type of lawsuit, be it under PAGA or some other theory (e.g., alleged discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or wage-and-hour or meal-and-rest-period violations).  Specifically, the California Court of Appeal ruled that a PAGA waiver will invalidate an entire arbitration agreement in state court if that agreement also includes a non-severability clause.  See Montano v. The Wet Seal Retail, Inc., Cal. Ct. App. Case No. B244107 (Jan. 7, 2015). Continue Reading The New PAGA-Waiver Trap Door

LaborEmpSeminarLogo2014  – A Year in Review

2015 – An Interesting Year Ahead

Summary of Program

Join the attorneys from Weintraub Tobin’s Labor and Employment Group as they discuss important legal developments from 2014 and review the complexities of a number of new laws facing employers in 2015.

Sacramento Date:    January 8, 2015

Time:   9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Location:  400 Capitol Mall, 11th Floor, Sacramento, CA

San Francisco Date:  January 15, 2015

Time:   9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Location:  The Bar Association of San Francisco, 301 Battery Street, San Francisco, CA

Orange County Date: January 22, 2015

Time:   9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Location:  Irvine Company Office Properties, 610 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA

To register for one of these seminars, please RSVP to Ramona Carrillo at rcarrillo@weintraub.com.