California - General

The members of the California State Senate and Assembly introduced 1,899 bills this year, and the legislature passed and sent to the governor 568 of them. On September 30, Governor Jerry Brown completed his work of signing or vetoing the bills presented to him.

Questioning the continuing viability of a California Supreme Court’s decision in light of recent U.S. Supreme Court holdings, the California Court of Appeal has vacated an order directing the parties to engage in a class arbitration of wage-hour claims, finding the employees, in any event, failed to

After months of waiting, California Governor Jerry Brown presented a sweeping package of pension reform measures to the California Legislature. The reform measures primarily affect the pension benefits available to government employees who are hired on or after January 1, 2013.

Where the parties’ arbitration agreement was neither unconscionable nor in violation of public policy, the employee must arbitrate her individual wage and hour claims against her employer, the California Court of Appeal has ruled, affirming an order compelling arbitration in a class action for Calif

California is the birthplace of the franchise business model. Today, there are approximately 62,000 independent franchisees operating in California, employing more than 1.1 million state residents.

In Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, a California appellate court applied the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the FAA in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion to affirm a trial court's order granting a motion to compel individual arbitration of t

California law does not prohibit an employer from requiring an employee to waive his or her right to a jury trial in an agreement with an arbitration provision, the California Court of Appeal has ruled. Pulli v. Pony Int’l, LLC, No. D059137 (Cal. Ct. App. June 19, 2012). The Court held the law simpl

Companies seeking to prohibit unlawful solicitation of customers should be encouraged by a recent federal court decision.

A Georgia choice-of-law provision in a contract entitled, “Independent Truckman’s Agreement,” between California truck drivers and a Georgia company was unenforceable based on California public policy, the federal appeals court in San Francisco has held. Ruiz v. Affinity Logistics Corp., 667 F

Reversing dismissal of a complaint against a California school district, the California Supreme Court has held that a public school district could be held vicariously liable for the negligence of supervisory or administrative personnel who allegedly knew or should have known of a school guidance cou

Denying an employer’s request to arbitrate an employee’s discrimination, harassment, and wage-related claims, the California Court of Appeal has held that courts, not arbitrators, had the power to decide whether an arbitration agreement was unconscionable. This is so even where an agreement is s

A federal court in Los Angeles dismissed the plaintiff’s trade secrets claims in Aqua Connection Inc. v. Code Rebel, LLC [pdf], despite the fact that the plaintiff (Aqua Connect) alleged that its trade secrets were improperly obtained through reverse engineering in violation of a user agreement.

Effective January 1, 2012, California's Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) was amended in ways that will likely help unions to organize agricultural employees in California and obtain favorable labor contracts with agricultural employers.

On January 23, 2012, the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) announced on its website1 modifications to the answers to two of its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and added 10 new FAQs and answers concerning the wage notice required by the California Wage Theft Prevention Act

A provision in an employment application requiring the applicant, but not the employer, to submit all disputes to arbitration was both procedurally and substantively unconscionable, and therefore unenforceable, the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, has ruled. Wisdom v. AccentCare

In the first significant ruling of its kind, the Los Angeles Superior Court in Bright v. 99¢ Only Stores granted the defendant’s motion to strike the plaintiff’s representative Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) allegations. The plaintiff, Eugina Bright, filed a complaint against 99¢ Only St

In a ground-breaking decision that will make it easier for employers to obtain restraining orders to protect their employees from violence in the workplace, a California appellate court has ruled that "all relevant evidence" must be considered in such proceedings – even otherwise inadmissible hear

A number of new employment bills making significant changes in California employment law and requiring review of employer human resources policies and employee handbooks has been signed by California Governor Jerry Brown. The new laws are effective January 1, 2012, unless otherwise indicated. We hig

Responding to a stated concern over human trafficking and goods that are produced by forced or child labor, the California Legislature passed the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 with the goal of "ensur[ing] large retailers and manufacturers provide consumers with information reg

In a case of first impression, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District ruled that there is no individual liability for discrimination or retaliation under California Military and Veterans Code section 394, which protects from discrimination employees who are called to active