In 2019, AB 51 is Passed As readers of this blog know, in 2019 the California legislature passed AB 51, a new law that added Section 432.6 to the California Labor Code. This new statute made it illegal for an employer to require an applicant or employee, as…
California’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) authorizes aggrieved employees to file lawsuits to recover civil penalties on behalf of themselves, other employees, and the State of California for violations of the California Labor Code. Lawsuits brought under PAGA have resulted in employers paying millions of dollars in penalties that…
Arbitration agreements that are well-drafted and “state-of-the-art” under current California law are key to ensuring that employment disputes will be resolved by final and binding arbitration. But a recent California Court of Appeal case – Fleming Distribution Co. v. Younan (Cal. Ct. App., May 15, 2020, No. A157038)…
On October 17, 2013, the CA Supreme Court overturned its February 2011 decision in Sonic Calabasas v. Moreno (“Sonic I”). Unfortunately, however, the dense, scholarly, 73-page opinion — known as Sonic Calabasas v. Moreno II (“Sonic II”) — gives little clarity to California employers trying to craft defensible,…
In Sparks v. Vista Del Mar Child Services, the California Court of Appeal held that the mere existence of an arbitration clause in a lengthy employee handbook — without more — does not create a binding, enforceable arbitration agreement between employer and employee. In Sparks, the employer utilized…
As a result of its decision in AT&T Mobility (which I blogged about here), on October 31, 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded the California Supreme Court’s ruling in Sonic Calabasas v. Moreno (which I blogged about here). Now, as a result, the Sonic Calabasas decision is no longer…
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision in AT&T Mobility LLC. v. Concepcion that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preempts state laws that condition the enforceability of an entire class of arbitration agreements on whether or not they allow for classwide arbitration. The issue in the…
On February 24, 2011, a divided California Supreme Court ruled in Sonic Calabasas A, Inc. v. Moreno, S174475, that a worker who signs an otherwise valid pre-employment arbitration agreement does not give up his statutory right to seek administrative relief through Labor Commissioner hearings. In other words, even…