With little public recognition in light of the ongoing pandemic-related legislation, Governor Newsom recently approved AB 1947 – legislation that will have significant impact on employers. AB 1947 amends two specific provisions of the Labor Code relating to employee retaliation claims – Section 98.7, which enables workers to…
Navigating the California Labor Code can leave California businesses feeling like they are walking through a field full of landmines, with stiff penalties and mandatory attorneys’ fees for violations often leading to devastating results. Recently, however, California employers caught a break. In Betancourt v. OS Restaurant Services, LLC,…
In Caldera v. Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California Court of Appeal was asked to determine the proper amount of attorneys’ fees that should be awarded to a disabled employee who won a $500,000 verdict at trial. The employee, Augustine Caldera, complained that his supervisors regularly harassed…
As a direct response to the “Me Too” movement, California enacted a number of new laws in 2018 regarding workplace sexual harassment. This wave of legislation included an amendment to the section of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) governing fee and cost awards, which was intended…
Under existing California law, an employee who prevails on his/her claims against an employer for non-payment of wages is entitled to recover his/her attorneys’ fees in addition to the unpaid wages owed. But the same is not true for an employer who prevails. Under existing California law, an…
In California, the “prevailing party” in litigation is entitled to recover its costs as a matter of law under California Code of Civil Procedure (“CCC”) §1032. But under CCP §998, a party may make an “offer to compromise,” which can cut-off and even reverse the parties’ right to…
On May 4, 2015, the California Supreme Court ruled in Williams v. Chino Valley Independent Fire District that a successful defendant in a FEHA case can get awarded its attorneys’ fees and costs only when “the plaintiff brought or continued litigating the action without an objective basis for…
In Muniz v. United Parcel Services, Inc., the Ninth Circuit ruled that the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding the prevailing plaintiff $697,972 in attorneys’ fees where the jury awarded her only $27,280 in damages on a single FEHA claim. UPS brought the appeal and…
Existing California law (Labor Code §218.5) awards attorneys’ fees to the successful party in any action brought to recover unpaid wages, fringe benefits, or pension fund contributions. Thus, if an employee brings an action to recover unpaid wages and wins, that employee gets his attorneys’ fees paid by the…
In California, most employers are required to pay “reporting time pay” to employees who show up for meetings or other work separate from their normal shift. The right to reporting time pay is codified in Section 5 of the Wage Orders, which states — “Each workday an employee…