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The Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act 2014 The Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act of 2014 went into effect on July 1, 2015. Under the new law, California employers are now required to provide paid sick days to certain employees. Paid sick time accrues at a minimum rate of one hour of paid sick time for…

California recently enacted a new law requiring all California professional baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, or soccer teams to classify cheerleaders as employees and not independent contractors. Existing California and Federal employment laws prescribe comprehensive requirements relating to minimum wages, overtime compensation and standards for working conditions applicable to an employment relationship. Existing laws require…

The United States Supreme Court Rules Against Abercrombie & Fitch in a Case of Religious Discrimination. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., operates several lines of clothing stores, each with its own “style.” Consistent with the image Abercrombie seeks to project for each store, the company imposes a Look Policy that governs its employees’ dress. Abercrombie’s…

Court Upholds $300,000 Punitive Damages Award to Sexual Harassment Victim Under Title VII. Angela Aguilar was employed by Asarco, LLC at the Mission Mine complex near Tucson, Arizona from December 2005 through November 2006. The Mission Mine includes a copper mine from which copper ore is extracted and a mill facility in which the ore…

CPS Security Solutions, Inc., employed on-call guards to provide security at construction worksites. Part of each guard’s day was spent on active patrol. Each evening, guards were required to be on call at the worksite and to respond to disturbances should the need arise. While on-call, the guards were required to reside in onsite trailers…

The United States Supreme Court Denies Wage Claims by amazon.com Warehouse Workers. In a unanimous decision, the United States Supreme Court held that warehouse workers who packaged deliveries for Amazon.com customers, were not entitled to compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) for time spent undergo­ing security screenings before leaving the warehouse…

California enacted The Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act of 2014 granting employees mandatory paid sick days. Beginning on July 1, 2015, California employers will be required to provide paid sick days to certain California employees. Employees who work for 30 or more days within a year from the date of commencement of employment are entitled…

In a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of approximately 2300 full-time FedEx delivery drivers in California between 2000 and 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that by law the FedEx drivers were employees under California’s right-to-control test. The Court held that labeling of the drivers as independent contractors in FedEx’s Operating Agreement…

The California Court of Appeals ruled that an employee who is required to use a personal cell phone for work-related calls, must be reimbursed by their employer. This applies even when an employee has a cell phone plan with unlimited minutes. The reimbursement amount owed by the employer is a reasonable percentage of the employee’s…

Sexual Harassment Wrongful Termination Plaintiff Esther Kim was hired in 2006 to work as an account manager, processing phone and email orders for defendant, Konad USA Distribution, Inc. From 2007 to 2010 Kim was subjected to numerous incidents of sexual harassment by her boss Dong Whang. Kim was terminated in 2010. Following her termination, Kim…