Disability Harassment in California — Your Rights at Work

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits employers[1] from harassing employees, applicants, unpaid interns, and volunteers because of their “physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, [or] genetic information,” among other things. Gov. Code, § 12940(j)(1). It separately provides that employers are liable when they fail to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent harassment […]

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Meal Break Violations in California: The First 5 Hours Rule and the Importance of Time Keeping Records

This post explores two questions that arise with respect to meal break laws in California: What is the “first five hours” rule, and what role do an employer’s time keeping records play in meal break lawsuits. As explained below, the California Supreme Court has resolved these questions in a way that protects workers and ensures […]

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Individual Liability under California Labor Code section 558.1: Some guidance from the courts of appeal

Until relatively recently, an employee could not recover damages for unpaid wages and other wage and hour violations from an individual owner or officer of the employer unless the employee could prove some other legal basis for liability such as alter ego liability. However, alter ego liability is generally difficult to prove and has been […]

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Is Your Employer Paying You Properly for Missed Meal and Rest Breaks? Only If it Includes Nondiscretionary Pay in Your Regular Rate of Compensation.

The California Supreme Court has clarified that employers must include both hourly wages and all nondiscretionary payments when calculating the regular rate of pay for the purposes of compensating employees for missed meal and rest periods. See Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC (2021) 11 Cal.5th 858. The Court further held that this decision applies […]

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A Win for Workers in the Fourth District Court of Appeal

The attorneys at Hunter Pyle Law (HPL), along with co-counsel Feinberg, Jackson, Worthman & Wasow (FJWW) recently received a favorable decision from the Fourth District Court of Appeal in a case called Uribe v. Crown Building Maintenence Co. (September 30, 2021, Case No. G057836). HPL and FJWW represent Isabel Garibay, a worker who intervened in […]

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PAGA and Manageability: Some Lessons Learned from Wesson v. Staples

On September 9, 2021, in Wesson v. Staples the Office Superstore, LLC (Cal. Ct. App., Sept. 9, 2021, No. B302988) 2021 WL 4099059, Division 4 of the Second District Court of Appeal addressed an important question of first impression: whether trial courts have the authority to ensure that claims brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act […]

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Minimum Wage, Public Employees, and the University of California

The University of California (referred to in this post as “the Regents”) employs more than two hundred thousand people. Determining which laws apply to the Regents can be challenging. Gomez v. Regents (2021) 63 Cal.App.5th 386 provides some guidance with respect to California’s wage and hour laws. In Gomez, the plaintiff challenged the Regents’ policy […]

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My Company Went Out of Business and Owes Me Wages: Successor Liability in California (2021)

Workers who are the victim of wage theft can bring claims either in court or at the Labor Commissioner to recover their unpaid wages, damages, and penalties. Those claims, if successful, result in a judgment against the workers’ employer. But what if the employer goes out of business to avoid liability, and reforms a short […]

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Joint Employer Liability in California Wage and Hour Cases

Workers who sue for unpaid wages in California often find that their immediate employer has no money to pay them. Fortunately, California has a broad joint employer doctrine that allows workers to sue entities other than their immediate employers-including both businesses and individuals-for such wages. Continue reading “Joint Employer Liability in California Wage and Hour Cases”

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