Increasingly, employers are asking employees to sign arbitration agreements. If the arbitration agreement is valid and enforceable, the employee generally waives the right to sue the employer in court and have the case tried before a jury of his or her peers. Employers typically favor arbitration for a variety of reasons, including privacy, control over arbitrator selection, limited rights to appeal, and the ability to have employees waive the right to bring class action lawsuits.
What happens if an employee has claims against an employer, files a lawsuit and then signs an arbitration agreement? Can that employee still be compelled to arbitrate his or her claims? The Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District recently addressed this issue in Franco v. Greystone Ridge Condominium, et al. The Court of Appeal held that an arbitration agreement that is signed after the employee initiates his lawsuit does not preclude compelling those claims to arbitration. (Franco v. Greystone Ridge Condominium, et al., No. G056559, filed Aug. 14, 2019, certified for publication on Aug. 27, 2019). Continue reading “Employees Beware: Arbitration Agreements Can Sometimes be Applied Retroactively”
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Plaintiff Jose Valtierra, a facility maintenance technician, sued his employer Medtronic, Inc. alleging that he was terminated on account of his disability, morbid obesity, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Mr. Valtierra worked for Medtronic, Inc. for about ten years. By the last year of his employment, he had gained 70 pounds, taken time off due to joint pain, and struggled to walk. Mr. Valtierra’s supervisor, noticing that the employee was struggling to walk, allegedly became concerned about whether Mr. Valtierra was able to complete his work assignments. When the supervisor checked the computer system, he discovered that Mr. Valtierra had falsified work records, so Medtronic, Inc. terminated him.
A 54-year old Filipino woman, Shirley Galvan, worked for Dameron Hospital Association (Dameron) as a nurse for approximately twenty-five years. In 2011, Doreen Alvarez became Ms. Galvan’s supervisor and allegedly began harassing Ms. Galvan and other Filipino employees. Ms. Alvarez commented that the Filipino employees could not speak English, had thick accents, made too much money, were too old, and had been at Dameron too long. Ms. Alvarez threatened to “clean house” and repeatedly humiliated the Filipino employees by making derogatory statements about their accents, level of education, and work performance. Ms. Galvan went out on stress leave due to the anxiety she was experiencing as a result of this harassment. She was constructively terminated in 2014.
The California Court of Appeal recently issued an opinion that looked into whether an employee has a disability for purposes of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Ross v. County of Riverside, D075106 (published June 10, 2019). Plaintiff Christopher Ross worked for the County of Riverside as a deputy district attorney. In 2013, Mr. Ross discovered that he might have a serious neurological condition.