Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”), it is an unlawful for an employer or any other person to harass an employee due to their physical disability, mental disability, or medical condition.[1] Unlike claims for discrimination, liability for harassment applies to “any person” and thus extends to individuals, including individual supervisory employees.[2] In order for […]
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Disability Discrimination at Work is Illegal under California Law
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) makes it
unlawful to refuse to hire, discharge, or discriminate against a person because of their physical or mental disability or medical condition.[1] Courts have interpreted the term “to discriminate” as used in that context to mean “to treat differently.”[2] An employer “has treated an employee differently ‘because of’ a disability when the disability is a substantial motivating reason for the employer’s decision to subject the employee to an adverse employment action.”[3] Continue reading “Disability Discrimination at Work is Illegal under California Law”
Your Rights at Work under California Disability Law
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“the FEHA”) and
related regulations promulgated by the Fair Employment and Housing Council provide important protections to employees and applicants with disabilities.[1] These protections extend to persons who are disabled or considered to be disabled, as well as to those who are associated with people who are disabled.[2] Continue reading “Your Rights at Work under California Disability Law”
Retaliation against Employees for Requesting Disability Accommodations: Your Rights under California Law
Section 12940(h) of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides that it is illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee who has opposed any practices that violated the FEHA. Section 12940(m)(2), enacted in 2015, further provides that it is illegal for an employer to retaliate or otherwise discriminate against a person for […]
Read more...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 […]
Read more...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 […]
Read more...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 […]
Read more...Independent Contractor or Employee? Why It Matters
In 2018, the California Supreme Court adopted the ABC Test for determining whether workers are independent contractors in the seminal case of Dynamex Operations W., Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903. That test, generally speaking, is more favorable for workers because it requires hiring entities to prove that a worker (A) is free […]
Read more...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 […]
Read more...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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