The Pasadena Bar Association's Labor & Employment Section has organized a distinguished panel of labor and employment lawyers to discuss the state of wage and hour law in California on Tuesday July 10, 2012. HSRR's Randy Renick has been invited to serve as one of three featured panelists who will discuss the long-awaited Brinker case and the implications of the decision on litigation of wage and hour cases.
Workplace discrimination bill addresses LGBT concerns
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is set to reopen discussion on a bill that prevents non-religious employers from discriminating against people due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Workplace discrimination remains a widespread issue across the nation.
Ninth Circuit rules trial court erred in whistleblower's wrongful termination case
On June 26, 2012 a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Court reversed an order of the District Court granting summary judgment on plaintiff's claim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy. Plaintiff, a high level manager, was terminated after complaining to the Regional Vice President of Regus Management Group, that the company was unlawfully denying employees meal and rest breaks. When it reversed and remanded for trial, the Ninth Circuit found that plaintiff had presented sufficient evidence to go to a jury, that she was retaliatory terminated. Read the opinion here.
HSRR's Anne Richardson Given Award
Anne Richardson, a partner at Hadsell Stormer Richardson & Renick, LLP, received an award from the National Lawyers Guild on June 24, 2012, in Pasadena, California. Richardson was honored for more than twenty years of achievements in public interest law, and most recently, for her representation of a detainee in Guantanamo Bay.
LA-area coach claims wrongful termination for Facebook photos
A gay high school assistant water polo coach is suing the Charter Oak Unified School District in Covina which fired him last year for some photographs posted on Myspace and Facebook. The former assistant coach alleges wrongful termination and claims that he was discriminated against for being homosexual.
Sexual harassment suit shakes Silicon Valley
The computer and technology industry has been historically dominated by men. Although these men are not the stereotypical chauvinists that many might imagine they have come under scrutiny as of late. A junior partner in the well-respected venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers recently filed a sexual harassment claim against the California company and her coworkers. The company is known for garnering venture capital for such noted start-up technology enterprises as Google.
Los Angeles school district sexual harassment case in trouble?
A senior employee at the Los Angeles Unified School District is now denying he has agreed to a settlement with the school district for $200,000 in a lawsuit he filed against the district. The complaint accuses the former superintendent of the school district of sexual harassment. The plaintiff alleges he was taken by the defendant to his ranch north of Los Angeles in July 2010, where the superintendent made unwanted sexual advances.
HSRR settles wage and hour class action for $2.5 million
The Hilton Los Angeles Airport has agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a class of current and former employees who claimed they were not paid properly for the time spent performing required activities prior to beginning work, improperly denied meal breaks, and prevented from taking lawful rest periods.
