California Employment Lawyers Blog

In a related blog, our Carson labor and employment attorneys discussed recent wage and hour legislature introduced by Congressman Phil Hare, called the Wage Theft Prevention and Community Partnership Act, aimed to fight the occurrence of wage theft in the workplace--where employees are being robbed of their hard earned wages by not being paid properly for their work.

In the State of California, Governor Schwarzenegger recently vetoed two bills that aimed to fight employers from engaging in wage theft. According to the Los Angeles Times, the first wage theft measure, supported by the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, would have penalized employers who neglect to pay workers all of their wages within 90 days after their employment ends, with a new misdemeanor crime. The second wage theft bill would have reportedly increased the maximum damage amount that an employee could receive in a wage-type legal issue or state enforcement action.

The bills were reportedly introduced after a UCLA study, that our Santa Ana labor and employment attorneys discussed in a recent blog, found that wage theft costs workers in Los Angeles County around $26 million every week. The groundbreaking study, released last year, found that workers in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, experienced massive wage and hour law violations in low-wage industries. The UCLA study found that 15% of low-income worker's wages are taken from the workers each week.

Mark Schacht, the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation's deputy director, stated that Schwarzenegger and his Chamber of Commerce allies know that these vetoes continue to defend the illegal practice of wage theft in California. In his messages about the vetoes, Schwarzenegger reportedly claimed that both bills were not needed.

Continue reading "Schwarzenegger Vetoes Two California Wage Theft Bills" »

The recent high profile wage and hour violation claims involving Meg Whitman and her former housekeeper have been settled, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Whitman, the former CEO of EBay, who was defeated earlier this month by Jerry Brown in the California gubernatorial elections, will pay Nicky Diaz Santillan $5,500 in back wages, after being accused by Diaz during the campaign of financial abuse while she was employed by Whitman for nine years.

As our Orange County employment attorneys reported in a previous blog, during the campaign, Diaz accused Whitman of mistreatment and California wage and hour violations while she was employed by Whitman and her husband from 2000 to 2009. Diaz also revealed that she is an illegal immigrant and accused the former EBay CEO of being aware of her immigration status the entire time, but firing her in 2009 when she approached Whitman for help--as she was a political liability.

High-profile attorney Gloria Allred represented Diaz, and made a public statement last week at the informal hearing before the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in San Jose, advising Whitman to make the right choice to pay the former housekeeper back wages that were owed to her--especially after spending $145.1 million of her own money on her own campaign. The $5,500 wage and hour settlement was later announced.

When Diaz went public with her claims of California wage and hour violations last month, and for being fired after asking Whitman for immigration help, she reportedly became a symbol for immigrants' rights. The charges of financial abuse hit Whitman late in her campaign for governor, and according to the San Francisco Chronicle, became a critical turning point in the billionaire's gubernatorial race against Jerry Brown.

Continue reading "Whitman Settles with Former Housekeeper--Pays $5,000 in Back Wages" »

In recent employment news that our Carson, California labor and employment attorneys have been following, a federal jury in Des Moines, Iowa ruled that Heartland Inns of America wrongfully terminated a female employee because of her "tomboy" appearance, and for not conforming to company's sexual stereotypes and how women should "look" as employees of the hotel.

Brenna Lewis had reportedly been working for Heartland, an Iowa hotel chain, since 2005, where she received positive comments from her supervisors and customers, and while working at Heartland received two merit-based pay raises.

In 2007, Lewis was reportedly hired for a day shift to cover a front-desk job by the company's director of operations, Barbara Cullinan. Records show that Cullinan verbally approved the hiring over the phone, but after seeing Lewis's appearance, stated that a second interview would be necessary. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Cullinan allegedly stated that Lewis lacked the "Midwestern girl-look" necessary to work in the hotel staff, and that girls working the front desk should be "pretty." Lewis was then reportedly fired from the company's Ankeny hotel three days later after challenging the second interview.

Lewis has reportedly been referred to as a "tomboy," and described herself in the lawsuit as preferring to wear clothes that have a more of a masculine look and fit, including men's loose-fitting oxford shirts and slacks. She claims she was fired because of sexual stereotype discrimination because she wasn't "pretty" enough to work at the front desk. Heartland claimed that Lewis was fired for being was hostile to new company policies, and for thwarting the procedure behind the interviewing process.

Continue reading "Jury Sides with 'Tomboy' in Sexual Stereotype Retaliation Lawsuit" »

According an announcement by the U.S. Equal Employment Commission (EEOC), that our employment attorneys based in Anaheim, California have been following, Tuscarora Yarns, will pay $230,000 in a sexual harassment lawsuit settlement filed by the Commission on behalf of a female employee, who alleged that the yarn manufacturing company subjected her to sexual harassment and retaliation based on her gender, and for filing a complaint about the sexual harassment.

In the EEOC lawsuit, Lilia Ixtlahuaca Martinez, claimed that while working as an employee of the Tuscarora Yarns facility in Oakboro, North Carolina, she was propositioned for sex by her male plant manager, sexually harassed by the manager with unwelcome comments of a sexual nature and inappropriate touching, and locked in an office where he sexually assaulted her. When Martinez was able to escape from the office, the police were called and the manager was arrested for sexual battery.

Martinez had reportedly worked at the plant as a linked winder operator for two years. When she filed a complaint about the sexual harassment, the company allegedly retaliated against her with suspension from employment.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is against the law to harass, discriminate or retaliate against employees or job applicants based on sex in hiring, firing, training, wages, benefits and promotions. According to the EEOC, sexual harassment can include sexual advances that are unwelcome, requests for sexual favors, and other harassment of a sexual nature in a verbal or physical form.

Continue reading "Yarn Company Will Pay $230K in EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit Settlement " »

In a recent blog, our Riverside employment attorneys discussed the introduction of the Wage Theft Prevention and Community Partnership Act into Congress by Illinois Congressman Phil Hare in September, to combat the practice of "wage theft" and systematic pay-related labor and employment violations in low-wage professions across the country.

Yesterday, in Los Angeles, California, as well as other U.S. cities, low-income workers and wage and hour activists staged a National Day of Action Against Wage Theft. The Los Angeles rally was held in front of Los Angeles City Hall, in an effort to focus attention on low-workers like domestic workers, garment workers, service industry employees, taxi drivers, and day laborers, among others, who are robbed of wages that they are legally entitled to. The activists were organized by Interfaith Worker Justice and supported by labor groups across the country.

As our Fullerton employment attorneys reported in a recent blog, wage theft is a huge problem, as revealed in a 2009 study performed by researchers at UCLA called "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers," that surveyed more than 4,000 low-wages workers and exposed comprehensive financial discrimination. Low-wage workers in Los Angeles, California were found to be routinely paid less than minimum wage, denied overtime compensation and access to workman's compensation.

The study claimed that low-wage workers often lose around 15% of income per week that they are legally entitled to because employers cheat them out of their salaries. Other violations include refusing to pay overtime that is legally required, forcing laborers to work off the clock, employee misclassification, and workers not receiving their last paychecks, or not being paid at all.

Continue reading "Los Angeles Workers and Activists Rally at City Hall to Protest Wage Theft" »

In recent news, that our Santa Ana, California employment attorneys have been following, the research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to pay the U.S. government $750 million in a whistleblower lawsuit settlement, after being hit with civil and criminal charges in a 2004 lawsuit for allegedly selling adulterated drugs to Medicaid and other government health plans.

The case reportedly holds the drug makers accountable for violating government manufacturing standards by the use of whistleblower law. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of former Quality Assurance Manager for GSK, Cheryl Eckard, under the False Claims Act, a law that encourages people who have knowledge about fraud against the government to sue the company and share in the monetary recoveries.

According to the lawsuit, in 2002, Eckard was instructed to lead a group of global scientists and professionals at the Cidra, Puerto Rico facility to remedy violations in manufacturing cited by the FDA. At the time, Cidra was reportedly GSK's top manufacturing facility in the world, creating more than twenty products that brought the pharmaceutical company around $5.5 billion every year.

At the facility, Eckard reportedly discovered manufacturing and quality testing issues that surpassed the FDA violations, including mixed up drug products, products contaminated with microorganisms, injectable drugs that were unsterile, and drugs used to treat diabetes that were reportedly found to be superpotent and subpotent, among others. The lawsuit claimed that this led Eckard to determine that GSK could not prove that they produced contamination-free products made in accordance with the FDA registered drug formulas.

Continue reading "$750M Whistleblower Lawsuit Settlement Reached--Glaxo Pays for Drug Manufacturing Violations" »

In a recent post, our Riverside labor and employment lawyers reported on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008--that bans employers from discriminating against employees based on their genetic makeup and information, and the use of this genetic information by providers of health insurance.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced earlier this month, on November 9, that after a unanimous vote by the Commission, the EEOC issued final regulations that implement the employment provisions of GINA (Title II)--prohibiting the use of genetic information to make decisions about employment, and restricting the disclosure and acquisition of genetic information.

Under Title I of GINA, an individual's genetic makeup and information is not allowed to be used against them by health insurers to deny health insurance coverage, and set insurance premiums or even deductibles. Under Title II of GINA, it is against the law for employers to act in a discriminatory way against employees based on genetic makeup or information, and to make employment decisions based on this genetic information including hiring, promoting, compensating, and firing. Under GINA, the employer's accessibility to an individual's genetic information is limited--it is illegal to force employees to provide genetic information about family medical history, and genetic testing is not allowed.

As our Orange County, California labor and employment lawyers discussed in a blog, genetic information is defined as the genetic testing and medical history of an individual's family, as well as the information about an individual's genetic testing. Any condition, disease, or disorder of an individual's family member is considered genetic information, as it is used to examine and determine the possibility of whether someone in the family could be "at-risk" for developing a potential medical or health issue in the future.

According to the EEOC's press release, Title II of GINA represents the first extension of the Commission's jurisdiction since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

Continue reading "Final Regulations of Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) Issued by EEOC " »

As our Anaheim labor and employment attorneys have previously written in a blog, according to the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) and California law, employees can be exempt from overtime and minimum wage compensation, with "white collar" exemptions, making administrative, professional, and executive employees exempt, as well as outside sales and some computer employees.

Whether an employee is "exempt" or "non-exempt" is a very important issue in California overtime law, as our Carson employment lawyers covered in a related blog. When an employer erroneously classifies an employee as exempt, the employee is wrongfully denied overtime pay or other wage and hour benefits that are usually available to non-exempt employees--resulting in employee misclassification.

In related news, a California judge in Alameda County recently certified a class of around 3,000 Oracle Corporation employees who accused the company of employee misclassification, by incorrectly classifying them as "exempt" from overtime compensation.

The Oracle employees in the class action lawsuit reportedly are made up of technical analysts, quality assurance analysts or developers, and project managers for Oracle and Peoplesoft, the company Oracle purchased in 2005. The plaintiffs' claim that Oracle violated the California Labor Code by neglecting to pay overtime wages to the employees and failing to give them meal breaks.

Continue reading "California Judge Certifies Class of Employees in Oracle Wage and Hour Lawsuit" »

In recent wage and hour legislation that our Anaheim labor and employment attorneys have been following, Illinois Congressman Phil Hare introduced the Wage Theft Prevention and Community Partnership Act in September, which authorizes the United States Department of Labor (DOL) to create a competitive grant program to help combat wage theft--the illegal practice plaguing the U.S. workplace, where workers are not being properly paid by employers for all of their work.

Wage theft is rampant across the country, leaving millions of American workers vulnerable to financial insecurity, and according to Congressman Hare, this bill helps expand the work of enforcement agencies and community organizations to educate workers about their employment rights and what remedies are there to help them. Hare claims that wage theft hurts workers, cheats the U.S. Treasury out of tax dollars owed, and is unfair to honest employers who are put at a competitive disadvantage by respecting wage and hour laws.

Wage theft includes violations of wage and hour laws, including not paying minimum wage, failing to compensate workers with overtime, demanding that employees work off the clock, engaging in employee misclassification to avoid paying overtime and minimum wage, as well as FICA tax, and failing to pay workers final paychecks, or paychecks at all.

As our Santa Ana employment attorneys discussed in a recent blog, a groundbreaking study of low-wage workers in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, conducted by UCLA and published last year, found systematic violations of wage and hour laws in low-wage industries. The study found that 15% of worker's wages are robbed from workers each week. The Wage Theft Prevention and Community Partnership Grant Program would reportedly give important resources to legal clinics, work centers, and other groups locally, to help educate workers who have been victims of wage theft.

Continue reading "Congressman Hare Introduces Bill to Prevent Wage Theft" »

As our Anaheim, California employment attorneys have previously discussed in a blog, the classification of "exempt" or "non-exempt" employees is an important issue in the workplace as employee misclassification can lead to the violation of state and federal wage and hour laws.

According to the Fair Standards Labor Act (FLSA) and California law, most non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime compensation, at the rate of one and a half (1 ½) times their regular hourly pay rate when they work over 40-hours in a work-week.

For "exempt" employees, the FLSA provides exemptions from both overtime payment and minimum wage, for administrative, professional, and executive employees, as well as outside sales and some computer employees. These are considered "white collar" exemptions, and under the FLSA, to qualify for a white collar exemption, employees must meet certain criteria regarding their employment duties.

Under the FLSA and California law, job titles do not determine exemptions--whether an employee is "exempt" or "non-exempt" depends on an employee's specific job responsibilities.

Executive exemptions usually apply to managers at a high level whose primary duty is to control or oversee integral aspects of the company's enterprise. The manager must regularly oversee the work of at least two or more full time employees, with the authority to hire or fire other employees. The Executive employee's recommendations must also hold particular authority as to the hiring, termination, advancement, promotion, or other change in a worker's status. Executive employees must be compensated on a salary or fee basis, with a payment of no less than $455 a week.

Professional exemptions usually apply when the employee's primary work responsibilities include a specific and advanced knowledge in the area of science or learning, acquired by a course of specialized instruction that is predominately intellectual in character and requires the use of judgment and discretion. Creative professional exemptions would apply to an employee who has the primary duty of performing work that requires creativity, originality, invention, or talent in a recognized field or artistic endeavor. Professional employees must be compensated on a salary or fee basis, with a payment of no less than $455 a week.

Continue reading ""White Collar" Exemptions under the FLSA" »

Our Santa Ana labor and employment attorneys have been following the recent news that Robert Nickerson Farms, based in Arizona, has been fined $48,000 in penalties by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), after the department found that the farm violated federal child labor laws during the summer okra harvest.

The DOL's investigation reportedly determined that Robert Nickerson Farms hired six children to work during the months of June, July and August this year, weeding the okra fields. Of the children found working during the okra harvest, there were three 13-year-olds, and three other children who were 12, 11, and 9-years-old. Another 11-year-old child was reportedly hired to catch and kill animals by setting traps, and then dispose of the animal corpses.

According to current federal child labor provisions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), with agricultural work, children who are younger than 12 may be employed with consent from their parents, but only to work on small farms that are not subject to federal minimum wage requirements. Robert Nickerson Farms is in a large farm category, and employs over 80 workers, so children who are under the age of 12 cannot be legally employed by the farm.

Also under the FLSA, children who are age 12 and 13, may be hired to work on a farm if they receive written consent from their parents, or are working with their parents on the same farm. In the DOL investigation, Robert Nickerson Farms were found to have employed children over the age of 11 without any written consent from their parents, a violation of the FLSA.

Continue reading "DOL Fines Nickerson Farms $48K for Violating Child Labor Laws" »

In recent employment news that our Chino Hills, California employment attorneys have been following, a Chicago cable installer is suing his company for allegedly engaging in employee misclassification, by classifying the man both as an employee and an independent contractor, for doing the same work.

Joe Marte was a cable installer foe Baker Installations, run by James H. Peno Installation Brokerage and SMS Communications. According to the Chicago Tribune, Marte was supposed to be an employee, but the company decided to change his status to an independent contractor, depriving him of overtime payment and employee benefits--even though he frequently worked over 40 hours a week.

Marte, who is now unemployed, claimed that he agreed to be classified as an independent contractor because he was in need of work. Marte stated that although he had a different classification, he was still doing the same job and was still treated like an employee, as he reported to the same set of supervisors in the same office, who dictated his exact hours and mandated that he attend meetings.

As our Santa Ana employment attorneys have discussed in a recent blog, employee misclassification is rampant in the workplace, with employers reclassifying their workers from "employees" to "independent contractors," often to reduce the cost of workers' compensation insurance, and to dodge payroll taxes, social security benefits, overtime compensation, unemployment or disability insurance, along with other wage and hour benefits like providing meal periods and rest breaks that came with workers who were previously classified as "employees."

Continue reading "Chicago Cable Installer Sues for Employee Misclassification" »

In recent news that our Santa Ana employment attorneys have been watching, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently brought a lawsuit against the Maxwell House Coffee Division of Kraft Foods, alleging that the company violated federal law by subjecting a female employee to job discrimination and termination based on her sex.

According to the EEOC lawsuit, in the Maxwell's coffee division at the Jacksonville plant, Francena Smith was involved in an incident where coffee was found to be damaged and unusable in June of 2008.

Maxwell House reportedly has a disciplinary policy in place that involves four steps of action, beginning with an oral reprimand, then a written reprimand, followed by suspension and finally termination.

After the incident, Smith was suspended even though she had not received any disciplinary action in the prior two years. Male workers who had similar employment records had reportedly only received oral reprimands.

Continue reading "EEOC Sues Maxwell House and Kraft Foods for Sex Discrimination" »

In recent Orange County, California employment news, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed a lawsuit against Aspen Nursing Services for reportedly violating the Fair Standards Labor Act (FLSA). The DOL is asking the Kentucky court to award twenty-two employees with over $512,000 in back wages and liquidated damages.

After the DOL's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigated the home health care provider, the department allegedly found that since October of 2008, the company has violated the FLSA by neglecting to compensate their employees an hourly minimum wage rate, and failing to pay overtime compensation to employees who have worked beyond 40 hours in a week.

Aspen Nursing Services provides home healthcare workers for individuals who have physical and developmental disabilities in Ohio and Kentucky. The company reportedly does business as Aspen Community Living.

According to Oliver Peebles III, the regional administrator for the WHD in Atlanta, these workers perform a service that is both valuable and underappreciated, and as low-wage workers, they are entitled to all of the wages that are due to them under the FLSA.

Continue reading "DOL Sues Kentucky Nursing Home for $512K in Back Wages" »