Recent Articles

Harassing Behavior

Bitton & Associates
June 09, 2008 07:31

The following is a list of some sexual harassing behaviors defined by California statutory law:1. Sexual favors -- unwanted sexual advances or propositions2. Verbal conduct -- epithets, slurs or derogatory comments, including comments about a person's body, appearance, or sexual activity 3. ...

Indirect Sexual Harassment

Bitton & Associates
April 10, 2008 07:32

An employee may have a claim for sexual harassment even when sexually harassing conduct permeates the work environment of the employee, even if such conduct is not directed at the employee if: (1) it occurs in the employee's presence; or, (2) is directed at the employee but does not occur in...

Some Recent Changes in Misc California Law.

Bitton & Associates
March 07, 2008 02:38

1. Employers with 25 of more employees must give "qualified employees" as many as 10days off (unpaid) when their spouse is on leave from military deployment. Effective October 9, 2007.2. The California minimum wage increased from $7.50 to $8. Effective January 1, 2008.3. California drivers...

Severe and Pervasive Harassment

Bitton & Associates
September 30, 2007 23:04

What constitutes severe or pervasive harassment that alters working conditions and creates an abusive workplace environment? In California a victim of such harassment must satisfy both an objective and a subjective standard. (See, e.g. Harris v. Forklift Sys. (1993) 510 US 17, 126; Beyda v. City of...

Free PDF Converter

Bitton & Associates
August 03, 2007 21:42

In the last blog posting discussing preservation of evidence we discovered File123.com. Another useful use for file123.com which is also a good way to protect documents, contract/agreement versions, and so forth is the free PDF conversion feature. Simply upload a file into File123 such as a...

Preserve Documents

Bitton & Associates
July 28, 2007 01:18

Preservation of documents and evidence is key to any legal dispute. I recommend using http://www.file123.com/ to store important documents. It allows you to store digital files such as computer files and it allows you to store paper documents. This is very important. The free account provides you...

Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment

Bitton & Associates
July 28, 2007 01:00

Under State and Federal law hostile work environment sexual harassment requires showing by the victim that he/she was subjected to unwelcome conduct that was based on sex and was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the work environment and create an abusive working environment. The victim...

Emotional Distress Torts to Know

Bitton & Associates
June 15, 2007 03:32

Elements needed for two independent torts for emotional distress:I. NEGLIGENT INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESSDefendant engaged in negligent conduct (to be discussed in greater detail in a later post); Plaintiff suffered emotional distress (to be discussed in greater detail in a later post);...

Quid Pro Quo Harassment

Bitton & Associates
April 18, 2007 00:28

In determining whether quid pro quo harassment occurred, the court may use either an objective or a subjective test.The objective test asks whether a reasonable person in the plaintiff's position would have believed that she/he was the subject of quid pro quo sexual harassment. For example, if...

Types of Sexual Harassment

Bitton & Associates
March 20, 2007 02:49

Both California and Federal law have generally defined sexual harassment as unwanted sexual conduct of two main types: quid pro quo harassment and hostile environment harassment. Quid pro quo harassment occurs when employment is conditioned, expressly or impliedly, on the submission to unwelcome...