Featured Articles

Supreme Court Tightens Class Action Rules, Rejecting Class Composed of 1.5 Million Wal-Mart Employees

June 21, 2011 01:27

In Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, No. 10-277 (U.S. June 20, 2011), the Supreme Court vacated class certification of a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by 1.5 million current and former Wal-Mart employees because the plaintiffs failed to identify a specific, company-wide policy or practice of...

Recent Articles

TV Writers and Proskauer Client CAA Reach Preliminary Agreement to Settle

March 19, 2012 16:57

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and representatives of a class of television writers today announced the settlement of a case alleging age discrimination in the representation of television writers. The case was the last of 23 separate class actions that were filed a decade ago by the writers against...

March 2012 California Employment Law Notes

March 13, 2012 19:14

We invite you to review our newly-posted March 2012 California Employment Law Notes – a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Teacher/Minister's Disability Discrimination Claim Is Barred By The First...

Court of Appeal Rejects "Trial by Formula," Reverses Multimillion Dollar Verdict and Orders Class Decertified

March 07, 2012 01:56

Duran v. U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n, No. A125557, 2012 WL 366590 (Feb. 6, 2012) In a decision destined to have significant statewide ramifications, the California Court of Appeal for the First District reversed a trial court’s certification of a wage-hour class and determination of...

Jury Awards Record $168 Million to Employee in Workplace Harassment Suit

March 06, 2012 00:51

A federal court jury on Wednesday awarded a record $168 million to a physician’s assistant who complained of multiple instances of sexual harassment by her supervisors in the cardiovascular surgery department at Sacramento’s Mercy General Hospital. The verdict is believed to be the...

California Law Should Have Been Applied To Determine If Drivers Were Employees Or Independent Contractors

March 01, 2012 19:06

Ruiz v. Affinity Logistics Corp., 2012 WL 388171 (9th Cir. 2012) Fernando Ruiz and similarly situated drivers filed a class action against Affinity alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and California law for failure to pay overtime, failure to pay wages, improper charges for workers'...

Employer Was Deprived Of Due Process By Trial Court's Erroneous Use Of Representative Sampling

March 01, 2012 19:03

Duran v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 2012 WL 366590 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012) U.S. Bank ("USB") appealed a $15 million judgment that was entered against it following a bifurcated bench trial. The plaintiffs are 260 current and former business banking officers who claimed they were misclassified by...

PAGA Judgment Is Mostly Affirmed In Employee's Favor

March 01, 2012 18:55

Thurman v. Bayshore Transit Mgmt., Inc., 2012 WL 604037 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012) Leander Thurman sued Bayshore for alleged violations of the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 ("PAGA") and the Unfair Competition Law and, following a bench trial, a judgment was entered imposing civil...

Army Corps Of Engineers Employee Could Proceed With Age Discrimination Claim

March 01, 2012 18:36

Shelley v. Geren, 666 F.3d 599 (9th Cir. 2012) After Devon Scott Shelley applied for but was not promoted to be Chief of Contracting for the Army Corps of Engineers, he filed this lawsuit alleging age discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The district court...

LAPD Officer's $2.1 Million Jury Award For Retaliation Is Reversed

March 01, 2012 18:33

Joaquin v. City of Los Angeles, 202 Cal. App. 4th 1207 (2012) Richard Joaquin alleged his employment as an LAPD officer was terminated in retaliation for his having filed a sexual harassment complaint against his supervisor, Sgt. James Sands. The case was tried to a jury and Joaquin was awarded...