By Melanie Porter, Associate Attorney, San Diego offices of Stephen Danz & Associates The fitness for duty examination is an invaluable tool for promoting a safe and productive workplace, when it is used properly. Used improperly, the fitness for duty examination will engender employee frustration and ma...

Linda Heyen was a former assistant manager for Safeway. She brought this lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court  (Heyen vs. Safeway, 2013 DJDAR 6622) to recover unpaid overtime, and successfully contended in front of the jury that she was a "nonexempt" employee because she spent the majority of her time ...

Until Robert Maclean blew the whistle on the government rules requiring air marshalls to wear business suits, ties and sports coats, a terrorist could easily spot an air marshall. McLean went public to MSNBC and advised the media of this rule. He also revealed that the air marshall program was being cut back ...

Today's LA Times reports that Exxon Mobil Corporation got caught giving preferential treatment to a less qualified, but non-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi sexual, transgender) candidate for an administrative assistant position. The complaint was recently filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. It appears ...

On May 15, 2013 the Court of Appeals handed down McCoy vs. Pacific Maritime Association (B209953) which involved a claim against PMA and he union employer for numerous violations of the California Government Code, including sexual harassment in the workplace. the plaintiff testified that one of her superviso...

For ten years, California has offered employees the right to recover substantial penalties for being denied wages, where that denial violates numerous provisions of the California Labor Code and the Health and Safety Code. This law is codified as the Private Attorney General Act (LC 2699) and provides penalties based o...

Both federal and California state laws provide that veterans returning from military service--and that includes all reserve deployments--are guaranteed a return to their jobs. Yet, it appears that thousands of Guard and Reserve troops are returning home without the promised right to return to their old jobs. A ...

We are pleased to report another settlement of a federal false claims lawsuit, United States ex rel Jeffrey W. Adler vs. General Electric Aviation Services LLC. As reported in the LA Daily Journal,  this case involved multiple attorneys representing the United States and the ex rel whistle blower J.W. Adler. M...

Ok, I admit the header is a stretch for the topic of today, but your'e still here reading, right?  The "real" subject today, however, isn't that far off because many employees misuse their office-supplied computers to engage in social media communication. The choices are now unlimited--MySpace started it all, ...