Unfortunately for employees in California, there is very little protection against employer searches of your office computer. We have found it standard practice for employers to open computers, seize hard-drives and basically print everything they can. This is especially true when an employee is also a whistle ...

This is one of the most hotly-contested areas of intellectual property disputes in our California employment law practice and comes up regularly in our Santa Clara )(Silicon Valley) and San Diego and Orange County cases. we've' seen employers demand that our clients, their former employees cease "doing business...

Our clientele over the last few years have reported medical diagnosis' of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) more often that at any times in my 34 years of employment law practice. This is a highly contested area of damages, and most defense counsel will bring in experts to testify that our employee-plaintif...

In our California and Los Angeles discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment, whistle blowing practice, we often add a cause of action for violations of California's Unfair Business Practices Act. This is found at Bus & Pro Code Section 17200, et seq. Two recent decisions have given added life to the ...

Zenia Chavarria started work as many other employees across the State of California do.  She went through an interview and when hired, was brought back to fill out stacks of paperwork.  Located in the pile of paper she was asked to sign was a signature page.  It was not attached to an actual agreement, but a...

California Labor Code 1102.5 remains one of -- if not the--most important tools we as plaintiff attorneys have to protect California employees from retaliation for reporting illegal, unsafe or "bad" practices either to their company or to law enforcement. A major "fork in the road" for whistle blowers is unders...

Its not unusual in some industries (like auto repair, hair salons, flight instructors)  to sit and wait between customers. Employers in California, until recently at least, have tried to claim that if the average pay for the entire shift exceeded minimum wage, then there was in fact no violation of California'...

SAN FRANCISCO FLEXIBLE WORK ORDINANCE SIGNED INTO LAW The San Francisco City Council recently approved a measure known as the San Francisco Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance which allows employees in San Francisco, working for companies with 20 or more employees, to take advantage of flexible work schedules, p...

Today, I'd like to discuss some esoteric issues regarding the overall national debate on minimum wage. Our firm represents only California employees throughout the state. in all matters of discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment and retaliation. We have an active false claims practice as well. While Ca...

California employees who complain about sexual harassment should be aware of their right to a full and impartial investigation of their charges. Under both state (Government Code 12940(k), and federal law (Title VII and EEOC guidelines such as N 915-050), the law requires a "prompt, thorough and impartial inves...