This week Gina Carano filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company for terminating her as a cast member in the popular ‘The Mandalorian’ series. Carano played Cara Dune in the series and was terminated for expressing conservative views on social media and is garnering a lot of attention based on the allegations and the
A California appellate opinion issued yesterday offers a fact pattern and jury verdict familiar to employment counsel: A longtime employee resists a proposed change pushed by his new boss, citing an anxiety disorder; the new boss finds the claimed anxiety a dubious excuse; the boss learns the employee has been moonlighting and potentially using company
In working with employers are various sizes, backgrounds, sophistication, and industries, I’ve seen a lot of confusion and simple misunderstandings about what constitutes employee discipline and how to properly document employee performance issues or discipline. This Friday’s Five reviews five common misunderstandings about discipline and documentation:
1. If it was not a formal write-up put
Parties involved in litigation should always keep an open mind about mediation at every stage of litigation. Cases that resolve without having to go through a trial or arbitration can potentially save the parties a lot of time and money in litigation. This article touches on five items parties need to understand about mediation.
1.
Yesterday, September 30, 2018 was the last day for Governor Brown to sign or veto legislation passed by the California legislature this year. Here is a list of the employment bills that were signed and will impact California employers in 2019 (the bills will become effective January 1, 2019, unless the bill specifies otherwise):
I’m moderating a panel discussion on best practices for how to hire and retain good employees at the Western Food Service and Hospitality Expo (WFHE). The panelists are Joseph Pitruzelli owner of Wurstküche, Francis Drelling General Counsel at Specialty Restaurants Corporation, Naz Moin former director of Human Resources at PizzaRev, and Madelyn Alfano owner of
This Friday’s Five provides a few reminders about documenting employee performance. While good documentation is hard to gather at the time, it is critical in communicating clear objections to employees for better performance. Also, should a dispute arise that results in litigation, how well the employee’s performance was documented can be the different in winning
Chipotle had an $8 million verdict against it in a California court last week for a wrongful termination claim. The verdict is a surprising huge amount and it should be a clear warning to employers about how important it is to document employee conduct, and then store and be able to access that evidence
Clients come to my firm often frustrated by California employment laws and their complexity, the raising costs of doing business in California (such as the higher minimum wage), and the legal system in general. I have to agree that California poses one of the most difficult business environments businesses have to operate within, but I
In this Friday’s Five, I discuss why people should be more open to attending jury duty. I sat for jury duty this week, but was dismissed after vior dire. I’ve served on two juries prior to this, and maybe it is the litigator in me, but I’ve found the process fascinating. Also, I’m tired