On April 1, 2026, the Ninth Circuit handed California employers a meaningful win in O’Dell v. Aya Healthcare Services, Inc., No. 25-1528. The court reversed a Southern District of California ruling that had used a procedural doctrine—non-mutual offensive collateral estoppel—to invalidate arbitration agreements for more than 250 opt-in plaintiffs based on two prior arbitrator decisions
If you are a California employer, there is a major unresolved issue in PAGA litigation that could significantly impact your exposure—and your ability to enforce your arbitration agreements.
It is called a “headless” PAGA claim, and right now, California courts are split on whether these claims are even allowed.
The result: uncertainty, inconsistent outcomes, and
For most California employers, employee time and pay data has historically been treated as a legal obligation—something you keep because the law requires it, not because it creates value.
That mindset needs to change in 2026.
After years of defending employers in wage-and-hour class actions and PAGA cases, I have seen firsthand how employee data
With summer right around the corner, many businesses are looking to hire from local high schools. Whether you are hiring minors as seasonal or full-time employees, there are key laws that employers should be familiar with. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), California Labor Code, California Wage Orders, and California Education Code regulate child labor.
Uber and Lyft have been sued in separate class action lawsuits in California by drivers challenging
the two companies’ classification of the drivers as independent contractors. The plaintiffs in the two cases argue that the drivers should be classified and paid as employees, which triggers many additional Labor Code provisions for the drivers than if