Wal-Mart settled another wage and hour class action in Minnesota for $54 million. The class includes as many as 100,000 employees who worked from September1998 to November 2008. The judge found that Wal-Mart had violated Minnesota’s Fair Labor Standards Act more than 2 million times. This settlement is similar to a 2005 verdict in
New Cases
Petition For Review Filed In Brinkley v. Public Storage
By Anthony Zaller on
Plaintiff filed a petition for review to the California Supreme Court in Brinkley v. Public Storage, Inc. Shortly after the Supreme Court granted review of Brinker v. Superior Court, the Brinkley decision was issued by a lower appellate court (click here to read the opinion in Brinkley v. Public Storage, Inc.). The…
Court Holds That Employer Is Not Liable For Punitive Damages For Labor Code Violations
By Anthony Zaller on
Christine Brewer, a longtime waitress employed at the Cottonwood Golf Club restaurant, quit her job in March 2005. Shortly thereafter, Brewer filed this action against her employer, Premier Golf Properties, LP, dba Cottonwood Golf Club alleging a causes of action for age discrimination, for meal and rest break violations (among other Labor Code violations), sought…
Update on Brinker v. Superior Court and other California Wage and Hour Issues
I recently conducted a webinar on new developments involving meal and rest breaks, expense reimbursement, paid time off pitfalls, and other wage and hour issues California employers should be aware of. It is approximately 30 minutes. Click here to download, or click here to listen via iTunes.
Top Ten Stupidest Things California Employers Could Say
By Anthony Zaller on
Your company may be in trouble if you (or the president/owner you work for) have had one of the following thoughts:
1. My company is too small to be sued in a wage and hour class action.
2. I’m too busy to think about employment law issues – I’ll get to it next week.
3. …
Noncompetition Agreements In California Are Narrowly Construed
In Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP (link to PDF), the California Supreme Court ruled on the following issues: (1) To what extent does Business and Professions Code section 16600 prohibit employee noncompetition agreements; and (2) is a contract provision requiring an employee to release “any and all” claims unlawful because it encompasses nonwaivable statutory protections…