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Most employers know they can get slapped with retaliation claims for firing workers who have recently complained about harassment or other workplace wrongdoing. But a new case from the federal appeals court that covers California calls attention to a little-discussed retaliation law that employers should be aware of.
In connection with affirmative action regulations that were revised in 2000, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs annually sends out what’s known as an EO survey to randomly selected federal contractors. The mandatory survey—which has stirred much controversy among federal contractors who claim that it’s burdensome—asks contractors to submit a […]
Renae Kohler filed a workers’ comp claim and a harassment lawsuit against her employer, Interstate Brands, based on alleged physical and verbal harassment by her supervisor. Kohler later signed a workers’ comp compromise and release agreement for a $4,000 settlement, which released the employer from “all claims and causes of action” arising from the injury. […]
A Texas jury has awarded $11.24 million to Claudine Woolf, a former top Mary Kay Inc. saleswoman from Walnut Creek, Calif., who was fired while she was pregnant and undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Woolf claimed she asked her employer to reduce her sales quota because of her medical problems. But Dallas-based Mary Kay allegedly […]
The Ninth Circuit has thrown out a $15 million class-action settlement in a case accusing Boeing Co. of workplace bias. A group of employees had challenged the settlement, arguing that it was inequitable because some victims would have received up to 16 times more money than others, and that it didn’t do enough to prevent […]
In a public meeting held in Sacramento on January 10, 2003, the California Industrial Welfare Commission rejected a petition to boost the minimum wage to $8 per hour. Despite this action, state lawmakers will likely introduce legislation during the new legislative session to raise the minimum wage. And labor representatives stated that they plan to […]
President Bush has just signed legislation to extend unemployment insurance benefits for laid-off workers. The measure will extend benefits by 13 weeks for the estimated 1.6 million workers whose normal state UI benefits are due to expire in May 2003. Plus, it will restore benefits to the approximately 750,000 workers whose unemployment benefits lapsed just […]
Just a few months after Macy’s department store paid out $125,000 to settle a bias lawsuit by a Muslim sales clerk who was terminated from the Westfield Shoppingtown Valley Store in San Jose, the retailer has been hit with a second lawsuit by another Muslim worker at that store. Hiam Yassine, who is Palestinian, was […]
The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor has announced that it collected $175 million in back wages in 2002. This is the largest amount collected in 10 years, and represents a 33% increase over back wages collected in 2001.
Over the past year, many employers have seen a huge jump in their workers’ comp premiums—and even bigger hikes may be on the way. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has just reported that the California workers’ compensation insurance industry is under-reserved by a startling $13.7 billion. The WCIRB attributes the deficit to, among other […]