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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers California, has upheld a $1 million punitive damages award to an employee who was subjected to repeated racial slurs and jokes with his supervisor’s knowledge. The new ruling, one of the largest of its kind, serves as a reminder that it’s imperative to take steps to prevent—and […]
Chris Fotiades was a production manager at the Anaheim branch of Hi-Tech, an auto body shop chain. One day while he was in the restroom, store manager Sam Mirable allegedly picked the lock on the door and kicked it open. Then, assistant manager William Hendricks reportedly snapped a Polaroid photo of Fotiades urinating. Afterward, Fotiades […]
California courts have repeatedly refused to enforce noncompete agreements. Now, a new California appeals court decision upholding a whopping $1,080,000 punitive damages award shows the high price you can pay for firing an employee who won’t sign a noncompete agreement.
Federal OSHA’s revised rules for recording workplace injuries and illnesses took effect January 1. Although they’re not yet formally implemented in California, a Cal/ OSHA spokesman told CEA the agency expects the rules to be officially adopted by mid-February and is advising California employers to start following the new federal guidelines now for all 2002 […]
We recently reported on a new federal Ninth Circuit ruling that you can be liable if a client sexually harasses an employee and you don’t take adequate steps to remedy the problem. Now, for the first time, a California jury has weighed in on harassment by non-employees, and the case has a different twist. The […]
Deborah Wells was employed by Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates, a medical clinic and professional corporation with four physician shareholders and directors and another 12 to 15 employees. When Wells was terminated, she sued Clackamas under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The clinic responded that it didn’t have enough employees to be covered by the ADA. 400+ […]
A new law—S.B. 486—that’s aimed at increasing worker and customer safety in wholesale or retail warehouse establishments requires that if such businesses store merchandise on shelves higher than 12 feet above the sales floor, they must secure it from falling. Security methods could include safety rails, netting, security cables, shrink-wrapping pallets or tying items together. […]
We recently polled our CEA subscribers to determine how employers are managing employee cell phone use issues. Employers who responded had staff sizes ranging from five to more than 5,000. Cell Phone Use While Driving More than 96% of employers who responded said that some or all of their employees use cell phones to conduct […]
Contractors Labor Pool is a major supplier of construction trade labor to nonunion contractors in the western United States. CPL implemented a new hiring guideline, based on a company retention study, under which it refused to hire applicants whose most recent job was at a pay level that was more than 30% above starting […]
We previously reported on a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that extended to nonunion employees the right to bring a co-worker to a meeting that may have disciplinary consequences. Now a federal appeals court has upheld the NLRB ruling, expanding to nonunion employees a right that has been recognized for union workers since […]