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Nonunion public school teachers are required to pay “fair share” union fees in return for benefits they receive from collective bargaining. In return, the union must give these teachers a written explanation concerning the basis for the fee. Eight nonunion teachers who did not receive an adequate fee notice sued school district superintendents, claiming that […]
A number of bills that would significantly impact employers are pending in Washington.
Karen Yarborough, a recruiting manager for Pleasanton-based PeopleSoft, complained to her supervisors that the company’s affirmative action hiring data was false. Then, just two days before an on-site audit of the software maker’s employment data by the Office of Federal Contracts Compliance Programs, Yarborough was fired. Now an Alameda County jury’s multimillion-dollar verdict for Yarborough […]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld San Francisco’s groundbreaking domestic partner ordinance, which requires certain businesses to offer the same benefits to heterosexual and gay partners of unmarried employees as they offer to married spouses. The court rejected an argument by United Air Lines, FedEx and an airline association that the ordinance, […]
Employer monitoring of employee Internet access is a hot issue. Federal Ninth Circuit judges recently jumped into the fray by shutting off surveillance software that monitored court employees’ Internet use, stating that such monitoring without prior notice to employees could be illegal. Now the body that governs the federal court system is requiring federal courts […]
Jacalyn Thornton, a part-time reporter for the Fresno Bee newspaper, spent about one-third of her time working at a computer keyboard. After she developed a repetitive stress disorder and became unable to use a keyboard, the paper terminated her. She sued, contending that her discharge violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Ninth Circuit Court […]
Under California anti-discrimination law, a disabled employee typically has only one year from the date of a firing, demotion or other wrongful employment action to file a lawsuit. But now the California Supreme Court has ruled that disabled workers may be able to sue for discrimination incidents that occurred many years earlier. We’ll tell you […]
Highly publicized incidents of on-the-job violence have prompted many employers to adopt a workplace violence policy. But a recent federal appeals court ruling in California demonstrates the problems that can arise—particularly for public employers—if your policy goes too far.
A new California Court of Appeal ruling underscores the dangers of disciplining or terminating an employee for absences that may be protected by the family and medical leave laws. We’ll tell you what went wrong here so you can avoid a similar problem.
Employers are required by the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave to employees to care for a newly born or adopted child. Once the employee has returned to work, however, no federal or state laws obligate employers to give child care assistance. However, national studies show that […]