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A senior programmer who was fired allegedly because he complained about his employer’s 401(k) investment options has filed a religious discrimination lawsuit. James Salsman, a former employee of Veritas Software in MountainView, claimed it would violate his Quaker beliefs if his money were invested in businesses that produce weapons. Veritas’ retirement plan limited employees to investing […]
Mervyn’s California has agreed to shell out $7.3 million to resolve overtime claims brought by 1,600 store managers who charged they were improperly classified as exempt from overtime. The managers contend they spent most of their time stocking shelves and performing other nonmanagerial duties. Mervyn’s previously agreed to pay $4 million to settle similar lawsuits […]
Russell Crawford, the former owner of Valley Building Materials in Canoga Park, was ordered to spend six months in jail plus 10 months of home confinement for embezzling more than $700,000 from employee pension plans. Following a joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and the FBI, Crawford reportedly admitted draining the company’s profit […]
As many employers who’ve been sued know, even if you winan employee lawsuit, you still lose because the cost of defense is so high. For example, in a recent case Mark Gordon, a Chico police officer, sued the city of Chico for sexual orientation discrimination. After the case resulted in a mistrial, Gordon dropped his […]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that time spent moving a family member because of concern for the person’s well-being does not fall under the family and medical leave laws. Fe Castro Marchisheck submitted an emergency request for time off from her medical technician job at San Mateo General Hospital so she could take […]
In a flurry of employment-related activity, the high court ruled that state employees can’t sue for age discrimination under federal law, although they can still file suit under state law. Plus, the court upheld the following important decisions: the landmark Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruling that said Microsoft improperly treated temporary employees as independent […]
The Industrial Welfare Commission has clarified how to report alternative workweek election results under California’s new overtime law. Within 30 days of the election, you should send in your company name, the date of the election, the final election counts, the alternative workweek schedule adopted or repealed, and a statement of compliance. This statement can […]
U.S. Bank has agreed to pay $3.8 million to “personalbankers” in several states, including California, who were improperly classified asexempt from the overtime laws. The personal bankers’ job duties included creating newbanking relationships, opening accounts and selling banking services. U.S. Bank contendedthat the workers qualified for the administrative exemption to the overtime laws becausethey were […]
The Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services have issued guidelines explaining how to comply with the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act’s annual notice requirement. The notice explains that mastectomy-related services must be covered under health plans. It can be sent alone or with the summary plan description, a newsletter, […]
Meeting COBRA election notice requirements can be tricky – and even a minor oversight can potentially be expensive. A recent opinion letter from the Department of Labor clarifies the process for providing COBRA election notices to households with more than one qualified beneficiary. If several beneficiaries live at the same address, you can send their […]