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The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a nearly $1 million award to a dry cleaning firm and its owner for allegedly defamatory statements made by a union during a collective bargaining dispute. While meeting to discuss ongoing wage negotiations, the union president informed union members that the company president was hiding money […]
Despite the prosperity of the late 1990s, the number of workers covered by employer-sponsored health care insurance did not grow. The Center for Studying Health System Change found about three-quarters of people under age 65 were covered by employer-sponsored health care in 2001, the same as in 1997. In 2001, 75.6 percent of workers had […]
A California Court of Appeal has thrown out a jury award against an employer accused of negligently allowing a teacher’s aide to repeatedly sexually assault an 11-year-old emotionally disturbed student. The court said the employee’s acts were personal and had no purpose connected to his employment. The court noted that for the employer to be […]
A growing number of Americans are unhappy with their jobs, according to a new Consumer Research Center survey. Only 51 percent of employees polled were satisfied with their jobs, compared to 59 percent in 1995. And while 40 percent were content with their wages, only 20 percent were happy with their companies’ promotion and bonus […]
The IRS has decreased the mileage rate commonly used to reimburse employees for business use of a car from 36.5 cents to 36 cents per mile. The new rate—which applies to miles driven beginning January 1, 2003—was prompted primarily by the decrease in gasoline prices.
Governor Davis has signed many new laws of interest to employers, ranging from creating a paid family leave program to implementing new layoff notice requirements; from new prohibitions against age discrimination to important changes to consumer report laws; from new restrictions on absence control policies to additional guidelines on responding to employee requests to view […]
Einstein Bagels, a national chain of bagel stores–which includes Noah’s New York Bagels and Manhattan Bagels–has agreed to pay over $495,000 in back overtime to settle claims that it misclassified 424 assistant managers in 27 states, including California. The settlement grew out of an investigation of Einstein locations by the U.S. Department of Labor. In […]
On October 7, 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court reconvened for a new session. The court’s docket this term includes a case involving whether physician-shareholders can be counted as employees for purposes of determining employer coverage under the Americans with Disabilities Act and a case regarding whether state employers can be sued for violations of the […]
Gary Ross was offered a job as a lead systems administrator for RagingWire Telecommunications in Sacramento. In connection with taking a mandatory pre-employment drug test, Ross gave the company a copy of his medical prescription for marijuana, which he used to alleviate pain from an old back injury. Ross also told RagingWire that he wouldn’t […]
In two recent opinions, a California appeals court has addressed the issue of when a student can be considered the school’s employee.