News & Insights

Robinson v. Southern Counties Oil Co, 53 Cal. App. 5th 476 (2020) Summary: Res judicata bars a PAGA claim when the employer has already settled a separate PAGA claim covering the same claims and time period. An employee does...

This week, in AXIS Reinsurance Co. v. Northrop Grumman Corp., ____ F.3d ____, 2020 WL 5509743 (9th Cir. Sept. 14, 2020), the Ninth Circuit addressed an important question of first impression: When can an excess insurer...

The majority of the employment-related bills that Governor Newsom will sign this year will not take effect until January 2021 or later. But Governor Newsom signed two significant, employment-related “trailer bills” this...

On August 31, 2020, California’s legislative session closed with a flurry of bills—the majority driven by COVID-19. These bills have been sent to the governor, who now has until the end of September to sign them into law...

On August 27, 2020, the Department of Labor updated its Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Questions and Answers to address eligibility for FFCRA benefits in light of the complexity school program offerings. The FAQ now...

In Robinson v. Southern Counties Oil Co., 2020 WL 4696742 (certified for publication Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 13, 2020), the California Court of Appeal held that an action under the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), Cal....

Using a carrot-and-stick approach, Nevada’s new law limits civil liability for personal injury or death resulting from COVID-19 for most businesses in exchange for compliance with controlling COVID-19 health standards....

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) has recently issued a half-dozen decisions addressing the lawfulness of employee arbitration agreements. Employers should not ignore this body of law, which...

Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 140 S. Ct. 2049 (2020) Summary: The ministerial exception, grounded in First Amendment’s religion clauses, barred teachers’ employment discrimination claims where teachers...

In Ixchel Pharma, LLC v. Biogen, Inc., S256927, 2020 WL 4432623 (Cal. Aug. 3, 2020) (“Ixchel Pharma”), the Supreme Court of California clarified two points: (1) that to state a claim for interference with an at-will...

On July 24, 2020, California released the Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening. The Employer Playbook provides detailed information for employers in an easy-to-read checklist format. The majority of the document is...

Update: On August 31, 2020, the Blueprint for Safer Economy replaced the County Monitoring List for determining what businesses can and cannot open. The Blueprint utilizes a more user friendly four-tiered color system (i.e.,...