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Featured Insights

Payne & Fears provides high quality legal and business insights, and we are committed to delivering practical and timely updates for a diverse range of issues, businesses and industries.

Labor and Employment Law
Feb 03 | Labor and Employment Law
Feb 03
OSHA Issues Guidance On Mitigating, Preventing Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace
By: Amy R. Patton, Blake A. Dillion
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued new employer guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. This guidance is intended to help employers and workers outside the healthcare setting to identify risks of being exposed to and of contracting COVID-19 and to determine any appropriate control measures to implement. While this guidance is largely duplicative of prior OSHA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) guidance and recommendations, it contains a few new and updated recommendations that employers should note.
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Insurance Coverage
2020 | Insurance Coverage
2020
Ninth Circuit Rejects Excess Insurer's Attempt to Dispute Exhaustion of Underlying Insurance
By: J. Kelby Van Patten, Jared De Jong
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 second-guess an underlying insurer’s decision to pay a claim? Prior to AXIS Reinsurance, there had been no California or the Ninth Circuit case discussing an excess insurer’s right to make a covered-claims challenge to the exhaustion of underlying insurance, even though policyholders frequently encounter such arguments.
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Business Litigation
2020 | Business Litigation
2020
Changing Your Terms and Conditions? If So, Your Company Must Provide Express Notice to Consumers
By: David A. Grant
The Ninth Circuit recently reminded companies that they must provide notice to consumers when they change their terms and conditions, even where original terms state that they are subject to change at-will and at any time (i.e. the original contract contains a “change-of-terms” provision). Without express notice to the consumer, any change is unenforceable.
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E.g., 02/24/2021
E.g., 02/24/2021
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2013 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2013
US Supreme Court Adopts Narrow Definition of “Supervisor” Under Title VII
By: Leila S. Narvid, Scott O. Luskin
On June 24, 2013, the United States Supreme Court clarified the definition of supervisor in employee harassment cases under Title VII.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2013 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2013
California Court of Appeal Rejects “Multi-tasking” Argument for Exempt Employees
By: Leila S. Narvid
Prior to Heyen v. Safeway, there was no published precedential California case law specifically addressing how time spent simultaneously performing concurrent duties, which are both exempt and nonexempt, should be evaluated for purposes of the executive exemption.
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Publication, Business Litigation
2013 | Publication, Business Litigation
The hands of a man and woman reviewing documents pertaining to their business.
2013
Aryeh Supplies Additional Ammunition for Plaintiffs in the Ever-Expanding Arena of Unfair Competition Claims
By: Robert Tadashi Matsuishi
Attorney Robert Matsuishi authored "Aryeh Supplies Additional Ammunition for Plaintiffs in the Ever-Expanding Arena of Unfair Competition Claims" in the Spring 2013 issue of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL) Report.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2013 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2013
California Supreme Court Clarifies Employer's Burden of Proof in Mixed-Motive Cases
By: Leila S. Narvid
On February 7, the California Supreme Court decided the issue of whether the federal "mixed-motive" defense applies to employment discrimination claims under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2012 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2012
Beginning on January 1, 2013, Commission Agreements for California Employees Must Be In Writing and Signed
By: Leila S. Narvid
Beginning on January 1, 2013, all employers must have written commission agreements for California employees who are compensated on a commission basis.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2012 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2012
Arbitration and Class Action Waivers After Concepcion and D.R. Horton: Courts and the NLRB Reach Divergent Conclusions
By: Leila S. Narvid
Since the U.S. Supreme Court came down with its landmark decision in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion in April 2011, courts and the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") have reached divergent conclusions regarding the legality of individual arbitration agreements in the employment context.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2012 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2012
Federal District Court Issues First Decision Allowing Whistleblower Allegations to Proceed Under Dodd-Frank Act
By: James R. Moss, Jr.
On September 25, 2012, United States District Court Judge Stefan R. Underhill, District of Connecticut, issued the first decision allowing a plaintiff's whistleblower allegations against his employer under the Dodd-Frank Act to survive a motion to dismiss.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2012 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2012
Five Months Post-Brinker: Courts' Application of the Seminal Decision
By: Leila S. Narvid
On April 12, 2012, the California Supreme Court in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court issued a critical decision regarding break and off-the-clock claims and the standards governing an employer's obligation to provide breaks under California law. Since the Supreme Court issued its opinion, employers have been eagerly awaiting its application by the lower courts in determining the suitability of class treatment for break and off-the-clock claims.
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Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
2012 | Legal Alert, Labor and Employment Law
A businessman standing in the window of a high-rise building reading urgent business documents.
2012
California Court of Appeal Upholds the Use of Class Action Waivers in Employment Arbitration Agreements
In Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC, 2012 WL 1979266 (Cal. Ct. App. June 5, 2012), the California Court of Appeal upheld the use of class action waivers in employment arbitration agreements. Such provisions require employees to arbitrate disputes with their employers individually and not on a class or representative basis.
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