Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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QUESTIONS AND
CONTINUING EDUCATION
12/10/2015
Carolyn Rashby
Senior Counsel
Walter M. Stella
Shareholder
Todays Topics
NLRB Developments
EEOC Update and Discrimination
Independent Contractors
Wage and Hour
Arbitration
Paid Sick Leave
New California Laws for 2016
Supreme Court Cases
Pending Legislation
Best Practices for the New Year
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NLRB Developments
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Discrimination and
Harassment
Developments
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Gender Bias
Recent high profile case, Pao v. Kleiner Perkins, spotlights workplace
gender bias issues.
Ellen Pao sued Silicon Valley investment firm Kleiner Perkins for
gender discrimination and retaliation, claiming she was overlooked
for promotions in favor of men with less experience and subjected to
sexual harassment. She alleged that women partners were excluded
from dinner parties because they would kill the buzz, and she was
told that the personalities of women do not lead to success at
[Kleiner Perkins] because women are quiet.
Kleiner Perkins countered that Pao was a difficult employee and
lacked the qualifications to be a venture capitalist.
On March 27, 2015, following a 24-day trial, a San Francisco jury
returned a defense verdict in favor of Kleiner Perkins.
The case sparked new class action filings based on gender bias in the
tech world.
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Pregnancy Bias
Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (2015) 135 S.Ct. 1338: U.S. Supreme
Court reversed a Fourth Circuit decision which held that employers are
not required under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act to provide
pregnant workers with light duty assignments so long as the employer
treats pregnant employees the same as non-pregnant employees with
respect to job accommodations.
The UPS policy at issue provided temporary light duty (alternative
work assignments) for workers injured on the job, those who had
lost their DOT certifications, and employees disabled under the ADA.
[W]hy, when the employer accommodated so many, could it not
accommodate pregnant women as well?
On June 25, 2015, the EEOC issued an update to its Enforcement
Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues, to address
the Young decision.
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Religious Accommodation
EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. (2015) 135 S.Ct. 2028:
Supreme Court held that to prevail in a disparate treatment claim, an
applicant need show only that her need for an accommodation was a
motivating factor in the employers decision, not that the employer had
actual knowledge of her religious-based need. An employer may not
make an applicants religious practice -- confirmed or suspected -- a
factor in employment decisions.
Abercrombie refused to hire Samantha Elauf, a practicing Muslim,
because the headscarf that she wore to her job interview conflicted
with Abercrombies employee dress policy.
Elauf wore the headscarf pursuant to her religious obligations, but
did not tell the store she wore the headscarf for religious reasons or
ask to be permitted to wear the headscarf to work as an
accommodation.
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CFRA Regulations
On July 1, 2015, the Fair Employment and Housing Council's (FEHC) new
regulations interpreting the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) went into
effect.
Why were the regulations updated?
Align CFRA regulations with most recent FMLA regulations which
were updated in 2013 - to the extent not inconsistent with any
provision of the CFRA
Incorporate new court decisions
New poster and certification form
Other updates and clarifications, including: definitions, joint employers,
reinstatement, time period computation, certification, designation, terms
of leave, retaliation
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Arbitration
Developments
Arbitration Post-Iskanian
Whats happened since the California Supreme Courts ruling in CLS
Transportation Los Angeles LLC. v. Iskanian (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348?
Iskanian affirmed the validity of class action waivers in arbitration
agreements...but also held that PAGA waivers are not valid.
U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Iskanian on January 20, 2015.
Sakkab v. Luxottica Retail North America, Inc. (2015) 803 F.3d 425: The
FAA does not preempt Iskanian rule that California law bars the waiver of
PAGA claims.
Securitas Security Services USA, Inc. v. Superior Court (2015) 234 Cal.
App. 4th 1109: Court invalidated entire arbitration agreement that
contained a class action and PAGA waiver, on grounds that Iskanian
rendered the PAGA waiver unenforceable and the agreement itself stated
that the class action/PAGA waiver could not be severed.
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Bloomfield, NJ
Elizabeth, NJ
Connecticut
East Orange, NJ
New York, NY
Massachusetts
Irvington, NJ
Eugene, OR
District of Columbia
Jersey City, NJ
Portland, OR
Oregon
Montclair, NJ
Philadelphia, PA
Emeryville, CA
Newark, NJ
Seattle, WA
Oakland, CA
Passaic, NJ
Tacoma, WA
San Francisco, CA
Paterson, NJ
Montgomery County, MD
Trenton, NJ
Pittsburgh, PA
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Hours Worked
Mendiola v. CPS Security Solutions, Inc. (2015) 60 Cal.4th 833: California
Supreme Court reaffirmed the rule that hours worked under California
law includes all hours an employee is under the employers control, even
when the employee is not actively engaged in carrying out his or her job
duties.
Significantly, the Court held that a sleep period during the time an
employee is on call cannot be excluded from hours worked by
agreement between the employer and employee.
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Independent Contractor
Developments
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DOL Guidance
On July 15, 2015, the DOL issued new classification guidance asserting
that most workers are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act
and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The guidance sets out a six-factor economic realities test to determine
whether workers are economically dependent on the employer or are in
business for themselves.
All of the factors must be analyzed and no single factor is
determinative.
The goal is to make an ultimate determination of economic
independence or dependence.
Contractual labels are irrelevant to the analysis, so an independent
contractor agreement or that a 1099-MISC was issued to the worker
is not indicative of an independent contractor relationship.
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233, to align the definition of family member and permitted kin care uses
with Californias new paid sick leave law. (Effective Jan. 1, 2016)
Kin care law will now cover time off to care for grandparents,
grandchildren, and siblings, and expands kin care reasons to include
leave related to the diagnosis, care, or treatment for an existing
health condition, or for preventive care, as well as certain absences
resulting from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The legislation also expands Cal. Labor Code 230.8, which
addresses time off for childrens school activities, to permit time off
for finding child care and enrolling children in child care or school, as
well as child care emergencies.
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Retaliation
A.B. 987: Clarifies that requesting a reasonable accommodation for a
disability or religious reasons is a protected activity under the California
Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The new law overturns a
recent court decision, Rope v. Auto-Chlor System of Washington (2013)
220 Cal.App.4th 635, which held that FEHAs retaliation protections did
not extend to accommodation requests. (Effective Jan. 1, 2016)
A.B. 1509: Extends Labor Code protections for engaging in protected
activity to also prohibit an employer or a person acting on their behalf
from retaliating against an employee because he or she is a family
member of someone who has engaged in protected activity. The new
law also spreads financial responsibility for retaliation by a staffing firm or
other labor contractor to the client employer. (Effective Jan. 1, 2016)
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E-Verify
A.B. 662: Prohibits an employer from using E-Verify to check the
employment authorization status of an existing employee or an applicant
who has not received an offer of employment, except as required by
federal law or as a condition of receiving federal funds. Would subject
each employer that uses E-Verify in violation of this new section to
penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. (Effective Jan. 1, 2016)
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Pending Supreme
Court Decisions
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