December 2018 Archives

If you work a lot of overtime, you may be curious about how your overtime rate is calculated. Under both the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and California law, "nonexempt" employees are entitled to an overtime premium of 1-1/2 times their regular rate of pay whenever they work more than 40 hours in a given workweek. In California, most workers are also entitled to the overtime premium when they work more than 8 hours in a single day.

Bay Area residents are aware that their local police and rescue dispatchers are an essential part of their community. Often the first people to become aware of a crime or emergency, these hardworking individuals are tasked with getting help to a victim as quickly as possible. It takes a good amount of training to provide this necessary service to any community, and one woman is now fighting what she feels was a wrongful termination on behalf of herself and other whistleblowers.

Retaliation against employees happens in every field—including the California law enforcement. Recently, an officer with the Long Beach Police Department reported that he experienced retaliation after raising issue with management practices. He claimed that his supervisors reassigned him to undesirable job duties and withdrew several of his workplace perks. Last week, a jury awarded the officer $2.5 million in damages for his suffering.

In every industry, whistleblowers are crucial to identifying and reporting wrongdoing or safety violations. The financial sector is no different. To ferret out securities fraud, the Security and Exchange Commission has a Whistleblower Program to assist informants who notice securities fraud. And 2018 has been the program’s most successful year yet. In the fiscal year 2018, the SEC received a record number of tips that allowed it to recover around $1.7 billion in monetary sanctions.

As you welcome in the new year, you look forward to a fresh start. You will likely set new goals for yourself, resolving to better your body or financial situation in the months ahead. And, as an employee, you may aim to increase your production or develop a new skill. At the same time, you probably hope your employer examines their policies and strives to improve your working environment.

Most employees are aware of their company’s cell phone policy. However, what if you found out you could be fired for answering a work call while working?

The city of Beverly Hills recently paid over 2.3 million to settle complaints against the city’s female police chief, Sandra Spagnoli. During her two years as chief, employees alleged Spagnoli engaged in multiple acts of discrimination and sexual misconduct.

The holiday work party is quickly approaching. Unfortunately, many people across the United States have experienced sexual harassment at their holiday parties. As a result of the recent Me Too movement, many workplace holiday parties will not look the same this year.

You were hired as an independent contractor, but you feel like an employee. So which are you? Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. The California Supreme Court tried to clarify this issue in a case this past year, Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court. The court laid out a test to help employers and employees, alike, properly classify their employment relationships. The case narrowed the definition of a contractor, forcing many employers to re-evaluate their business models. The "ABC" test consists of the following three parts:

Nothing feels worse than being fired, especially if you feel like you have done nothing to deserve it. In some cases, employers fire employees illegally. These are cases of wrongful termination.

Tragically, wage theft is a common practice across many parts of America. For employees that rely on their paychecks to survive, it can have devastating effects. 

The University of Arizona pays male employees thousands of dollars more per year than female employees, according to a recent class action lawsuit. An associate professor at the university recently filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Arizona Board of Regents. However, Arizona is not the only school facing pay discrimination issues based on gender.

Working with physical disabilities can be extremely difficult, especially later in life. After a two-week trial, jurors awarded a California woman $175,500 in her claim against Home Depot. The plaintiff claimed that Home Depot fired her due to her medical conditions, age and speaking out against company sales practices.

Even companies run by women can face pregnancy discrimination claims. The Wonderful Company is owned and led by female billionaire, Lynda Resnick. Resnick began the business as a working single mother. Years later, the company is now facing claims of pregnancy discrimination and wrongful termination.

Speaking out against your employer can be terrifying. Last year, a doctor working for the Augusta State Medical Prison in Georgia spoke out against the horrific conditions inside the prison. He recently filed a lawsuit under the Georgia Whistleblower Act against the prison and the Georgia Department of Corrections for their acts of retaliation.

Last month, the New York Times released an article that revealed Google hid claims of sexual harassment and paid top executives large exit packages to remain silent about their misconduct. According to the article, one of the exit packages totaled over $90 million dollars.