In the absence of an agreement otherwise a worker in California is generally presumed to be an “at-will” employee. This means that an employee can be terminated for any reason, no reason or arbitrary reason as long as it’s not an illegal reason (such as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, etc.) Once…
In addition to unemployment benefits compensation for those workers who are not disabled, the unemployment insurance code of California provides for disability compensation under Unempl. Ins. Code sections 2601 and 3272. Unemployment compensation disability benefits are paid from the disability fund. A worker is deemed disabled on any day in…
It is a common tactic for an employer to defend an employee’s claims of sexual harassment at workplace by arguing that because the conduct in question towards the victim wasn’t “sexual enough,” she cannot state a valid claim for sexual harassment. This is exactly what happened in Birschtein v. New…
Last week, I participated in the interactive process discussion with my client and his employer – the state agency in Sacramento, to find reasonable accommodations to his disability (impairment of short-term memory and learning disability). The employer should an admirable willingness to comply with the disability laws under FEHA (Fair…
In a unanimous opinion filed on October 27, 2008, the California Supreme Court held that when an employee voluntarily pursues an internal administrative remedy prior to filing a Fair Employment and Housing (FEHA) complaint, the statute of limitations (of one year) on the FEHA complaint is subject to equitable tolling.…
To qualify for the administrative exemption from overtime compensation requirement an employee must be primarily engaged in a work of a type that is “directly related to management polices or general business operations.” This requirement of course must be interpreted as it is inherently vague. In one sense, every type…
Partnership is an association of two or more people to engage in business for the purpose of proportionately sharing the profits and losses of that business (as well as assets and liabilities). This means that partners decide on how they will share the profits and losses in % terms. A…
Under California Law, “sick leave” means “accrued increments of compensated leave” provided by an employer for an employee’s use because of: * the employee’s physical or mental condition that makes the employee unable to perform his duties; * the employee’s need to obtain a professional diagnosis or treatment for a…
One of the reasons that proving discrimination is such a challenging task in employment law is the fact that proving workplace discrimination requires showing a discriminatory state of mind. For obvious reasons, direct evidence of discrimination is rarely available, as few, if any, employers or supervisors would ever admit that…
FEHA (Fair Employment and Housing Act) prohibits disability discrimination and pregnancy based discrimination in California. To prove a wrongful termination claim based on pregnancy discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodations to a pregnant employee at workplace, first she has to prove that her condition constitutes disability within the meaning…