As of January 1, 2000, employers in California who offer paid sick leave to their employees are required to allow those employees to use up to one-half of their yearly accrued sick leave to attend to a child, parent or spouse...
Category: General Employment Issues
Feb 01, 2000
General Employment Issues
Second Circuit Holds that Telephone Monitoring in the Employer’s “Ordinary Course of Business” Does Not Violate Federal Wiretapping Laws
On January 21, 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York affirmed summary judgment for an employer whose recording of employee telephone conversations had been challenged as a violation of federal...
Jan 12, 2000
General Employment Issues
Termination for Refusal to Sign Non-Compete Leads to Million Dollar Verdict
On December 20, 1999, a jury in San Francisco awarded $180,000 in compensatory damages and $1,080,000 in punitive damages to a former employee who was terminated by reason of her refusal to sign a non-compete...
Dec 28, 1999
General Employment Issues
California Appellate Court Refuses To Enforce Employer’s Arbitration Policy
Many employers, seeking to avoid the risks and expense inherent in jury trials of wrongful discharge and discrimination claims, require their employees to enter into agreements under which all employment-related disputes are...
Jan 01, 1996
General Employment Issues
California Supreme Court Recognizes New Cause of Action for Wrongful Demotion
California employers are all too familiar with claims of wrongful discharge by terminated employees who allege that they were party to an implied contract with the employer, under which they could not be discharged without...
The New York State Labor Law includes what is known as a “Whistleblowers’ Statute.” That law (Labor Law ยง 740) prohibits a private employer from retaliating against an employee who discloses or threatens to...
Jul 01, 1995
General Employment Issues
Employer Alert: Implied Renewal of Expired Employment Agreement
Employers often assume that when an employee continues to be employed after the expiration of his or her employment agreement, the employee automatically becomes an employee at will, whose employment is terminable at any...
Negligent hiring occurs where an employer hires or retains an employee who is unfit for his or her position, with knowledge of the employee’s unfitness, and where an injury to a third party results. Under the related...
Apr 01, 1994
General Employment Issues
Mandatory Arbitration of Employment Discrimination Disputes Gaining Approval
Employment discrimination claims have long been thought to be outside the scope of the arbitration provisions of collective bargaining agreements and employment contracts. In Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36...
On February 5, 1993, President Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. In explaining the intent of this legislation, the President stated, “American workers will no longer have to choose between the job...