Employment & Labor

If your agency is a contracting agency with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), chances are you have heard about the important distinctions between an “employee” and an “independent contractor” under the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL).  Whether an individual is an “employee” or an “independent contractor” determines whether the individual must be enrolled in CalPERS under certain circumstances

This blog was originally authored in August 2019 but has been reviewed and updated for January 2025. 
Applying the different California Public Employees’ Retirement System (“CalPERS”) rules related to Temporary Upgrade Pay, out-of-class appointments, and non-reportable extra-duty pays can be unnerving.  For classic employees, compensation for appointments meeting the definition of Temporary Upgrade Pay are reportable to CalPERS and is

In its decision in Bailey v San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, the California Supreme Court has recently affirmed that even a single incident of using “N” word by a coworker in reference to a black employee can be a sufficient basis for making an unlawful harassment and hostile work environment. The Court emphasized that the analysis of any racial harassment

Keeping in mind the two principles discussed below should be helpful to your deposition testimony on the most fundamental level, no matter who you are and no matter what type of case you are involved in:
1.Do Not Overthink Each Question You Are Asked At Your Deposition. This especially applies to the most educated and professionally accomplished deponents, who naturally

As one way of advancing the express purpose of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act to provide effective remedies for discrimination at the workplace, a special venue provision allows plaintiffs to file a lawsuit “in any county in the state in which the unlawful practice is alleged to have been committed, in the county in which the records relevant

In Rajaram v Meta Platforms, Inc. (2024), an employee sued Meta for giving a hiring preference to H1B visa holders over US Citizens. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal held that section 42 USC 1981 prohibits employer from discriminating against United States citizens, because an employer that does so gives one class of people – noncitizens, or perhaps some group

A typical disability discrimination claim by a salesperson involves a situation where the employee was fired for not meeting goals due to, in whole or in part, his known medical condition / qualifying disability. The employer then terminates an employee and later argues that the termination was lawful, because meeting the sales goals of the company is an “essential function”