Bilateral arbitration agreements governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) may require arbitration of California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims on an individual basis only, the U.S. Supreme Court has held. Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, No. 20-1573 (June 15, 2022).
The Court’s decision overrules the California’s Supreme Court decision in Iskanian …
…
For employers, 2021 was a challenging year. The post-election landscape, evolving federal and state law, and the effects of a seemingly endless global pandemic created a difficult business climate. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 were met with stiff resistance — legal and otherwise; still, employers persist in earnest to maintain their operations safely…
In a significant victory for California employers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a $102 million award against Walmart in a suit alleging that the retailer violated the California Labor Code’s wage statement and meal-break provisions. The decision is Magadia v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., May 28, 2021, No. 19-16184.
The
…
Judge George H. Wu of the United States District Court for the Central District of California recently dismissed meal and rest break claims brought under the California Labor Code in a class action against motor carrier U.S. Xpress.
Click here to access our California Workplace Law blog discussing this important issue.
As we reported, in late February, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson introduced Senate Bill 561, legislation intended to strengthen and clarify the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee referred the bill to the Senate Appropriations Committee by a vote of 6-2. This move came…
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has published procedural guidance for parties submitting class action settlements for preliminary and final approval in the Northern District. Details of the Northern District’s procedural guidance for Class Action Settlements may be accessed here.
The new guidance may be a response to the Ninth Circuit’s…
In Fritsch v. Swift Transp. Co. of Ariz., LLC, No. 18-55746 (Aug. 18, 2018), the Ninth Circuit clarified, in a unanimous published decision, that, where a party may recover its attorney’s fees by statute or contract, the Court must include future fees as well as those already incurred in assessing whether a case meets…
A California federal judge recently certified a class of at least 843 Cinemark workers who allege Cinemark, a movie theater chain, failed to properly list overtime rates on employee wage statements, notwithstanding the fact that the purported class representative, Silken Brown, had settled her individual claim during the pending litigation. In opposing class certification, Cinemark…
J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., one of the largest transportation logistics companies in North America, recently prevailed on a motion to decertify a class of around 11,000 current and former truck drivers, just six weeks before trial. The drivers alleged claims under California law for failure to pay the minimum hourly wage, unpaid wages at the …
