The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and the Orange County District Attorney announced that they have charged an Orange County company with multiple felony counts of failing to pay employees prevailing wages on public works contracts, tax fraud, and insurance fraud. Businesses that fail to pay prevailing wages are subject […]
Employees are entitled to rest and recovery breaks according to California Labor Law. A new law effective January 1, 2016 has clarified the rules for calculating compensation and how workers are to be paid for rest, recovery and other non-productive time. Employers are required to be retroactively compliant to July […]
The State of California won an important appeal this week that affirms a lower court ruling regarding public works projects in charter cities. By state law, reimbursements from the state to charter cities are conditioned on local governments requiring contractors to pay prevailing wages. The appeal from certain charter cities […]
The US Supreme Court ruled today that time spent donning and doffing protective gear is time that must be paid. This includes gear such as hard hats, work boots, hairnets, gloves and earplugs. The case before the court involved Tyson Foods Inc. and workers at a pork processing facility in […]
More than a quarter of a billion dollars of wages went unpaid in California since 2010 according to a recent review of California Labor Commissioner’s Office records. Unfortunately, the real number is probably higher. Perhaps worst of all, only 17% of judgments were actually paid, according to the UCLA Labor […]
On February 1, 2016 a lawsuit was filed in federal district court alleging Wawa, Inc. violated ERISA laws when administering its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Plaintiff Greg Pfeifer alleges he and more than 3,000 other former employee participants in the plan, each who had a balance of more than […]
One of the hot topics on the legal landscape is Arbitration. Arbitration is a specific method of settling disputes that is outside of the court system. It relies on an unbiased third party to resolve disputes away from the courts. That means the decision maker is neither a currently sitting […]
The Orange County Trial Lawyers Association (OCTLA) recently announced the winners of this year’s Trial Lawyer of the Year awards. The winners are: Gregory G. Rizio, Trial Lawyer of the Year; Personal Injury Jerry N. Gans, Trial Lawyer of the Year; Medical Malpractice Richard E. Donahoo, Trial Lawyer of the […]
In mid-September Volkswagen shocked the world by acknowledging that defeat devices were used in as many as 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide. These devices enabled the vehicles to deceive regulators by passing emission tests even though under regular road conditions the vehicles exceed standards for nitrogen oxide emissions […]
In their unanimous decision Monday, the United States Supreme Court made a clear statement about the duty companies have in monitoring investments offered to its employees. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the decision involved several employees who sued Edison International alleging that the company had failed in its […]
