Client Update from Liebert Cassidy Whitmore

Court Grants Writ of Mandate Denying Unions' Attempt to Arbitrate on Classwide Basis not Agreed to in Memoranda of Understanding

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

In a case handled by Geoff Sheldon, Brian Walter, Oliver Yee, and Paul Knothe of our Los Angeles office, the Los Angeles Superior Court recently granted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's petition for a writ of mandate to invalidate an order requiring classw...

Employee of Japanese Ancestry Was Not Entitled to Introduce Evidence that Supervisor Allegedly Discriminated Against Non-Asian or Non-Japanese Employees

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

Kenneth Hatai, an employee of Japanese ancestry, worked as a Senior Traffic Engineer for the CalTrans Office of Traffic Investigations (OTI). Hatai reported to Sameer Haddadeen. In June, 2007, Hatai and six other employees sent a letter to the District Director, asserting that Haddade...

Internal Workers' Compensation Investigation Is An Exception to One-Year Statute of Limitations Under The Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

In 2008, Moises Moya, a corrections sergeant at Centinella State Prison, filed a workers' compensation claim after he allegedly injured his wrist at work and was unable to work. Moya was subsequently seen working out at a gym and riding his motorcycle in violation of his work restrictions.&...

Ethical Wall is No Longer a Sufficient Safeguard to Allow Attorneys from the Same Firm to Act as Advisor and Advocate in Contested Administrative Matter

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

The Court of Appeal decision in Sabey v. City of Pomona will change the way public agencies and their law firms handle advisory arbitration cases. Prior to the Sabey decision, the case of Howitt v. Superior Court (1992) 3 Cal.App.4th 1575, was understood to allow two attorney...

Co-Worker's Sexual Comments Did Not Create Hostile Work Environment, But Employee's Termination Following Her Complaints May Constitute Unlawful Retaliation

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

In February, 2008, Jennifer Westendorf began working for West Coast Contractors as a project manager assistant. She reported to Project Manager Dan Joslyn. Once, Mr. Joslyn called Westendorf's duties "girly work" and then quickly apologized. Westendorf did not report the comment...

California Court of Appeal Affirms Summary Judgment in Housing Authority's Favor

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

In a case, handled by Suzanne Solomon and Grace Chan of our San Francisco office, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of a Housing Authority that was sued for harassment. The Housing Authority employed the individual cla...

Ninth Circuit Holds that Plaintiff Failed to Demonstrate Retaliation

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

In a case handled by Joung Yim of our Los Angeles office, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a jury's finding that an employee failed to demonstrate that her employer, a City, retaliated against her.

The employee sued the City for allegedly retaliat...

Warehouse Workers Required to Wait 25 Minutes for Security Clearance Stated Plausible FLSA Violation

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., a company that provides warehouse space and staffing to clients such as Amazon.com, employed Jesse Busk and Laurie Castro. Busk and Castro worked as hourly employees at warehouses in Nevada, filling orders placed by Amazon.com customers.

In...

Probation Officer's Psychiatric Injury Potentially Barred By Personnel Action Defense Because Injuries Were Substantially Caused By an Internal Affairs Investigation

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

In 2007, Michael Brooks began working at the County of Sacramento's juvenile hall as a supervising probation officer. Brooks supervised the Security Emergency Response Team (SERT). Brooks felt that the officers in the SERT team resisted and undermined his authority. In November ...

District Failed to Bargain Over Effects of Installation of Surveillance Cameras on Discipline and Evaluations of Employees

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

In mid-April 2009, the Rio Hondo Community College District (District) informed the California School Employees Association (CSEA) of its intent to install security surveillance cameras in its new Learning Resource Center and accompanying parking lots. In early June 2009, CSEA sent a letter...

Union Failed to Present Sufficient Request to Bargain Over Effects of County's Decision to Terminate Home Vehicle Retention Assignment

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

Beginning in 1995, the County of Sacramento allowed sewer district supervisors to take their County-issued vehicles home at night in order to facilitate the supervisors' response to emergencies. In October 2010, the County notified Ken Akins, the supervisors' union representative, that it i...

Attorney General Grants Union Leave to Sue Charter City to Determine Whether City Met Its Collective Bargaining Obligations Before Proposing Charter Amendment

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

Voters of the City of San Jose recently passed Measure B, an initiative measure that amended the City's charter to add a new article entitled "The Sustainable Retirement Benefits and Compensation Act." Measure B, among other things, lowered pension benefits and increased retirement contribu...

Attorney General Denies Union Leave to Sue Charter City to Determine Whether City Council Violated Charter By Creating Human Resources Position With Duties That "Intrude Upon" Responsibilities of Personnel Director

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00 AM PST

In 1964, a section was added to the Napa City Charter, which created the Department of Personnel, to be made up of a Civil Service Commission and a Personnel Director.

In 2010, the City Council reorganized the City's personnel functions, and established a Human Resources (HR) Department,...

Union President Spoke as Private Citizen on Matter of Public Concern When Leading No-Confidence Vote against Chief of Police

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00 AM PST

John Ellins, a police officer for the City of Sierra Madre, served as President of the Sierra Madre Police Association (SMPA) from late 2006 to early 2010. In 2008, Ellins led the SMPA in a vote of no confidence against the Chief of Police. The SMPA then released two press releases, one abo...

Peace Officer Who Resigns and Later Collects Retirement Pension is not an "Honorably Retired" Officer for Purposes of Obtaining a CCW Certificate

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00 AM PST

Rick Gore began working as an investigator in the Yolo County District Attorney's Office in 1997. As an investigator, Gore was a peace officer as defined by California Penal Code section 830 and therefore was authorized to carry a firearm.

In 2008, Gore disseminated a letter ...

POBR Statute of Limitations Tolled While Police Departments and District Attorney's Office Investigated Various Charges Against Police Inspector

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00 AM PST

Marvetia Richardson worked as an inspector for the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). In 2007, a citizen claimed Richardson obtained confidential information on him and his wife through improper computer searches. An investigation found that during a 14-month period, Richardson r...

Hearing Officer Upholds Termination of Police Officer for Misconduct and Making False Statements

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00 AM PST

In a case handled by Scott Tiedemann of our Los Angeles Office, a hearing officer recently upheld the termination of a peace officer who was discharged for using his employer's vehicle, badge and gun to conduct a search for his runaway step-daughter, an...

New Anti-Retaliation Provisions Under the Affordable Care Act

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00 AM PST

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA"), a division of the Department of Labor, recently published regulations which implement the anti-retaliation provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Section 1558 of the Act prohibits retaliation by an employer ag...

City's Imposition of LBFO Did Not Relieve Union of Duty to Bargain the Remaining, Unresolved Terms

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00 AM PST

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City of Santa Rosa and the Operating Engineers, Local 3 expired on June 30, 2009. The parties bargained for a successor agreement for nearly a year and engaged in impasse procedures, but were not successful. On May 25, 2010, the City i...

California Pregnancy Disability Leave Law Amendment

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00 AM PST

In our March Client Update, we reported on a case entitled Sanchez v. Swissport, Inc., which held that providing an employee with four months of statutory leave under California Pregnancy Disability Leave Law does not relieve an employer of its obligation to offer further r...