RPNA attorneys Nicholas Roxborough, Joseph Gjonola and Ryan Salsig won a victory for California workers’ comp policyholders with the recent court decision stating Applied Underwriters, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, can’t enforce the arbitration provision in side agreements that were not filed with the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB). What makes this March 16…
As we discussed at length in this post, this year we will see substantial changes to FEHA that will affect business owners across the country, including in California. To get specific, FEHA’s new regulations set forth that, as of April 1, 2016, employers must have anti-discrimination and harassment policies that: · Are in writing. · …
2016 is a busy year in the often-changing world of California employment law. We have discussed many of the updates employers need to be aware of here (think minimum wage increase, the Fair Pay Act, changes to Unruh, and more). The newest change that California businesses need to be aware of involves changes to the…
Retaliation in the workplace, whether imagined or not, continues to account for almost half of all employment claims filed with the EEOC. Last year, in 2015, 44.5% of the charges filed were for retaliation. In other words, a majority of disgruntled employees claim not that they were discriminated against, but that they received adverse treatment…
In our technologically-driven world, many California employers have the ability to monitor their employees’ whereabouts through the use of GPS – but does that mean they should? GPS tracking has been a reality for several years. Through the use of GPS devices in vehicles, employers have been able to keep track of their employees’ locations…
A U.S District judge has denied motions filed by State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) and EK Health Services Inc. to dismiss conspiracy, trade libel and RICO claims against them, allowing Electronic Waveform Lab to proceed with its civil complaint, according to plaintiff attorney Nicholas Roxborough of Los Angeles based law firm Roxborough, Pomerance, Nye & Adreani LLP (RPNA). “Now, neither State Fund nor EK Health can…
Tis the season for political debates. Unless you’re running a political campaign or consulting group, your employees’ political view can run the gamut. With the potential for heated debates over candidates and the issues they stand for to lead to hurt feelings and, in some cases, claims of harassment and discrimination, a California employer needs…
Tech incubators abound these days, especially in and around Silicon Beach. These ‘technology campuses’ allow start ups to collaborate and share ideas, strategies, resources, and knowledge. And sometimes, proprietary information. When discussing their ideas with others, entrepreneurs need to be extremely mindful of the risks to their intellectual property. For many start ups, trade secrets…
FMLA leave abuse has always been a significant concern for employers. Furthermore, intermittent FMLA leave, typically taken for chronic health conditions (i.e. migraines or bad backs), lends itself to abuse because it is very difficult to track. According to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, two-thirds of surveyed HR professionals have reported…
Whistleblower complaints are often directed to board members or committees of the board of directors and recently, a California court ruled that whistleblowers are allowed to seek compensation from directors of a company, broadening legal protections for whistleblowers by expanding those who can be held liable in such cases. In another win for the whistleblower, the court…