While the intent of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act was to improve equality of access to goods and services offered by places of public accommodation, the Plaintiffs’ bar has seized on the law to recruit serial litigants—also known as “professional plaintiffs” or “paid testers”—to repeatedly sue businesses for minor, technical violations without actually seeking to purchase anything at all.
Continue Reading Courts Weigh in on Whether Serial Litigants and ADA Testers Are Eligible to Bring ADA Cases

As discussed in prior blog posts, here, here, and here, pay equity is a hot topic for employee retention and compliance. This principle of equal pay for equal work has been mandated since the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and reiterated in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. More recently, legislators at the federal, state, and local level have increased their focus on pay equity and pay transparency initiatives.
Continue Reading Pay Equity Claims Are on the Rise – How Are Courts Interpreting the Differences in State and Federal Laws?

Over the course of the pandemic, California employers have contended with rapidly changing rules on workplace safety. Mask requirements in the workplace have been an especially evolving area, where the rules have not only varied between the federal, state, and local jurisdictions, but were often inconsistent across different state agencies. California has now taken steps, however, to align the state’s new mask mandates for the public as well as in the workplace.
Continue Reading Gov. Newsom Suspends Cal/OSHA’s Requirement That Unvaccinated Workers Wear Masks Indoors

Beginning June 15, 2021, Governor Newsom moved forward with his plan to lift public health restrictions on businesses, including capacity limitations, physical distancing, and face coverings.  In response, Cal/OSHA also has issued new workplace standards for COVID-19 prevention
Continue Reading Cal/OSHA Standards Board Votes to Adopt Revisions to COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS)

Employers with more than 25 employees must provide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave to their California employees under a recent law signed by the Governor.  This new law is broader than California’s prior COVID-19 paid sick leave law and, unlike the prior law, also covers employees who telework. The new sick leave entitlement is retroactive to January 1, 2021 and extends until September 30, 2021. 
Continue Reading California Passes New COVID-19 Sick Leave Requirements for 2021

Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the employment law landscape has continued to change at a rapid pace.  This includes recent changes to federal, state, and local leave requirements for COVID-19 related sick leave.
Continue Reading While Federal and California State COVID-19 Sick Leave Has Expired, Some California Localities Continue To Maintain Local COVID-19 Sick Leave Requirements

Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), many San Francisco businesses have closed in order to contain the spread of the pandemic, resulting in declining revenues and widespread business interruption.  These economic conditions have led to employee layoffs across San Francisco.  As San Francisco employers work to restore their business operations in the wake of COVID-19, they should be aware of new rules that may affect how they rebuild their workforce. 
Continue Reading New Emergency Ordinance Requires San Francisco Employers to Guarantee Reemployment for Certain Employees Laid Off Due to COVID-19

In recent weeks, the states have begun to announce strategies for reopening public life and business activities. Just as the shutdown orders took varying forms on a state-by-state basis, it appears the reopening orders will follow a similarly varied and state-by-state approach, creating new challenges for multi-state employers.  However, there are some trends starting to emerge that may help employers piece together a cohesive strategy for bringing their employees safely back to work.
Continue Reading Employers Grapple With Reopening As States Begin To Loosen COVID-19 Shutdown Orders

On April 16, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-51-20, which requires California employers in the food sector industry to provide certain workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with up to 80 hours of supplemental paid sick leave.
Continue Reading California Employers In The Food Sector Industry Ordered To Provide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

Employers in California continue to grapple with how to interpret Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order directing all California residents to stay home, except as needed “to maintain the continuity of operations of the federal government critical infrastructure sectors.”  Since the Order came out, the state has issued and updated its list of “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers” who are exempted from the stay-at-home restrictions for purposes of reporting to work.
Continue Reading California Supplements Guidance on Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers Exempt From Stay At Home Order