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Due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 pandemic on California’s judicial branch, The Judicial Council of California met yesterday and issued emergency rules related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Overall, the Judicial Council of California issued eleven different orders, however, three of them will directly affect employment cases.

Statute of Limitations Tolls for All Civil Actions…

As California cases of COVID-19 began to rise in early March, several California administrative agencies released information on COVID-19 employment issues, such as administration of paid sick leave, disability benefits, and unemployment insurance. Yet, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)—the agency charged with enforcement of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA),…

Beginning January 1, 2020, agreements to settle employment disputes may no longer contain “no rehire” provisions, as California passes additional legislation spurred on by the #MeToo movement.  California joins Vermont and Oregon as the first states to prohibit “no rehire” provisions in employment settlement agreements.

“No rehire” provisions typically state that a former employee will…

Presently, an employee alleging harassment, discrimination, or other claim under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) has one year from the alleged act to file a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”). Filing such a complaint is a prerequisite to filing a civil action. The employee can either request that…

With political campaigns well underway, the protection of “free speech” and concerns that regular political discourse could create potential liability are mounting.  Notably, within the last year, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Commission expanded upon a number of definitions and specific employment practices prohibited under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”). Not listed among…

If your business has five or more employees, your business is one of the millions in California that has a duty to provide reasonable accommodations for its employees with known disabilities.

A duty to provide reasonable accommodation arises when the employer knows of the employee’s disability. While the employer undoubtedly becomes aware of the disability…

California employment law is changing once again.  By January 1, 2020, an employer having five or more employees will be required to provide at least one hour of sexual harassment training to all of its employees, once every two years. The training will be required to start within six months of the employee’s assumption of…

On May 17, 2018, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Commission (“FEHC”) published the final text of its “Regulations Regarding National Origin Discrimination” (to be codified at 2 Cal. Code Regs. §§ 11027 & 11028). The regulations, which become effective July 1, 2018, expand the definition of “national origin” for purposes of the Fair Employment and…

Last week, in Thomsen v. Georgia-Pacific Corrugated, LLC, a federal district court in California held that an employer might have violated its obligations under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) when it simply told an employee to return to his doctor to obtain a note outlining additional work restrictions.   The Court held that a reasonable jury could find that the employer was obligated to do more than tell the Plaintiff to go back to his physician and get a new doctor’s note, especially because evidence suggested it would have been possible to respond to some of Plaintiff’s concerns without a new doctor’s note.

The Facts

Plaintiff worked as a cut-and-die operator at a corrugated container plant. In May 2012, Plaintiff injured his shoulder at work, went on workers’ compensation leave, and returned to work eight months later after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder.
Continue Reading Employee Who Failed to Provide Additional Doctor Notes to Support New Restrictions May Still Survive Summary Judgment