Ninth Circuit Allows Enforcement of Employment Arbitration Agreements in California

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Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Eliminates Obstacles to Enforce Employment Arbitration Agreements in California Under the Federal Arbitration Act. After nearly three years of legal challenges, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta affirmed a district court injunction striking down California Assembly Bill 51 (“AB 51”) because it is preempted …Read more

California Ban on Mandatory Arbitration Permitted by Ninth Circuit

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In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a district court’s order enjoining the enforcement of California Assembly Bill 51 (“AB51”), which is codified as Labor Code section 432.6. The statute prohibits requiring arbitration of California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) and Labor Code claims as a …Read more

Drafting Your Employment Application? Avoid These Common Employer Mistakes.

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Almost every employer in the country uses a form of employment application to screen prospective hires.  While they may seem innocuous, these forms often contain a minefield of traps employers must be aware of or risk legal liability. A general theme of federal and state laws is that employers should avoid asking an applicant questions …Read more

Defend Trade Secrets in Federal Court – DTSA Anniversary

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In May 2016, the United States Congress enacted the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) taking steps to make a “federal case” out of an area of the law that has been the domain of state law since the founding of the Republic. Whether that decision was a good one or not is yet to be …Read more

Avoiding Common Pitfalls When Hiring an Employee from a Competitor

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When you seek to hire new staff you may immediately see the benefit of hiring an employee from a competitor. After all, he or she may already have the skills or knowledge to “hit the ground running” in your company or even bring with her valuable relationships with potential customers or partners. As you can …Read more

Using Phantom Stock in a Family-Owned Business to Attract Employees

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Like any business, a family-owned business has a strong incentive to attract, retain, motivate and reward key employees. A competitive salary and benefits package may not be enough to do this in today’s market. Many businesses offer equity incentive plans to employees as a form of long-term incentive compensation. For many family-owned businesses offering stock …Read more

Biggest Threat to Your Company’s Trade Secrets

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For many people, trade secret theft evokes images of an international technological superspy using complex cyber-tools to engage in corporate or national espionage in cyberspace to steal the crown jewels of company or country. In reality, the more common, less dramatic and yet more dangerous threat to a company’s proprietary information comes from within. Current …Read more

Protecting Your Trade Secrets Where State Law and Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act Meet

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When it comes to protecting your company’s trade secrets, one of the most important remedies you can secure is a court order preventing a former employee from making use of the trade secret for the benefit of a competitor. From your perspective, it’s impossible for an employee who received your company’s crucial business information to …Read more

Final Pay Rules When Employees Retire

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The California Supreme Court has held, in a case of first impression that the state’s final pay rules for retiring employees apply in the same manner as to employees who quit. This is an important clarification of California employment law. Background California has strict final pay rules when employment ends. Labor Code section 201 requires …Read more

Independent Contractor or Employee? How to Choose Properly

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One of the most common ways an employer gets into hot water is to improperly classify an employee as an independent contractor (“IC”). This is an important issue for businesses for a few reasons. There is no single, simple rule you can use to determine the proper employment status of an individual you hire to …Read more