Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid Managing Your Company’s Trade Secrets

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Whether you’re running a newly minted start-up or leading an established corporation, genuine trade secrets will almost always provide your company with a competitive edge in the marketplace under both federal and state law. But you must handle them properly. Unfortunately, that edge can deteriorate, or vanish entirely, if your company makes one or more …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

New Legislation that May Affect Your California Business in 2020

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We’ve reviewed this year’s legislation coming out of Sacramento to bring you this concise outline of the key statutory changes that could impact your California business sometime in 2020. We hope you find it useful. California Consumer Privacy Act Provides New Personal Information Privacy Rights to Consumers. The legislature amended the California Consumer Privacy Act …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

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

California E-Verify Law Presents Challenges for Some Employers

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Under a new California law that took effect on January 1, 2016, California employers may face civil penalties of up to $10,000 for misusing E-Verify, the federal electronic employment verification system some employers use to verify employment eligibility of newly hired employees. The new  California E-Verify law makes it more difficult for some employers to …Read more

Employment Laws That Companies Must Know to Stay Out of Trouble

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Federal and state employment law is incredibly complex, with overlapping and sometimes conflicting provisions that can leave a business owner wondering what provisions of law must it comply with and how and when to do so. California’s employment laws are among the most complex and onerous in the nation, and contribute, in no small part, …Read more

Small Business Employers are bound by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act [FEHA]

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In California, small business employers who regularly employ five (5) or more employees are bound by the State’s anti-discrimination law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act [FEHA].  An employer with five or more employees cannot discriminate against its employees on the basis of “race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical …Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Vance v. Ball State University, Clarified the Definition of “Supervisor” in Title VII Harassment Cases

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On June 24th, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that clarified the definition of “supervisor” in Title VII workplace harassment cases. How the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision will impact California employers remains to be seen. California’s civil rights statute, the Fair Employment and Housing Act [FEHA], relies upon a different definition of a “supervisor” …Read more