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Los Angeles Employment Law Blog

Harassment, Rape, Retaliation Ends With $812,000 Verdict

A San Francisco janitor was sexually harassed by her supervisor for months before she was raped in one of the offices on the second floor of the Ferry building where she worked. The harassment consisted of the supervisor making lewd comments and propositioning her for sex or sex acts. After complaining to management, she was told not to discuss the incidents, was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement and told that the company's own investigation revealed that her harassment and assault claims were meritless.

The janitor, a mother of five children, was fired in February of 2005. Despite the sexual harassment and the assault that took place in 2004, she had stayed at her job because she was the sole supporter of her family.

Overtime For In-Home Caretakers Who Perform Health Care Services?

California law does not require that personal attendants be paid overtime wages if they are employed as an in-home caretaker to feed, dress and otherwise supervise an elderly person. Nurses, however, who are employed to perform nursing duties in an elderly person's home are entitled to overtime pay.

The gray area, recently addressed by the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District, is whether a caretaker who is not a nurse but performs nurse-like functions is entitled to overtime pay.

Joy Cash was hired as an in-home caretaker for Iola Winn, then 94-years-old, in 2005 and paid $10/hour. Cash reported working an average of 18 hours a day, every day, from 11:30 am to 6am the following day. She was not paid overtime for the hours worked in excess of 8/day and 40/week and filed an overtime lawsuit against Winn claiming a violation of California wage and hour laws.

Wendy's Violated ADA By Refusing To Hire Hearing-Impaired Cook

A Wendy's franchisee has been sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for discriminating against a job applicant based on a disability. The hearing-impaired individual had applied for a cook's position with the fast-food chain but claims he was not hired, despite his experience, because of his disability, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

The applicant had two years of experience working as a cook for another fast food chain and successfully interviewed with the shift manager at the Wendy's where he'd applied for to be a cook. An interview was then set up with the regional manager through the Texas Relay system, but the manager reportedly told the applicant during his interview that "there is really no place for someone we cannot communicate with."

Burbank Police Officer Sues To Stop Sexual Harassment At Work

Cindy Guillen, a public relations officer to Burbank's Spanish-speaking community, is now in court rather than at work. She did not want to pursue legal action against her employer, but after complaints of sexual harassment and harassment based on her ethnic background were not investigated, she decided to file a lawsuit against her employer.

Guillen began working for the Burbank police department in 2000 and was the first Latina to work for the department. She was described by her attorney as an "outstanding police officer."

During her time at the Burbank PD, Guillen was threatened with sexual assault by a Sergeant if she did not shut up. She was stalked by another Sergeant who repeatedly asked her out. Neither Sergeant was disciplined by the department despite the acts creating an atmosphere of harassment, a hostile work environment and affecting how other coworkers viewed her.

Sexual Harassment Based On Sexual Orientation In California Sheriff's Office

Ricardo Olguin began working as a deputy for the Merced County Sheriff's Office in 2008. He was terminated three years later, in 2011, after enduring sexual harassment based on his sexual orientation during that "hellish" time.

Olguin reported vandalism of his personal property while at work and at home because he was gay. 'Homo' was written in nail polish on items of his at work; 'Aids Maggot' was penned on his business card and taped to his work locker; and his personal truck was painted with 'homo,' 'faggot,' and 'You should have thought twice about ratting.' Olguin had complained to his supervisors at the Sheriff's department about derogatory comments made to him by California Highway Patrol officers.

After complaining, rather than do something about the harassment Olguin was receiving based on his sexual orientation, Olguin received a notice of intent to terminate from the Merced Sheriff's Office.

Getting Paid For Work Done In California, Even After Quitting or Being Terminated

California employers are required to establish regular paydays so that workers know when and where they can expect to be paid for work completed. Wages earned during the beginning of the month, from the 1st to the 15th, must be paid by the 26th of the same month; wages earned from the 16th through the end of the month must be paid by the 10th of the following month. If wages are earned over a different period of time, they must be paid within seven days.

Specific payment rules exist for employees who leave their position or are laid off from a current employer. An employee who is discharged, terminated or fired must be paid all wages that he or she has earned plus the monetary value of any accrued vacation time immediately. An employee who does not receive a final paycheck immediately may have a wage and hour claim against the former employer for failing to pay what is owed.

Retaliation For Requesting FMLA Leave Before Becoming Eligible

Kathryn Pereda had worked for Brookdale Senior Living Communities for only eight months when she became pregnant and advised her supervisor that she would be requesting time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) when the baby arrived. At that time, Pereda was not yet eligible to take FMLA leave because she had not worked for Brookdale for at least 12 months.

Shortly after being informed of her pregnancy and her intent to request FMLA leave, Pereda claimed that she was harassed by her employer to the point of causing medical problems with her pregnancy. She was placed on a performance improvement plan despite being considered a top employee prior to the announcement of her pregnancy.

Pereda was fired two months before her baby was due and one month before becoming eligible for FMLA leave. She brought suit against Brookdale for interference with and retaliation for requesting FMLA leave, but her employer argued that because she was not yet eligible for FMLA job-protected leave, they could not have retaliated against her for requesting the leave time.

Legal Rights Of Kidney Donor Fired By Boss/Kidney Recipient

While visiting former coworkers, Debbie Stevens learned that her former supervisor at Atlantic Automotive Group, Jackie Brucia, was in need of a kidney transplant. Stevens offered to donate one of hers. After another kidney donor for Brucia fell through, Stevens believes Brucia began grooming her to be the back-up donor.

Brucia helped her get a job as an administrative assistant with Atlantic and soon after they agreed that Stevens would donate a kidney to another person awaiting transplant so that Brucia would be moved up on the donor list. After undergoing surgery to remove a healthy kidney for donation, Stevens began having medical problems. She took three extra days off because of the pain she was in despite being pressured by Brucia to return to work. Stevens lost her office space, was demoted and eventually fired by the woman whose life she'd helped save.

"Don't expect to be treated special because of what you did for me," Brucia was reported as telling Stevens.

Regular Attendance An Essential Job Function For NICU Nurses Under ADA

A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse in Oregon who suffered from fibromyalgia was fired after accumulating too many absences, in violation of her employer's limit of five unplanned absences per year. The NICU nurse sued her employer for failing to accommodate her disability as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The hospital argued that the NICU nurse's regular attendance was "an essential job function" and the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (which includes California) agreed. The requirements of being a NICU nurse, including face-to-face interaction with patients, their families and other medical professionals, as well as the danger of substandard care when the NICU is understaffed, were cited by the Court as reasons why regular attendance was essential.

Overtime Pay For Drug Sales Reps Being Considered By US Supreme Court

Outside sales representatives are generally classified as 'exempt' under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and they do not have to be paid overtime for hours spent working beyond 40 hours per week. The United States Supreme Court is currently considering whether drug sales representatives should actually be considered 'non-exempt' under the FLSA and must be paid an overtime premium.

Two former Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GSK) drug representatives claim that they were misclassified as exempt and not paid overtime for an average of 10 to 20 hours per week. They seek back overtime pay for those hours and want to puruse an overtime for misclassified employees case as a class action on behalf of other GSK pharamceutical reps.

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the drug reps were properly classified as outside sales representatives and were not eligible for overtime pay. But the Second Circuit came to the opposite holding in another case, paving the way for the trip to the Supreme Court.

Attorney Michael Bononi Los Angeles California Lawyer

http://www.bononilawgroup.com 800-641-5548 By representing both plaintiffs and defendants, Attorney Michael Bononi has developed a unique perspective on employment litigation. Contact him in Los Angeles, California for representation.

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