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On September 26, 2015, Ramit Mizrahi will once again be speaking about the year’s most important employment law cases. The panel will be part of the California Employment Lawyers Association’s 28th Annual Employment Law Conference. She will be speaking alongside Andrew H. Friedman of Helmer Friedman, LLP.
Date and time: September 26, 2015, 9:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Tentative)
Location: Marriott Oakland City Center
Additional information will be posted once the CELA Conference schedule is finalized.
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On May 4, 2015, the California Supreme Court unanimously decided a case that will be a game-changer for lawsuits brought under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). In Williams v. Chino Valley Independent Fire District, the Court addressed the issue of when losing FEHA plaintiffs may be required to pay their opponents’ case costs. The Court held that a losing plaintiff may be ordered to pay a prevailing defendant’s costs only if the “court finds the action was objectively without foundation when brought, or the plaintiff continued to litigate after it clearly became so.”
Williams was a firefighter who sued his employer for disability discrimination in violation of FEHA. Williams lost the case on a summary judgment motion. The trial court then awarded the employer-defendant costs totaling $5,368.88. Williams appealed and the Court of Appeal affirmed.
On review, the California Supreme Court explored two issues:
Is a defendant prevailing in a FEHA action entitled to its ordinary court costs as a matter of right . . . or only in the discretion of the trial court . . . ? And, if the trial court does have discretion, must that discretion be exercised according to the rule applicable to attorney fee awards in certain federal civil rights actions under Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC (1978) 434 U.S. 412 (Christiansburg), according to which a prevailing defendant receives its attorney fees only if the plaintiff‘s action was objectively groundless?
The California Supreme Court held that the FEHA allows the court . . .
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08 Apr '15
Whether you are terminated, laid off, or resign voluntarily from your job, your employer must provide you with your final wages in a timely manner. If your employer does not pay your final wages in full and on time, you can seek penalties in addition to the actual wages owed. You may also be able to recover attorney’s fees, costs, and interest if you prevail on an action for unpaid wages. California’s Labor Code lays out an employer’s obligations with respect to the payment of final wages as well as the penalties for failing to comply.
Payment Upon Termination
When an employer terminates or lays off an employee, it must “immediately” pay the employee all earned and unpaid wages. (Labor Code § 201.) The employee must be paid “at the place of discharge.” (Labor Code § 208.)
Payment Upon Resignation
If an employee quits without notice, the employer must provide final wages within 72 hours of the resignation. However, if the employee gives notice 72 hours or more in advance of the actual resignation, then the employee must be paid . . .
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A fascinating report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in March 2015 examines gender differences in executive compensation. The report, titled “Gender and Dynamic Agency: Theory and Evidence on the Compensation of Top Executives,” used data from Standard & Poor’s ExecuComp database to look at the compensation of 40,704 executives (1,312 of whom were female).
The key findings of the report are:
- There is no link between firm performance and the gender of top executives. Thus, the gender pay gap at the executive level cannot be explained by performance differences.
- 93% of the gender pay gap among top executives is accounted for by the fact that female executives receive a far lower percentage of incentive pay — namely, stock options and stock grants — as a percentage of total compensation.
- Women’s compensation has “lower pay-performance sensitivity,” meaning that they gain far less from the positive performance of their firms. When a firm’s value increases by $1 million, it leads to a $17,150 increase in firm-specific wealth for male executives and a $1,670 increase for females.
- In contrast, women suffer more when a firm loses value: “A 1% increase in firm value generates a 13% rise in firm specific wealth for female executives, and a 44% rise for male executives, while a 1% decline in firm value generates a 63% decline in firm specific wealth for female executives and only a 33% decline for male executives.”
A critical point is that the authors showed that there was no link between . . .
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Mizrahi Law is pleased to announce that founder Ramit Mizrahi has been selected for two highly prestigious lists:
- Super Lawyers™ Up-and-Coming 100: 2015 Southern California Rising Stars, and
- Super Lawyers™ Up-and-Coming 50: Women Southern California Rising Stars.
This is the first year that Super Lawyers has identified its most highly rated Rising Stars on top 50 and top 100 lists.
This marks the third year that Ramit Mizrahi was selected a Super Lawyers™ Southern California Rising Star. Only the top 2.5% of eligible attorneys in Southern California are selected as Super Lawyers Rising Stars, reflecting peer recognition of excellence in practice.
Ms. Mizrahi’s selection as one of the top 100 Rising Stars and top 50 Rising Stars women–already a highly select group of attorneys–reflects that she is highly respected among her peers and is one of the top-rated attorneys in Southern California.
Ms. Mizrahi remains committed to serving as a tenacious advocate for her clients while working to build collegiality and community in the legal profession.
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California’s undocumented workers make up nearly 9.4% of our workforce. They are the backbone of many California industries, including agriculture, construction, and hospitality. They are also among our most exploited workers, as some take advantage of their financial vulnerabilities, cultural and geographic isolation, and fear of deportation. As the powerful and poignant PBS documentary Rape in the Fields explored, immigrant women face shockingly high levels of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape at work. Undocumented workers are also subjected to rampant violations of wage and hour laws, including not being paid the minimum wage, not being paid overtime, and not being given proper meal and rest breaks. The median earnings of undocumented workers are about $20,000 per year, as compared to $50,000 per year for U.S.-born workers.
However, California laws and court cases make clear that undocumented workers deserve protections. Our workplace protection and wage and hour laws apply to everyone, regardless of their status. In addition, our laws have sought to address the reason that many undocuments employees are afraid to come forward: a fear that their employer will get them deported. Employers are expressly prohibited from reporting or threatening to report undocumented workers or their relatives to authorities in retaliation for their asserting their rights under these laws. Employers who retaliate in such a way can lose their business licenses; lawyers making such reports can be disbarred.
Two new developments are worth discussing.
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On January 30, 2015, Ramit Mizrahi will be co-teaching a program on the nuts and bolts of an employment practice, geared toward new lawyers and more seasoned practitioners who are new to employment law. The program is presented by State Bar of California’s Labor and Employment Law Section and co-sponsored by the California Young Lawyers Association.
Date and time: Friday, January 30, 2015, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Location: Loyola Law School, 919 Albany Street, Robinson Courtroom, Los Angeles, CA
Description: This program will give new employment law practitioners an introduction to the basics of an employment law practice. We will follow a hypothetical case from the plaintiff’s initial consultation with counsel through plaintiff’s and defendant’s investigations and pre-filing considerations, exhaustion issues, discovery, motion practice, ADR, and up to the start of trial. Experienced employment law practitioners representing both plaintiffs and defendants will offer their insights on common issues that frequently arise in employment law practice. A networking lunch is included.
For event information and to register, click here.
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06 Jan '15
People are almost always surprised to learn that, despite the serious harms that they can cause, workplace bullying and hostile work environments are not illegal unless motivated by discriminatory or retaliatory bias that the law specifically prohibits. The short version: being a jerk to everyone is, well, perfectly legal.Workplace bullying can be devastating. Those who are bullied feel humiliated and demoralized. The bullying can literally make them sick, causing stress and anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and other illnesses. Employers also suffer as absenteeism increases, morale and productivity decline, and companies lose good employees.
Workplace bullying is also far too prevalent. A national survey conducted by Zogby found that 27% of people have suffered abusive conduct at work and another 21% have witnessed it happen. 7% of those surveyed said they were currently being bullied at work. The consequences of bullying were severe: 48% of those who were bullied said that they left their jobs or felt forced to quit because of the bullying, while 13% were terminated (probably in retaliation for speaking up), and another 13% were transferred to a different position.
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On February 12, 2015, Ramit Mizrahi will be speaking about the year’s most important employment law cases. The panel will be part of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s 35th Annual Labor and Employment Law Symposium. She will be speaking alongside Nancy Abell of Paul Hastings, LLP.
Date and time: February 12, 2015, 8:20–9:50 a.m.
Description: 2014: In Review and In Perspective. What was your favorite case of 2014? Get your wake-up call and hear about the best and worst of the year from two outstanding panelists who will present the year’s legal developments and discuss what they portend for the labor and employment practitioner in the coming year.
Location: Millennium Biltmore Hotel, 506 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA
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On November 21, 2014, Ramit Mizrahi will be speaking about depositions of plaintiffs and defendants. The program will be part of a Bridgeport continuing education event titled “Mastering the Deposition.” She will be speaking alongside Eric J. Schindler of the Schindler Law Group.
Date and time: November 21, 2014, at 9 a.m.
Location: Millennium Biltmore Hotel, 506 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90071
