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Aged Teacher Sues School Administrators for Refusing to Grant Promotion

Being too old for a supervisory post tend to shun employers. Administrators argue that aged employees lack the agility and attractiveness that are vital for leadership, but are present among younger employees. Sadly, this reason may put owners into legal trouble as Title VII of Civil Rights Act prohibits such ...

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Sexual Harassment Suit Against Steven Seagal Dismissed

Sexual Harassment Suit Against Steven Seagal Dismissed

Action star Steven Seagal made the news a few months ago in the most unsavory way when a former personal assistant accused him of sexual harassment and illegal sexual trafficking. The lawsuit, which was filed against him by a former model Kayden Nguyen, asked for more than a million dollars worth ...

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How To Survive An Office Romance Gone South

How To Survive An Office Romance Gone South

Breaking up is hard to do, especially if you’re involved with an officemate, or worse, a superior. In an era rife with sexual harassment lawsuits, many workplaces have enacted policies about prohibiting relationships between employees or managers such as Starbucks. But office rules and regulations cannot exactly stop love, especially since ...

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Britney Spears’ Former Bodyguard Claims He Was Sexually Harassed

Britney Spears’ Former Bodyguard Claims He Was Sexually Harassed

Oops, she did it again. Former pop princess Britney Spears’ ex-bodyguard is now claiming that he was sexually harassed by the star during his employment. According to Fernando Flores, Spears constantly “came onto” him and walked around naked in front of him. He is allegedly considering filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit. [caption id="attachment_279" ...

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David Carradine’s Widow Sues French Film Company for Wrongful Death

David Carradine’s Widow Sues French Film Company for Wrongful Death

The wife of deceased actor David Carradine has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the French company who was handling Carradine’s film before he died. The actor had only been in Bangkok, Thailand for 3 days when he died. [caption id="attachment_270" align="alignright" width="168" caption=""David Carradine’s widow filed a Lawsuit for ...

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New York Sushi Restaurant Gets Rid of Tips

While a renowned sushi hotspot in Los Angeles was reportedly cited for labor law violation not more than a couple of months ago, a New York sushi restaurant on the other hand was recently removed the tipping practice for wait staffs.

Several media sources have confirmed that New York’s famous sushi hotspot, Sushi Yasuda, has removed tipping to its service crews since its staffs are fully compensated by their salary.

In fact, in the restaurant’s printed receipt, instead of the usual line that can be seen written on its bottom part, where diners write in their tip amount, the restaurant has printed the statement below:

“Following custom in Japan, Sushi Yasuda’s service staffs are fully compensated by their salary. Therefore, gratuities are not accepted. Thank you.”

Sushi Yasuda workers receive their salary with a benefits package complete with vacations days, sick leave, and health insurance. Although tips may still be accepted, the same went directly to the restaurant, not to the wait staffs.

Generally, most restaurants use tips as an excuse to pay their service crews less. In addition, 90 percent of servers across the country do not get health insurance through their employers. As a result, server’s poverty rate is almost tripled that of the entire workforce which eventually leads to labor strike.

So far, many upscale restaurants have likewise eliminated tipping practice and instead, they use a flat service charge that can then be distributed equally among the staffs. However, it remains to be unpredicted if this practice will soon to become the norm of remain to be an exception in an unjust labor industry.

Meanwhile, in California, tips for wait staffs are highly recognized since the state understands that it is one of the primary sources of income that should not be taken away from the laborers in the food industry. Under the California employment laws, if an employer unlawfully collects tips from the wait staffs, the latter have the right to file a labor complaint, explained by a Los Angeles labor lawyer.

Posted in Labor Laws, News.

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By Anne Roberts – June 17, 2013

Developments on Taco Bell Employees Behind the Controversial Taco-licking Photo

Taco shellAfter causing social media panic over a photo of a Taco Bell employee licking a stack of tacos shells, the fast food restaurant chain has finally took proper corresponding action regarding the matter.

It was last Sunday when a photo of a Taco Bell employee in Ridgecrest employee posted a scandalous photo of him, licking a stack of Tacos shells, in the fast food chain’s Facebook feed. The photo was said to be taken by his co-worker.

Since the said photo begun to circulate online,  huge uproar against the A-rated fast food likewise started.

The two employees involved in the controversial photo were reportedly investigated by the Franchise.

In a statement released by the Taco Bell following the investigation, it claimed that the shells in the photo were used for training for making Doritos Cool Ranch Tacos. The franchise has further confirmed that the tacos were not served to customers since those were about to be thrown. The picture was actually taken for an internal photo contest of employees taking the first bite out of the new product, but obviously, the photo was unacceptable therefore it was never submitted.

Unfortunately, probably out of fun, an employee posted the photo on a personal social media account which clearly violated the company’s policy. Therefore, the two employees behind the highly publicized photo were terminated.

Taco Bell has further stated that it believes that the employees do not harm or intentionally harm anyone. However, condemn the impression that the photo has caused to its customers, fans, franchisees and team members. For the franchise, such behavior is unacceptable for people working in the food industry.

Meanwhile, in his own point of view, a California wrongful termination lawyer agrees with the fast food chain’s outlook that although the photo was posted in good spirit and a proper corresponding action has been made, it has still left the fast food chain with a bad impression. Creating a good reputation takes a decade but destroying it only takes a second, he added.

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By Anne Roberts – June 7, 2013

Former Employee Loses Employment Discrimination Lawsuit; Prada Countersues

Up to this day, employment discrimination is still prevalent. In fact, based on statistics, discrimination cases continue to rise each year. Typically, discrimination is made on the basis of race, gender, disability, religion, or pregnancy.

However, that is not how the story goes for a former employee of Prada who previously filed for an employment discrimination lawsuit after the Italian fashion label allegedly forced Rina Bovrisse to resign due to her ugliness.

In her lawsuit, Bovrisse claimed that the fashion label’s human resources manager in Japan Branch urged her to change her hairstyle and lose weight since the Prada Japan’s CEO was ashamed of her ugliness and even described her appearance as a one serious problem.

Consequently, Bovrisse reported the incident to Prada’s global COO and HR director in Milan, Italy. Shortly thereafter, Prada Japan begun demoting several top saleswomen for being “old, fat, ugly and not having ’the Prada look.’. Eventually, Bovrisse was criticized for her appearance and was urged to resign in 2009.

Unfortunately, Bovrisse lost the discrimination lawsuit she had filed in a court in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese court ruled that the discrimination was “acceptable for a luxury fashion label.”

Now, Bovrisse is seeking help from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and hopes to file a new discrimination lawsuit in U.S.

As always, a Los Angeles employment discrimination lawyer advises aggravated employees to seek for legal advice from professionals to make sure that the case will be resolve with its maximum result. Such employment law attorneys will never allow an employer to cheat employees out of compensation they rightfully deserve.

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By Anne Roberts – June 4, 2013

Bumble Bee Foods Eventually Cited over Worker’s Death in Oven

In wake of the death of a male California tuna plant worker, who was accidentally trapped and burnt in an oven, the state’s safety and health department has finally cited the plant owner over the incident, requiring the latter to pay monetary reliefs.

Recent news reports have confirmed that Bumble Bee Foods, LLC was required to pay approximately $74,000 in fines after the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health finished an investigative report following the death of the 62-year-old employee, Jose Melena.

Jose Melena was accidentally trapped and burnt in an industrial oven to death at the seafood plant in Santa Fe Springs facility last October.

According to the investigative report, the agency found six citations to Bumble Bee Foods LLC, which amounted to $73,995 in fines. Five workplace safety violations were deemed serious while one was ruled as general.

On the other hand, Bumble Bee has already confirmed that it would be acknowledging the citations in the coming weeks to settle any procedures. Also, the seafood plant affirmed to review all safety procedures from now on to ensure employee safety.

Incidentally, according to the initial investigations although it takes three people to do Melena’s job but during that time, he was left alone. Subsequent investigations determined that as ordered by his employer, he entered the 54-inch by 36-foot oven to make an adjustment to a chain inside. Meanwhile, when his co-worker arrived and noticed that nobody was performing Melena’s job, he closed the oven and continued Melena’s job assuming that the latter was just in the comfort room.

Unfortunately, it took more than 30 minutes before his co-workers figured out that he was missing and begun seeking for him until his badly burned body was recovered inside the oven.

Melena’s autopsy revealed that the worker died from burns, which he sustained from being trapped from within the giant oven that was used to cook canned tuna according to the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles labor lawyer herein likewise agreed that since Melena was ordered to adjust the oven, his employer should have taken proper safety precautions or at least properly assessed the dangers that the job poses to its employee while working inside the large oven.

Consequently, company was cited for the following violations:

•    Failure to perform inspections or audits related to the energy control procedures for the production area.
•    Failing to assess whether the ovens constituted “permit required confined spaces”.
•    Failing to post signs or notify employees regarding the confined space created by the ovens.
•    Failure to develop and implement a written permit-required confined space program.
•    Failure to implement permit-required confined space program elements as required by law.
•    Failing to prove permit-required confined space training to employees working inside the ovens.

Posted in Labor Laws, Workers Compensation.

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By Anne Roberts – May 10, 2013

Employment Non-discrimination Act Legislation Calls Anew

Legalizing same-sex marriage is apparently becoming a trend not only in Western countries but also in some Asian countries in the past few months despite oppositions from different religious groups. Also, in the U.S., there are already nine states that have opened their doors for gay marriages. In fact, according to previous reports, Rhode Island is likely to be the tenth U.S. state to adopt same-sex marriage legislations.

Indeed, the whole world is starting to accept the fact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, whether we like it or not, is already a part of our everyday living. Therefore, many countries are starting to take several adjustments favoring the LGBT’s.

In fact, in hopes of getting a lift from the current trend on same sex marriage, a bipartisan group of senators once again renewed a call to pass the Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA) that would favor the LGBT community the most.

Advocates of the said bill believe that the rapidly growing recognition of the world to the LGBT community is set to aid in driving success against employment discrimination.

The bill was first introduced in Congress in 1994. Although it passed the House, it later “died” in Senate due to conservative public discussions on gay rights over the past years.

Under the current law, employers are prohibited from discriminating employees based on race, religion, age, gender or disability but not including gender identity or sexual orientation. Also, the current law exempts small businesses or those employers with fewer than 15 employees and religious organizations.

Consequently, the ENDA would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment decisions on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. Now, aside from its sponsor, Sen. Jeff Merkley, the bill has earned the support of other lawmakers including Democratic senators Tom Harkin, Mark Kirk and fellow Republican Susan Collins, the first openly gay senator, Tammy Baldwin and the most prominent gay senator, Barney Frank.

While the former U.S. President George Bush previously vetoed the bill, current President Barack Obama has recently expressed his support on it.

Incidentally, a Los Angeles discrimination attorney monitored how Obama refused to sign a non-discrimination executive order that would ban workplace discrimination on the basis gender identity or sexual orientation. The President, on the other hand, reiterated that he still prefers to push the more comprehensive bill, which is the ENDA.

Posted in employment discrimination.

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By Anne Roberts – May 3, 2013

HBO Finally Responds to Wrongful Termination Allegations

Finally, the network giant HBO speaks up to answer all the allegations set against the company in a wrongful termination suit filed by a former animal safety representative.

It could be remembered that back in January, the former employee of the American Humane Association (AHA), Barbara Casey, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the said organization and the HBO, claiming that she was allegedly axed from her job for reporting a violation of animal abuse and cruelty law.

Casey contested in her lawsuit that the horses that were used in filming the network’s hit series, ‘Luck’ were abused, neglected and mistreated, which the HBO apparently deemed right. Following Casey’s revelation, HBO admitted that horses had been injured and euthanized during the filming of its highly publicized drama about horse gambling and racing. Nevertheless, the cable television has since reiterated that it had maintained the highest safety standards possible on all its TV programs. In fact, it had established safety protocols that go beyond and above normal film and TV industry standards and practices, HBO claimed.

Recently, the cable network once again took the center stage to address its detailed response to the allegations. Media sources have confirmed that the cable network is denying any responsibility regarding Casey’s termination since the network is not her employer. Apparently, HBO is excluding itself in the lawsuit claiming that it cannot be held liable for the alleged illegal termination under a so-called theory of ‘aiding and abetting’ in that termination. HBO further asserted that Casey’s case is with the AHA, being the company that terminated her.

So far, papers have revealed that Casey has the yet to make specific allegations against anyone at the cable network who could be held liable.

Casey was said to be seeking for ways to create specific allegations against anyone in at the HBO who could be possibly held liable.

Unfortunately, this is always the toughest part in mounting a wrongful termination claim, particularly in an employment at will states like California. Difficulty typically arises when proving that the termination was made for unlawful reasons. Pursuing such claims involves several complicated provisions that may require assistance of a qualified Los Angeles wrongful termination lawyer.

Posted in Wrongful Termination.

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By Anne Roberts – April 26, 2013

Los Angeles County Workers Call for Wage Increase in Rally 2HZZ2YYDRA8F

Last week, hundreds of Los Angeles County public workers gathered to the Hall of Administration to form a rally to demand for wage increases from the Board of Supervisors.

During their assembly, the workers, in purple Service Employees International Union shirts, reportedly blew whistles and waved flags bearing the phrase “Turn It Up”. Some employees even brought their children to the rally holding signs saying “My Mom Needs a Raise” and “My Dad Needs a Raise”.

Subsequently, the Supervisors were scheduled to discuss a $24.7-billion budget proposal disclosed by county chief executive William T. Fujioka. For the first time in five years, the said offer is balanced and involves major cuts.

During the economic recession, while the other Los Angeles cities and municipalities have already overcame the downfall through job lay-offs and furloughs, the county was not able to do so since it has gone without raises for the last five years.

So far, the county is currently negotiating with public safety employees and will go into further bargaining with the other labor groups in the coming months.

Apparently, workers indeed have the right to demand for a raise now that they have patiently waited for too long before the county has been able to recover from the recession. In addition, aside from their workloads, today’s cost of living has significantly increased while the salaries remained unchanged, as claimed by a Los Angeles employment lawyer, who agrees the employees on their objective.

Although the county officials have recently signaled that they are open to a wage increase, some of them advised caution. During the recent budget discussion, county supervisor Michael D. Antonovich noted that the county still faces fiscal uncertainties such as the costs of implementing healthcare reform, prison realignment and the cleansing of polluted storm water – a mandate which he said is to be unfunded.

On May 15, public hearings regarding the budget proposal will commence, while the final document is expected to be approved by June. 2HZZ2YYDRA8F

Posted in Economy, Employment Rights.

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By Anne Roberts – April 19, 2013

Equal Pay Act 50 Years After: Same Problem Faced by Women Employees

In an aim to eliminate wage discrepancy between male and female workers the federal government enacted the Equal Pay Act (EPA) exactly 50 years ago. Pursuant to EPA, once a woman enters the labor force, she will find equality in her pay envelope.

Although such unequal pay in the workplace was made unlawful following the enactment of the on April 9, 1963 by the then U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, the same is still occurring in the employment industry until present. In fact, according to the most recent data, women earn only 77 percent of what men earn in a full-time annual salary.

Apparently, since the enactment of the EPA followed by the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the EEOC had assumed the responsibility of enforcing the two legislatures. The agency has since working hard to stop and remedy illegal pay discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Genetic information Non-discrimination Act.

In its recent effort, the EEOC joined a “Twitter Chat” program sponsored by the National Women’s Law Center last April 9, the day that marked the 50th year since the EPA took effect. The program is a live Twitter chat that focused on increasing the awareness of wage earners regarding gender-based wage discrimination.

Each year, an Equal Pay Day is being held in April to signify the point in the year that a woman must work to earn what a man made the previous year. In fact, as part of the 50th year of celebrating the Equal Pay Day, President Obama created a task force called the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force to strengthen the implementation of EPA.

Conversely, a Los Angeles employment lawyer herein is pretty much sure that through the renewed and continuous effort to combat disparity in wages between men and women, such employment malpractice will likely be dismissed, and hopefully it would be for the long run, he anticipated.

Posted in Employment Rights, Labor Laws.

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By Anne Roberts – April 15, 2013

House of Representatives Urges Obama to Sign Non-discrimination Executive Order

In an effort to combat employment discrimination on the basis of sexual preference or gender orientation, 110 members of the Congressional Democrats, headed by House Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NH) and Jared Polis (D-CO), sent a letter to President Barack Obama, urging him to sign an executive order banning workplace discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

In their letter, the House members described how unacceptable it is to keep it legal  to fire or refuse to hire an employee based on his or her sexual preference. So far, 29 states in the U.S. allow such kind of employment malpractice while it is still totally legal in 34 states.

Under a previous executive order, which was signed by President Lyndon Johnson 48 years ago, employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender and national origin is prohibited. Apparently, the prohibition does not include discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Since the said executive order was signed, millions of federal workers were given with significant workplace protections until present. Therefore, if a new executive order would be signed by Obama, an additional 16 million workers from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community will be likewise protected according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

Last year, similar effort has been made by the House of Representatives. It also sent a similar letter to the current administration which the White House simply ignored. Last month, 37 senators also sent a letter to Obama to sign such executive order but the president has kept avoiding it.

President Obama apparently remains in his stance that although he is sincere in providing equal rights for LGBT, he would not use his executive power to illegalize employment discrimination against LGBT. In fact, in a meeting with the LGBT advocates last year, Obama already expressed his intent to veto workplace discrimination ban on gay employees.

Until present, Obama asserts that he still prefer the comprehensive Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA), which illegalizes employment discrimination based on gender identity. However, many contest that even if ENDA were to pass, employees under businesses with less than 15 employees would still not be protected since they are excluded from the said legislative solution.

Although it sounds unclear why the current administration constantly deny due protections to the LGBT community, advocates of the group still have to a shed a little more effort in pushing the white house to approve such executive order favoring the LGBT, suggested by a Los Angeles employment discrimination lawyer.

Posted in employment discrimination.

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By Anne Roberts – April 5, 2013

Burbank City Faces Wrongful Termination Lawsuit Filed by Former Police

Burbank City took the center stage after its City Council controversially approved an ordinance banning advertising vans roaming around its busy streets. Now, the City is up again into another big headline.

Based on a recent news report from L.A. Times, Burbank City is now facing a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a group of former police who claimed that they were fired in retaliation.

In the said lawsuit that was filed early this month before the U.S. District Court, the ex-cops claimed that they were axed from their job in retaliation for suing the city over racial discrimination and harassment way back in 2009.

On the contrary, previous reports revealed that the former cops who are now suing the city were the police officers who were terminated in 2010 for allegedly engaging in misconduct and using excessive force when handling the Porto’s robbery investigation in 2007.

In fact, several city officials affirmed that the former officers assaulted a Porto’s robbery suspect, who eventually turned out to be misidentified and not really involved in the crime. However, despite the city officials’ testimony, the ex-police repeatedly denied the claims to protect their reputations. They even accused the city of making false accusations against them, intimidating witnesses and concealing exculpatory evidence.

As of the press time, the city is yet to be served with the lawsuit but it plans to defend the lawsuit as it continues to deny the accusations according to reports.

As it is, mounting a claim for wrongful termination in California may involve various complicated provisions that may require the expert legal assistance of a qualified wrongful termination lawyer in order to obtain justice especially in states that have an “at will” employment provision.

Posted in Wrongful Termination.

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By Anne Roberts – March 25, 2013