Wage Law

Review has been denied in Sarka v. The Regents of the University of California, upholding a determination that a UCLA doctor was terminated for insubordination, rather than for advocacy on behalf of his patients. The case has been discussed at length at other employment law blogs. You can read it here in pdf or Word format. What few commentators knew about Dr. Sarka was that, in addition to his wrongful termination claim, he also brought a wage claim.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court denied publication of a different opinion -- the Superior Court Appellate Division decision in the other Sarka v. The Regents of the University of California (Case No.  04T01682) -- in which Dr. Sarka prevailed in his effort to assert waiting time penalty claims against the Regents. The issue was whether the California Constitution, Article IX, Section 9, provided the Regents with immunity from such claims. The trial court ruled that the Regents were immune, and sustained a demurrer without leave to amend. The Appellate Division held that the Regents were not immune. You can download a pdf of the Appellate Division's opinion here. While the opinion may not be published, because the issue is truly unique to claims against the University of California, it may be of great value to litigants with similar wage claims.