Wage Law

Bridgeport's Annual Mid-Year Wage & Hour Litigation Conference will be held June 3, 2011 at the Westin San Diego. I've been to this program before, and have presented a few times, and I've always come away with some valuable new insights. The presentations this time will include recent trends and cases, derivative claims, PAGA and 17200 claims, recent developments in class certification, and strategies for settlement of individual and class actions in wage & hour cases. Expect a lot of discussion of the recent AT&T v. Concepcion case. For more information or to register, visit Bridgeport's website.

Assembly Bill 325 passed the assembly on Thursday by a 48-26 vote. No Republicans voted in favor of the bill.

Among the ideas in Jerry Brown's new budget proposal: eliminating the Fair Employment and Housing Commission. This idea would not eliminate the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

• Eliminate the Fair Employment and Housing Commission—The Administration will consult with stakeholders and evaluate options to phase out the stand~alone commission that handles appeals of employment and housing discrimination cases by January 1, 2012. Adjudication of employment and housing discrimination cases will be appealed to the Director of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing effectively eliminating the stand-alone Commission and consolidating workload. This results in a decrease of $428,000 all funds ($344,000 General Fund) and 1.4 personnel years in 2011-12.

Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed the same thing in 2007.

There is a free one hour teleseminar on Thursday, May 19, 2011, and again on Friday, May 20, 2011, put on by the Public Justice Foundation, concerning the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion. The seminar will address issues relevant to attorneys advocating for the class. If you represent plaintiffs in consumer or employment class actions and you would like more information about this seminar, email me at [email protected].

Last year, the California Legislature passed AB 2340, a bill to allow employees up to three days of unpaid bereavement leave upon the death of certain family members. The bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Today, the Assembly votes on AB 325, which would allow employees to take up to four non-consecutive days of unpaid leave within 13 months after the death of a spouse, child, parent sibling, grandparent, grandchild or domestic partner. The bill would not apply to employees covered by certain collective bargaining agreements.