Posts by Eugene Lee
Labor Attorney Eugene Lee Wins $500k and $235k Appeals, Defeats $10 mil. Lawsuit
Congratulations to Eugene Lee, Esq. for winning two separate appeals in the 2d District Court of Appeal. The result allows his clients to keep the $506,000 and $235,000 in judgments he won for each of them. In the process, he defeated a $10 mil. lawsuit that an employer had brought against his client. Opposing counsel…
Read MoreCalifornia Meal Break & Rest Break Law (2023) – Quick Calculator + Charts
Under California meal break law (which is much more generous to employees than federal labor law), if you are a non-exempt worker, you are entitled to a 30-minute uninterrupted, duty-free meal break if you work more than 5 hours in a workday. You are also entitled to a 10-minute uninterrupted, duty-free rest breaks for every…
Read MoreFinal Paychecks – When Are They Due? (2023)
A question I hear a lot is: “I just left my job, when is my employer supposed to pay me my last paycheck?” The answer is: it depends. If you were fired or laid off If the employer ended your employment — fired you, laid you off, eliminated your position, etc. — they must have…
Read MoreAre Employers Required to Give Holiday Pay or Paid Holidays? (2023)
When it comes to holidays, many employers in California and across the country tend to give employees either the day off with pay (“paid holiday”), or give extra pay for hours worked similar to overtime pay (“holiday pay”). The most common paid holidays are: New Year’s Day Memorial Day Easter Independence Day (4th of July)…
Read More“Sharp” Defense Lawyers Smacked Down by Appeals Court
Ever wonder what would happen if a lawyer tried to “pull a fast one” on a trial court judge? Wonder no more. In Francisco Diaz v Prof. Community Mgt., Inc., a case decided in October 2017 by the Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeals, an appeals court considered the case of two unscrupulous lawyers who…
Read MoreCan Employers Require Employees to Remain on Premises? (2023)
A reader of this blog recently asked an intriguing question: “Your boss may require you to remain on work premises during your rest break.: Is this still true after the recent California Supreme Court decision? I believe the reader was referring to Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., 2 Cal. 5th 257 (2016). That decision…
Read MoreCalifornia Supremes Limit Arbitration Waivers
The key excerpt from this latest ruling from the California Supreme Court, McGill v Citybank, says it all: In previous decisions, this court has said that the statutory remedies available for a violation of the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA; Civ. Code, § 1750 et seq.), the unfair competition law (UCL; Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200…
Read MoreMy Boss 1099s Me, Am I Really an Independent Contractor? (2023)
If your boss gives you a 1099 tax form each year, does that mean you are an independent contractor? What if you signed an independent contractor agreement? What if you submit invoices to your boss to be paid? The answer may surprise you.
Read MoreCan My Boss Fire Me at Any Time for Any Reason? What is “at will”? (2023)
“At-Will”. California is an “at-will” employment state. What does this mean? In most cases, it means that your boss can fire you at any time for almost any reason or no reason at all. She can fire you because she
Read MoreWhat Happens to Huge Verdicts AFTER the Headlines
Multi-million dollar verdicts routinely headline the news. But what few seem to know is what happens to those verdicts long after the jury and the public have moved on. More often than not, those verdicts get cut down to size or get lost in a perfect storm of appeals. In Stevens v. Vons Companies, a…
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