California employers face an abundance of new employment laws set to take effect at the start of the new year. Below find descriptions of new requirements for employee leaves of absence, pay transparency and data reporting, COVID-19 compliance, privacy rights, industry-specific requirements, and other new workplace laws. Unless otherwise stated, the obligations created by the laws below will take effect on January 1, 2023. Learn more about these and other employment developments at Troutman Pepper’s upcoming December 8 Labor + Employment webinar.Continue Reading Overview of New California Employment Laws
Court Awards Employer Over $1 Million for Former Employee’s Breach of Nonsolicitation Clause
Q: What types of damages are available when a former employee breaches a restrictive covenant barring solicitation of his or her former employer’s customers?
A: While parties often focus on the possibility to enjoin a former employee from soliciting a company’s customers, it is possible to recoup lost profits as well, particularly where they are significant. For example, a Massachusetts federal court found a sales representative liable for over $1.6 million in damages for breaching a nonsolicitation clause that prohibited him from procuring business from his former employer’s customers.Continue Reading Court Awards Employer Over $1 Million for Former Employee’s Breach of Nonsolicitation Clause
California Court of Appeal Affirms Order Striking Unmanageable PAGA Claim
Q: Are California courts concerned about the manageability of actions under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)?
A: Yes, on September 9, the California Court of Appeal agreed that a PAGA action was unmanageable, and it affirmed an order granting the employer’s motion to strike and dismiss the PAGA claim. In Wesson v. Staples the Office Superstore, LLC, the court held that trial courts have the inherent authority to ensure PAGA claims will be tried fairly and efficiently. The court ruled that this authority includes the ability to strike a PAGA claim “that cannot be rendered manageable.”
Continue Reading California Court of Appeal Affirms Order Striking Unmanageable PAGA Claim