California employment lawyer

California Employment Lawsuit Over Lyft Drivers Settled

February 5, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

A California employment lawsuit against ride-sharing service Lyft was settled with an interesting compromise.

Workers involved in the class-action lawsuit asserted they were in fact employees, entitled to all the legal protections that entails. However, the mobile app argued the drivers were independent contractors, meaning they wouldn’t be entitled to minimum wage, workers’ compensation, overtime and other benefits.

Now, Reuters reports the company has agreed to expand certain worker protections and it’s paying $12.25 million to the drivers who are party to the lawsuit. However, it has not agreed to label the drivers employees. For the business, this eliminates a significant threat to its business model, but it could still leave drivers in a vulnerable place. Continue Reading ›

How the “Gig Economy” is Affecting Employment Data

October 4, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about how the economy is growing across the country and in the Los Angeles area. However, unlike in previous periods of economic growth, much of this job growth has been attributed to what is being referred to as “on demand” jobs “or “gigs.” While the term gig has being around a long time, it formerly was used when a band got hired to perform for a night. These days a gig could mean when someone online requests a single service, such as helping to fix a computer problem, or even coming to help put together furniture a customer bought from IKEA.

There are also ridesharing companies, such as Uber and Lyft. These companies get customers to download their apps for their smartphones. When a user needs a ride, he or she can call an Uber, for example. A driver who is working with the ridesharing company will have an iPhone that tells them someone has requested a ride. The ridesharing driver can either accept the request or do nothing. If he or she accepts the ride, then the driver is expected to pick up the rider and take the rider to his or her designation, and the app handles all of the payment, including a tip for the driver. Continue Reading ›

Ledbetter v. Good Samaritan Ministries – Employment Lawsuit “Loose Ends” Prevent Summary Judgment

February 21, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

Plaintiff in Ledbetter v. Good Samaritan Ministries may have an uphill battle in proving his employment retaliation case, but there were too many “loose ends” for the trial court to have declared a summary judgment in favor of the defense, a federal appellate court recently ruled.

According to the decision handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the case stemmed from an original charge of racial discrimination and retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants in that case. But subsequently, plaintiff filed a separate action for retaliation, arguing he was being punished by his employer for filing the original claim.

While the district court again granted summary judgment to the employer, the federal appeals court reversed.

California Hiring Practices Lawsuit Gets Class Action Status

October 30, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

Although the general tide toward employment litigation has been leaning more toward corporate interests lately, most notably with more stringent standards for class action filings, that doesn’t mean such cases are no longer happening at all.

Our Costa Mesa employment lawyers know that this was recently evidenced in a decision handed down by a federal judge in a Northern California courtroom. The judge In re: High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court Northern District of California, San Jose Division, has awarded class action status to the workers seeking recompense for what they say were unfair hiring practices engaged in conspiratorially by numerous technical firms in Silicon Valley.

Specifically, the workers allege the companies violated the Clayton Act and the Sherman Act, both antitrust laws. The workers say the ultimate goal of the companies was to drive down labor competition, and thereby deprive workers of job mobility – and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in salary and other compensation.

Costa Mesa Employment Lawyers: Firms Must Properly Classify Workers

September 14, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

A new survey released recently by Inc.com indicates that roughly 20 percent of small business owners are voicing preference for independent contractors over full-time employees.

Part of the reason reportedly has to do with employer requirements under the soon-to-be-enforced Affordable Healthcare Act, but our Costa Mesa wage and hour lawyers recognize that employers likely see other benefits too.

Among the pluses noted by employers:

Religious Discrimination an Issue Nationwide

July 28, 2013 | by Nassiri Law

A number of recent employment lawsuits filed throughout the country have stemmed from alleged religious discrimination, ranging from failure to grant certain accommodations to outright harassment and hate crimes.

Our Costa Mesa religious discrimination attorneys know that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is very clear in stipulating that such actions are not to be tolerated under the law. The law refers to a prohibition on any discrimination with regard to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, lay-offs, promotions, benefits, training or any other condition of employment.

Harassment of a person based on his or her religion is also illegal, the same way sexual harassment is barred.