Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

A critical ruling in the world of franchising, in Haitayan v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 2021 WL 4078727 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 8, 2021), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California applied the so-called Borello test to find that franchisees were independent contractors, instead of employees, for purposes of their claims for unpaid business expense reimbursements under California’s Labor Code section 2802.

On October 20, 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) issued a press release to announce its plans to use unspecified technology to conduct online searches for statements in job advertisements that violate the Fair Chance Act (“FCA”). According to the DFEH, during a one-day review, it was able to locate over 500 job advertisements that violated the FCA because they stated that the employer would not consider job applicants with criminal records.

HuntonAK labor and employment partner Chris Pardo was Selected as a Rising Star for Employment Litigation Law, Boston Super Lawyers magazine, 2021.

Governor Newsom has signed SB 331 (the “Silenced No More Act”) into law.  As discussed in our prior blog post, SB 331 will expand the existing restrictions on the confidentiality provisions recently put into place by SB 820 (which restricts the usage of confidentiality provisions in agreements related to sexual assault, harassment, or harassment) to also restrict the usage of confidentiality provisions related to all claims of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation under the FEHA.

HuntonAK Labor and Employment partner and practice group co-chair Emily Burkhardt Vicente was recently named as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion – Law Firm by Corporate Counsel: Women, Influence and Power in Law Awards 2021.

HuntonAK labor and employment partner, Amber Rogers was named to The American Lawyers inaugural list of Trailblazers South 2021.

HuntonAK labor and employment partners Holly Williamson and Scott Nelson have been recognized in the most recent publication of Texas Super Lawyers 2021.

HuntonAK’s Labor and Employment practice has been recognized as nationwide leaders by Benchmark Litigation’s 2021 Labor and Employment guide. The Labor and Employment Team was recognized as a Tier 2 law firm nationwide and recommended in several individual jurisdictions.

On September 24, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (“Task Force”) issued written Guidance to implement Executive Order 14042 (“Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors”), which was signed by President Biden on September 9, 2021.  The Guidance is a key component of President Biden’s larger “Path Out of the Pandemic: COVID-19 Action Plan.”

In a huge win for California employers, the California Court of Appeals recently confirmed that courts have discretion to strike claims for penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) if the claims will be unmanageable at trial.  This decision will help employers defeat—or significantly pare down—the broad and unwieldy claims for PAGA penalties that have become popular with the plaintiffs’ bar.