California Increases Minimum Wage–Tips for Compliance

On September 25, 2013, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill increasing the minimum wage from $8 per hour to $9 per hour effective July 1, 2014 and to $10 per hour effective January 1, 2016. California employers who employ minimum-wage earners should put a plan into place to be in compliance with this law as of the applicable effective dates.  In addition, because

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New California Law Confirms That “Sexual Desire” is Not an Element of a Sexual Harassment Claim

Governor Brown on Monday signed into law a new bill stating that the plaintiff in a sexual harassment lawsuit need not prove that the sexually harassing conduct was “motivated by sexual desire.” The law, Senate Bill 292, is a reaction to Kelley v. Conco Companies, 196 Cal. App. 4th 191 (2011), in which the plaintiff, an apprentice ironworker, sued Conco, one of the largest concrete construction companies

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Court Holds Companies Violated the Law By Having Unpaid Interns

In Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held that Defendants Fox Searchlight Pictures Inc. and Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. violated federal and New York labor laws by classifying the plaintiffs as unpaid interns instead of as paid employees. In this case, the plaintiffs worked on various of Defendants’ productions, including on the film “Black

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California Labor Commissioner Announces Record-Breaking Assessments of Unpaid Minimum Wage and Overtime Claims Against Employers

According to a Department of Industrial Relations News Release issued yesterday, California Labor Commissioner Julie Su announced that “labor law enforcement under Governor Brown in the first two years of his Administration resulted in more minimum and overtime wages found owing to California workers and more monetary penalties for illegal business practices than in any previous year in the past decade.” The News Release states that the

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Jury Awards $240 Million in Disability Discrimination Case Involving Severe Abuse of Workers with Intellectual Disabilities

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has announced its largest jury verdict in the federal agency’s history–$240 million–in a case in which an Iowa jury found Hill County Farms liable for subjecting 32 men with intellectual disabilities to substantial abuse and discrimination. According to an EEOC press release, available here, the agency presented evidence that for years, the owners and staffers of the defendant company “subjected the

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“Sister Act” — Bernstein & Friedland, P.C. Featured in the Daily Journal

We are proud to have been featured by the Daily Journal in an article discussing our employment law practice.  We feel very fortunate to do work that allows us to make a difference in our community, and we are grateful for our partnership.  A copy of the article is available here. ***** Bernstein & Friedland, P.C. is a boutique employment law firm in Los Angeles specializing

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