Monthly Archives: July 2019
“Seaing” the Big Picture: Employment Rights For Seafarers and Cruise Ship Employees (International Seafarers’ Bill of Rights and the Jones Act)
Cruise ships are big business, especially in states like California and Florida. In California, and according to the most recent figures from the Port of Los Angeles, over 500,000 cruise ship passengers come through that port alone each year. And taking care of all those passengers requires a substantial investment in a ship’s crew…. Read More »
Failure to Promote: Legitimate Business Decision or Illegal Act of Discrimination?
Employment discrimination laws do not just apply to decisions regarding the hiring and firing of employees. They also apply to a company’s decisions on whether to promote existing employees. For example, if Company A decides not to promote an employee to a managerial rule because he is African American, that would constitute illegal discrimination… Read More »
Nothing Hairy About It: California Senate Moves to Ban Grooming Policies That Discriminate Against African Americans
Racial discrimination in the workplace has long been prohibited under federal and state law. But there are other, more subtle forms of discrimination that continue to persist. For example, many Californians–notably African-Americans–are viewed as “unprofessional” based on their hairstyles. More precisely, some employers impose grooming codes that effectively bar African-American employees from sporting natural… Read More »
Are Janitors “Franchisees” or Employees? Ninth Circuit Decision Applies Dynamex Retroactively to California Labor Law Claims
Last year the California Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, which stated that all workers are “presumed to be employees” unless the employer can prove the worker is an independent contractor based on a three-part “ABC test.” The three tests include: (A) The… Read More »
