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Los Angeles is one of California’s largest economic hubs. Not only is it the capital of the entertainment industry, but many tech firms and startups call our city home. However, this economic prosperity doesn’t come without its fair share of problems in the workplace. And these problems are increasing not only in L.A. but across…

On September 30, Governor Jerry Brown signed several bills into law and many of them will change the way sexual harassment claims work in California. So, what are these changes and how will they affect employees all over the state? These highlights may help you better understand the changes that have been made. Changes in…

On March 5, 2018, the Supreme Court of California issued a ruling in the case Alvarado v. Dart Container Corporation in favor of employees who receive overtime pay as well as a flat sum bonus.  In that case, the plaintiff, Hector Alvarado, worked for defendant, Dart Container Corporation of California, as a warehouse associate.  Dart had a…

A “trade secret” is confidential business information that gives its owner a competitive economic advantage over competitors.  Trade secrets are typically formulas, consumer profiles, patterns, programs, methods, techniques, or processes unknown to the public world. In order to meet the basic definition of a trade secret, it must be used and known only to a…

A “joint work” is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole.  See 17 U.S.C. § 101.A collaborative effort is only classified as a joint work if each author made independently copyrightable contributions to the work, and if the…

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits discrimination against applicants and employees for a variety of protected classes including, but not limited to: age, race, sex, gender identity, and marital status (See blog entitled “What is FEHA” for more details). Discrimination in the workplace can fall under the two categories of disparate treatment…

A copyright is perhaps the greatest legal method of ensuring that you will receive credit for the work you created. A copyright is the legal term used for the rights given to the owner to reproduce, distribute, display, and create adaptations of a protected work. A few types of works that can be protected by…

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) sets out the rules that protect employees from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation by their employer. One categorical group that is covered under this Act is gender, gender identity, and gender expression.  Gender identity refers to the gender with which a person identifies.  It is essentially internal and…

The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) is the primary California law that prohibits employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace for a variety of protected categories.  For example, employer are not allowed to treat and employee differently based on the employee’s age (40 and over), ancestry, color, religion, disability, marital status, national origin,…

There is no question that under federal and California employment laws, employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees with disabilities.  In fact, employers have an affirmative obligation to take reasonable steps to accommodate the needs of an employee with a disability so that the disabled employee can do his job. The law has been less…