Two recent court decisions provide valuable lessons for California employers. The first is a $27 million award in favor of a nurse who raised safety concerns against her employer, Dignity Health, and convinced a Los Angeles jury she was fired in retaliation. The second is an appellate decision invalidating an employer’s arbitration clause based on…
Category: Terminations
Discharging Difficult Employees
I know; the title of the topic seems obvious. Of course, we are usually not terminating exceptional employees. But there are underperforming employees, and then, there are the ones who have been making our lives miserable. The ones who challenge our every directive. The ones who produce an AI generated diatribe in response to every…
Reducing Your Risks While Reducing Your Workforce
Doing reductions in force (RIFs) are always a risk. It may be common knowledge about the need for one, given the economy, loss of a big client or contract, or a global pandemic. Nevertheless, when employees lose their jobs, they will want to know why THEY are being chosen over someone else. Using seniority is…
Managing Employee Departures
I revisit this topic from time to time, and I have written entire articles and given two hour talks on the subject. But it feels like it may be time for a refresher course. I spend a lot of time reviewing wage and hour laws because they are very technical in California and are the…