Blog – Legal Updates


Does Employer’s Duty To Ensure Safe Workplace Extend to Events at Employee’s Home

By:fjcouglhin

February 22, 2024

By California statute, an employer has a duty to ensure a safe workplace.  In a recent California case, an employee who was injured by a criminal assault while visiting another employee’s home…
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PERSONAL JURISDICTION – NO SPECIFIC PERSONAL JURISDICTION WHEN CASE DOES NOT RELATE TO DEFENDANT’S CONTACTS WITH FORUM STATE

By:fjcouglhin

February 17, 2024

In a recent California case, plaintiff purchased a battery from a vape shop and it exploded in his pants pocket.  The battery was manufactured by defendant, a South Korean company.  The vape…
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CALIFORNIA FAIR EMPLOYMENT VENUE — REMOTE WORKERS CAN FILE DISCRIMINATION LAWSUITS IN THEIR OWN COUNTY

By:fjcouglhin

February 17, 2024

Liberal Venue Rule Applies When Employee Works Remotely: California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), enacted in 1980, establishes a comprehensive framework to safeguard the right of all…
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THE DUBIOUSNESS OF TAKING A DEFAULT WITHOUT WARNING OPPOSING COUNSEL — BAD ETHICS, BAD KARMA, BAD LAWYERING

By:fjcouglhin

February 16, 2024

In a recent case involving a commercial landlord, a California appellate court held that a landlord’s lawyer was required by ethics and law to inform the tenant’s lawyer about the…
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TITLE VII. EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK CAN’T SHORTEN STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR TITLE VII CLAIMS

By:fjcouglhin

February 13, 2024

Title VII’s statute of limitations is a substantive statutory right that an employee may not prospectively waive. contractual provision to the contrary is unenforceable. See Logan v. MGM Grand…
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TITLE VII SUCCESSOR LIABILITY CAN BE BASED ON CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE

By:fjcouglhin

February 5, 2024

In a fairly recent federal case, an employer hotel, through its owner/principal, violated Title VII by using racial and ethnic comments in the workplace toward hotel employees. The hotel also…
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