A concept in workplace disability accommodation situations is the idea of “undue hardship” which an employer asserts to avoid having to provide a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee. California’s Fair Employment…

A recent California court decision has narrowed the scope of enforceable “covenants not to compete.” California, unlike many other states, severely limits the ability of an employer to prevent former employees from…

Beginning February 5, 2007, all employees who work within the Oakland city limits are entitled to one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked. The sick leave may be used…

When an employer offers a dismissed employee a severance agreement, the payment of money, continued benefits or some other consideration is almost always conditioned on the employee “giving up” certain rights.  The…

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was amended in 1978 to include the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”).  The PDA protects pregnant persons from being discriminated against by their employers because of…

Since many terminated and current employees ask about it, I thought I might dive into the treacherous waters of defamation in the workplace.  Defamatory conduct in the workplace may occur, for example,…

In the realm of workplace defamation claims, the aggrieved employee (or plaintiff) needs to show that the slanderous (spoken) or libelous (written) comments harmed the reputation of the employee.  There are five…

There are four common defenses to defamation claims: privilege, consent, truth and opinion.  This entry will discuss the most widely employed defense to workplace defamation claims – absolute and qualified privileges. Absolute…