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Each year, the California legislature – historically the most active of state regulators – reexamines the relationship between employers and their workforces and emerges with a multitude of employment law protections. 2015 was no exception. Lawmakers created novel and expansive measures, affecting companies throughout the state in varying degrees. Some of the laws, most of which take effect January 1, 2016, are reactions to cases decided, while others are sweeping remedies to historic and longstanding issues.

As we close out 2015, we prepare for 2016, by providing an overview of specific areas of employment law (discrimination/anti-retaliation/discharge; wage and hour; leave laws), the effect the new laws will have on employers, and some basic recommendations to help prepare for compliance. Our recommendations are limited, as the impact of these new laws are yet unknown.Continue Reading California’s Employment Law Class of 2016: The Laws, Their Effects and Our Recommendations for Compliance

Answering a certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the Virginia Supreme Court held last week that “Virginia recognizes a common law tort claim of wrongful discharge in violation of established public policy against an individual who was not the plaintiff’s actual employer but who was the actor in violation of public policy and who participated in the wrongful firing of the plaintiff, such as a supervisor or manager.” VanBuren v. Grubb, No. 120348, slip op. at 11-12 (Va. Nov. 1, 2012). That decision, in line with similar decisions in the District of Columbia, Arizona, Iowa, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, is in conflict with the Fourth Circuit’s longstanding position that individual supervisors cannot be held personally liable for unlawful discharges under Title VII. See Lissau v. Southern Food Serv., Inc., 159 F.3d 177, 181 (4th Cir. 1998).Continue Reading Virginia Joins Six Other States in Finding Supervisors Liable for Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Public Policy