Posts Tagged ‘Amelia F. Burroughs’

Governor Brown recently signed SB 459, employment-related legislation aimed at that ever-complicated pas de deux: employee versus independent contractor classification. Under the new law, there are serious consequences for any employer who willfully misclassifies an employee as an independent contractor, as well as any person advising an employer that the employee can be classified as an independent contractor.  There are also civil penalties beginning at $15,000, as well as additional civil damages, reports to the State Contractor’s Licensing Board for contractor employers, and posting (a lá “The Scarlet Letter”) of the employer’s violation in a public area or employer’s website for one year if the employer is found to be in violation.

AB 469, signed by Governor Brown and effective January 1, 2012, adds some expensive teeth to the enforcement of the Labor Code by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE).  Among the many changes harkened by AB 469, the Labor Code has now been amended to make the willful violation of specified wage statutes or orders a misdemeanor.   Additionally, the law is amended to expand from one year to three years the time in which the DLSE may collect statutory penalties or fees.

California employers have new notice requirements beginning January 1, 2012.   AB 469 goes into effect on January 1, 2012, and as a result, private employers in California must provide written notice to non-exempt new hires of the following: (1) rate(s) of pay, (2) meal or lodging allowances claimed as part of the minimum wage, (3) the regular payday(s), (4) the name(s) of the employer, including any “doing business as” names, (5) the employer’s physical address or principal place of business, and a mailing address if different, (6) the employer’s telephone number(s), (7) the name, address and telephone number of the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier, and finally (8) “Any other information the Labor Commissioner deems material and necessary.”  With certain exceptions, employers must also give written notice to employees within seven days if any of the above information should change during the course of employment.  The Legislature directed the Labor Commissioner to prepare a template for employers to use that complies with the notice requirements, but the better practice is to provide the information in writing to new hires even if the Labor Commissioner’s template is not yet available.

Janssen Malloy LLP partners, W. Timothy Needham, Michael J. Crowley, Patrik Griego and Amelia F. Burroughs have been nominated by Consumer Attorneys of California for the organization’s Consumer Attorney of the Year Award.  The nomination arises from the firm’s handling of the seminal jury verdict case of 2010, Lavender vs. Skilled Healthcare LLC.  The Janssen Law Firm, along with co-counsel Michael Thamer and Christopher Healey, obtained the largest jury verdict in the United States in 2010, $677 million dollars.  The case had a significant impact on the healthcare industry, specifically the skilled nursing facilities throughout the nation.

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On October 7, 2011, the procedural and practice regulations for the Department of Fair Employment and Housing became effective in the California Code of Regulations.   The regulations can be found beginning at California Code of Regulations, Title 2, section 10000 through section 10066.  The regulations govern the Department’s practices and procedures with respect to the filing, investigation and conclusion of complaints alleging violations of any law the Department enforces (employment discrimination, Unruh Civil Rights Act, Ralph Civil Rights Act, Disabled Persons Act and housing discrimination complaints).   Practitioners and employers alike now have ready access to the Department’s procedures, which should go a long way toward clarifying a sometimes obscure complaint process.

On September 15, 2011, at the 37th Annual Dinner of the California Women Lawyers, Janssen Malloy LLP partner Amelia F. Burroughs will be appointed to the 2011-2012 California Women Lawyer’s Board of Governors.  California Women Lawyer’s mission is to develop and implement a statewide advocacy agenda.  This year, California Women Lawyers has been productively engaged in amicus curiae briefing in cases important to its core issues, legislative advocacy for women’s and children’s rights, combating gender bias in the media, and seeking diversity in the judiciary.

Amelia is thrilled to serve on the Board of Governors and looking forward to yet another productive year.

Janssen Malloy is pleased to announce that Amelia F. Burroughs has become a partner in the firm.  Born and raised in Humboldt County, Ms. Burroughs was recently selected by Super Lawyers Magazine as a 2011 Northern California Rising Star.  Notably, Ms. Burroughs was part of the trial team for the plaintiffs in the Lavender v. Skilled Healthcare class action litigation, which resulted in the largest jury verdict ever awarded in Humboldt County ($677 million dollars).  Ms. Burroughs is an experienced litigator who graduated at the top of her law school class and served as Editor-in-Chief of the McGeorge Law Review (2001 – 2002).  Ms. Burroughs joined the firm in 2007 after practicing in the San Francisco and San Diego areas for five years.  She is currently the Secretary of the Humboldt County Bar Association.

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News Release – For Immediate Release

June 21, 2011

Contact: Deborah Mathis, Communications Director – (202) 797-8600 or dmathis@publicjustice.net

Six California Lawyers Who Won Historic Verdict for Nursing Home Residents Are Finalists for Trial Lawyer of the Year Award

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California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) prohibits employment discrimination based on a disability, real or perceived.  In employment discrimination cases, it is the employee’s burden to demonstrate that he/she (1) suffered from a disability, (2) could perform the essential duties of the job with or without reasonable accommodation, and (3) suffered an adverse employment action (termination, demotion, etc.) because of the real or perceived disability.

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Words are Not Enough

Humboldt County employers know that having an written sexual harassment policy is a critical practice.  The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently released an opinion that reads like a cautionary tale about excellently-written sexual harassment policies that don’t get enforced.  (See EEOC v. Prospect Airport Services, Inc., 2010 DJDAR 14107, Sept. 3, 2010.)  The employer had a written sexual harassment policy, signed by employees, that encouraged employees to report sexual harassment to their immediate supervisor and promised that the employer would “investigate each complaint in a prompt and proper fashion.”  In this particular instance, a male employee reported sexual harassment by a female employee to three different supervisors in the chain, saying that he just wanted the harassment to stop.  The last  supervisor to receive the complaint responded that he didn’t want to get involved in a personal matter, and spoke to the offending employee once about her behavior.  After approximately five month of harassment, even subsequent to the supervisor counseling the offending employee, the employer terminated the male employee, basically for his bad attitude.  His complaint against the employer has now been litigated before a United States District Court of Appeal—an expensive proposition for any employer.

In short, employers must enforce their sexual harassment policies, or they face credible complaints of harassment.