The California Department of Industrial Relations announced that beginning January 1, 2012 the computer-professional overtime exemption rate would increase from $79,050 to $81,026.25, an increase of 2.5%. Additionally, qualifications for the exemption involve specific duty requirements: 50% of an employee’s time must be spent engaged in computer systems analysis, programming and development of computer systems, and/or testing and modification of design aspects of software and hardware. An employee must also exercise theoretical and creative application of these duties.
December 19, 2011
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The Appellate Court found that an insurance services company which acted as an agent only in the sale of corporate promissory notes may have committed securities violations under Sections 25504 and 25504.1 of the Corporations Code and could be liable for $1,000,000 in a rescission action brought by a defrauded investor. This ruling reflects the Court’s expansion of the state securities laws by making secondary actors potentially liable for the repayment and return of invested money. This means that any agent which assists in the sale of securities now stands in the shoes of the actual issuer with respect to civil liability owed to investors and may be made to restore funds to an investor even when there is no contractual relationship between the parties and the secondary agent never received the funds.
August 2, 2011
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Two-thousand unlicensed junior accountants filed a wage-and-hour class action against their employer, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PWC). The accountants claim PWC failed to pay them mandatory overtime under California Labor Code 510(a). The district court granted partial summary judgment in favor of the Plaintiff Class accountants, finding as a matter of law that PWC could not exempt them from California’s overtime requirements. PWC filed an appeal.
July 30, 2011
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In a decision which will have wide sweeping implications for any businesses serving consumers, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled on April 27, 2011, that companies may insert into their consumer contracts provisions that force the consumer to arbitrate any dispute, and which waive any right to bring a class action lawsuit. This allows businesses the ability to contractually block any further class action lawsuits against them and to avoid litigation
altogether. This is a huge blow to class action lawyers in California, but a stunning victory for business because previous to this decision, under California law, such contractual provisions had been deemed “unconscionable” and unenforceable by California courts because they were so unfair to consumers.
July 29, 2011
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Since March 2010, Righthaven, LLC has filed 276 lawsuits against small defendants posting news articles on their websites. Righthaven, LLC is a Las Vegas based copyright enforcer that works with newspaper companies to protect original content, but it does not actually own the copyrights on that content. Several courts have already dismissed Righthaven lawsuits for lack of standing, and Righthaven is perceived as shaking down small defendants for settlements.
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On June 9, 2011, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Microsoft Corp. v i4i Ltd., where it affirmed the clear and convincing standard necessary to invalidate a patent. This has been the standard applied by the Federal Courts since 1984.
July 28, 2011
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