AB 2188: Protections for Off-site, Off-duty Marijuana Use

California employers cannot discrimination for legal cannabis use.

AB 2188 Protections for off-site, off-duty marijuana use beginning January 1, 2024

The legalization of recreational marijuana in 2016 led many to question the California Supreme Court’s decision in Ross v. RagingWire Telecommunications Inc., 42 Cal.4th 920 (2008), which held in part that, despite the legalization of medical marijuana in 1996, an employer could lawfully refuse to hire a job candidate who failed a drug test, even if it was the result of legal marijuana use. Although the passing of Proposition 64 in 2016 did not impact the holding in Ross (in fact, the law explicitly preserved its holding), societal attitudes towards marijuana have shifted significantly since the Court’s decision.

Starting on January 1, 2024, AB 2188 will amend FEHA to prohibit discrimination based upon an employee’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace, partially superseding Ross. The bill does not prohibit an employer’s use and reliance on pre-employment drug screenings that determine current impairment or active levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”). It also has some exceptions, including for workers in the building and construction trades and applicants and employees subject to federal background investigations or clearances.

Spire Employee Awarded $8.5 Million in Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

Spire gas company

ST. LOUIS • A St. Louis jury has awarded $8.5 million to a Danielle McGaughy, of St. Joseph, Mo., sued the gas company for racial discrimination.

After a two-week trial before St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer, jurors found Thursday evening in favor of Danielle McGaughy, 47, of St. Joseph, Mo., a black woman who has worked for the gas utility since 2004.

McGaughy sued Spire in St. Louis Circuit Court in February 2016, claiming a hostile work environment, including coworkers’ referring to President Barack Obama as a monkey. She also claimed she was passed over for a promotion to a supervisor position in 2014 in favor of a younger, white female coworker whom McGaughy said had less education and work experience.

McGaughy’s lawsuit included other claims of racial discrimination: that she was denied five other promotions and forced to commute to Kansas City instead working at an office in St. Joseph where she lives.

McGaughy testified that although she encountered no direct racist comments at work, her managers and colleagues questioned her competence, her attorneys E.E. Keenan and Sonal Bhatia said. The trial, they said, focused on subconscious workplace bias — that employers treat workers of color differently through subtle microaggressions.

Read more by By Joel Currier St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Courtney Abrams – Lawsuit Against Trader Joe’s for Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Courtney Abrams interviewed on KFI Radio about Helmer Friedman’s lawsuit against Trader Joe’s for sexual orientation discrimination.

Courtney Abrams interviewed on KFI Radio about Helmer Friedman's lawsuit against Trader Joe's for sexual orientation…

Posted by Helmer Friedman LLP on Wednesday, September 21, 2016

http://kfiam640.iheart.com/media/play/27333024/

Denied Managerial Position with Home Depot?

Work for Home Depot? Are you a female employee of Home Depot who was denied a promotion to a managerial position? Are you a female job applicant who was denied a managerial position? If so, your rights to a workplace free of discrimination based on sex or gender may have been violated. For a consultation, please call Helmer Friedman LLP at (310) 396-7714 or email us at info@helmerfriedman.com.

Wrongful Termination Lawsuit Filed Against Owner of Popular Los Angeles Restaurants Sushi Roku Katana and Boa

Former employee of Los Angeles based Innovative Dining Group, Inc. (“IDG”) filed a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Laura Holycross the Company’s former Director of Catering and Special Events; alleges that she was wrongfully terminated after she complained that IDG was engaged in illegal and fraudulent conduct including: (1) charging several of its clients for non-existent services and products; (2) hiring undocumented workers so that it could pay them less than it would have to pay individuals authorized to work in the United States and that it paid its workers “under the table” so that it did not have to pay federal, state, and local taxes; (3) refusing to allow its workers to take the meal and rest periods to which they were entitled under California law; (4) instructing its employees, including Ms. Holycross, to falsify and forge legal documents and information that was to be provided to its clients, their lawyers, their security companies, and various police departments; and (5) instructing its employees not to book events that would include African-American and Persian guests.

Commenting about her lawsuit, Ms. Holycross’ attorney, Andrew H. Friedman of Venice-based Helmer Friedman, LLP said “California law clearly prohibits employers, and certainly their highest level officials, from firing an employee for complaining about illegal conduct. We look forward to vigorously representing our client and obtaining the remedies to which she is entitled under the law.”

For additional information contact:
Gregory D. Helmer
Andrew H. Friedman
Helmer Friedman LLP (310) 396-7714 www.helmerfriedman.com

Forcing Job Applicants to Divulge Constitutionally Private Matters

Religious Hospital Forcing Job Applicants to Divulge Constitutionally Private Matters

February 5, 2003, Helmer-Friedman LLP Files Lawsuit Against St. Joseph Hospital for forcing job applicants to divulge reproductive dysfunctions, infertility, pregnancy, venereal disease, still born births, miscarriages.