Starbuck's policy claims it's for health reasons A Starbucks barista claims he was recently fired for eating one of the cafe's famous breakfast sandwiches — out of the garbage. Coulson Loptmann, 21, says his manager told him eating something from the trash is “considered stealing,” according to a...

Former intern seeks class action lawsuit A former intern is seeking a class-action lawsuit against Donna Karan International over his unpaid internship at the company in 2009. Vallentino Smith claims that he clocked in 16 hours a week without pay when he was an undergraduate student working at th...

Heather Huhman was just 15 when she first experienced and reported harassment from a co-worker. Though the co-worker was ultimately fired, she endured the conduct for several months after she reported it – waiting for her complaint to go up the chain of command. Though many Americans are victims...

Seventeen Women allege Sexual  Harassment In the past weeks, starting on July 10, at least 17 women have alleged harassment saying the 70-year-old former Congressman and current San Diego Mayor, Bob Filner, made unwanted sexual advances. Irene McCormack Jackson, the mayor's former press secretary...

Ticketed strikers refused to leave in order to send a message Ten current and former Walmart workers and two organizers were ticketed by police outside the retailer's Washington, D.C., office during a protest over working conditions. OUR Walmart, an affiliate of the United Food and Commercial ...

“We take heat breaks two or three times a day” Ten workers at a Walmart supplier's Southern California warehouse said they were suspended indefinitely after taking a five-minute break in temperatures of more than 90 degrees. “We take heat breaks two or three times a day,” Ricardo Hernandez, an em...

About one in five children are in the care of domestic workers About one in five children are in the care of domestic workers such as nannies, babysitters or in-home daycare providers. Because the government has failed to provide and subsidize quality childcare, families often struggle to find th...

Work until the job is finished A common practice of many employers in today's weak job market is to expect “salaried” employees to work until the job is finished, often 12 or more hours in a day. The employer benefits from hours of labor that are free and are essentially unpaid overtime. While mo...

Court OKs credit history and past convictions as employment criteria The U.S. District Court for Maryland made it even harder for workers with poor credit histories and past criminal convictions to secure employment when it dismissed a federal lawsuit brought by the federal Equal Employment Oppor...

Apple required off-the-clock security bag searches Two former Apple Inc. retail employees have sued the tech giant for “millions of dollars” for unpaid wages and overtime compensation. They allege hourly employees had to wait in line and undergo off-the-clock security bag searches after they had ...

Personal Information on the Workplace Bulletin Board Many of the basic rights we all take for granted are not protected when we go to work. Whenever a question arises about an employee‘s right to privacy in the workplace it is critical to identify the employee rights that may be at stake. Because...

The widespread problem of elder abuse has even come to the attention of Congress. Reported instances of abuse appear to be on the rise. The percentage of nursing homes cited for violations has increased every year since 1996, according to the House Government Reform Committee. Serious physical, s...

Two former utility workers have filed a federal lawsuit claiming that they were forced to work extra hours, but were not compensated for the overtime hours they worked. The lawsuit claims the company had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, and is seeking unpaid wages and punitive damages. The ...

If you have ever worked an hourly wage position, you probably heard in training that the employer was “required” to give you a 30-minute lunch break every shift over a certain number of hours. Employers make a big deal about legal responsibility and break times, yet many employees experience time...

A former truck driving trainee has won a $1.5 million judgment in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against CRST Expedited and its parent company, CRST International. The 45-year-old who had worked out of the company's California terminal claimed that she had been assigned to a driving trainer wh...

“Even if I had all the money in the world, I would want to work. It gives you self-worth, a purpose in life.” Those were the words spoken by a minimum-wage card dealer after a Sonoma County jury awarded her more than $2 million in a wrongful termination law suit. The jury determined that the form...

Federal and state deficits are at an all time high while the economy is experiencing a significant downturn. California is not exempt from the economic situation and budget reform has been a hot topic in the gubernatorial race. Amidst the political swirl of debate, public employees are asked to a...

More than 250 police officers have filed lawsuits against the Los Angeles Police Department since 2005 for employment law violations like discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. At this point 45 have been settled, while others are in the appeals process and others are still pending. In...

At the Los Angeles law firm of Peter K Levine, we know that an employee's expectation of a consistently fair playing field in the work place is often undermined by behaviors that harass, discriminate and otherwise violate his or her legal rights. As an employment law firm headed by an attorney wi...

Whistleblower claims can go to court whenever there is some sort of corruption suspected, and an employee is retaliated against in any way for reporting those believed to be illegal activities. This means that cities can be sued, as well as large corporations and even small individually owned bus...

A former kitchen worker at a California nursing facility has filed a lawsuit against her former employer claiming that Manor Care and its owners and operators failed to look into her complaints of race discrimination and sexual harassment, and even went as far as to encourage the degrading work e...

California police officers appear to be facing wide-spread discrimination lately. Earlier this week, we talked about a California lieutenant in Concord who recently settled his retaliation lawsuit with the department. Now, we will talk about three Latino officers who say they have been passed up ...

Nearly half a century ago, women made great strides in advocating for equality and the Equal Pay Act was enacted with the goal of abolishing sex discrimination when establishing wages. Almost 50 years later, a wage gap continues to exist in California. According to data collected by the United St...