Latest News
Legislative Round Up: Brown Vetoes Arbitration Bill and Summary of Important Labor & Employment
- Details
- Written by Gregory L. Blueford & Jizell K. Lopez
Over the weekend, Governor Brown finished off his last rounds of approving and vetoing bills passed by the Legislature. One of the bills that was vetoed by Governor Brown over the weekend that was of particular importance to employers in California was Assembly Bill 3080 (“AB 3080”) which would have prohibited employees from being forced to sign arbitration and/or non-disclosure agreements as a condition of employment under the California Labor Code. Governor Brown stated in his veto message that the bill plainly violates federal law based on the case law which states the Federal Arbitration Act governs both the enforcement of arbitration agreements and the initial formation of the arbitration agreement.
UPDATE: Ninth Circuit Puts Hold On Appeal Regarding Employee Use of Company Email for Union Business
- Details
- Written by Gregory Blueford
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit granted the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) request to pause an appeal on the controversial Purple Communications, Inc. ruling. As we previously reported here, Purple Communications, Inc. (“Purple”), a video provider for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, appealed a 2014 NLRB ruling that allows employees to send union messages over work email to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The NLRB’s 2014 ruling held that employees who already have access to their employer’s email system are permitted to use the email system for protected union-related activities because email is the premier platform for “worker speech” in the modern workplace.