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U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Failure to pay share of arbitrator's fees because of financial incapacity entitled legal malpractice plaintiff to continue litigation in court, at least where she gave notice of her inability to pay, and genuinely tried to secure alternative payment arrangements.  Tillman v. Tillman, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 10818 (9th Cir....

U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals District court did not err certifying class of sales associates who employer allegedly required to perform tasks unrelated to sales but paid only sales commissions in violation of California Law, because question whether employer required associates to perform unrelated tasks was common question capable of class wide resolution, and...

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals District court properly granted partial summary judgment under the Fair Labor Standards Act, because city improperly excluded cash in lieu of benefits payments made under flexible benefits plan from calculation of police officer's regular rate of pay for purpose of paying overtime compensation.  Since 40% or more of the city's...

Supreme Court of the United States Constructive discharge claim accrued under Title VII and statute of limitations began to run when employee notified employer of resignation, not when he allegedly suffered intolerable working conditions from discrimination.  Green v. Brennan, 2016 U.S. LEXIS 3484 (May 23, 2015). U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals District Court erred...

Supreme Court of United States Employer need not obtain favorable judgment on merits to be prevailing party, for award of attorneys' fees against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  Disposition of EEOC's claims due to its failure to investigate and conciliate on behalf of 67 women before suing was sufficient for purpose of prevailing.  Lower courts...

NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS District court improperly granted summary judgment against Title VII claims based on judicial estoppel, because employee listed claims on her amended bankruptcy petition.  Henderson v. Bonaventura, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 8838 (9th Cir. May 13, 2016). District court properly granted summary judgment against claim employer violated collective bargaining agreement, because...

District court correctly vacated grievance committee award requiring employee to arbitrate statutory wage claims under collective bargaining agreement.  Committee recognized and ignored applicable law requiring agreement to contain clear and unmistakable agreement to arbitrate statutory wage claims.  Requirement applied to labor as well as discrimination claims, because agreement to arbitrate is a waiver of the...