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U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals District court properly granted summary judgment against federal discrimination claim, because former employee failed to raise genuine issues of fact whether the employer subjected him to adverse employment action or more favorably treated similarly situated individuals outside his protected classification.  District court properly granted summary judgment against retaliation claim,...

U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii District court dismissed former employee's state wrongful discharge claim, because government contract violations involve no clear mandate of public policy.  District court dismissed former employee's state whistleblower act constructive claim because concerns about possible safety or government contract violations were not sufficiently intolerable that reasonable employee would have felt...

U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals District court properly granted employer's motion to compel arbitration because parties incorporated American Arbitration Association rules into their agreement and therefore agreed to arbitrate the question of arbitrability.  Roszak  v.U.S. Foodservice, Inc., 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 514 (9th Cir. Jan. 6, 2016). Note: We analyze cases to learn rules...

U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii District court denied motion for certification federal wage and hour collective action, because different employment settings of putative representatives and class members and defenses available to the employer evidenced no compelling or unifying nexus created by a common policy or plan of the employer that would lend itself to...

U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals District court properly granted summary judgment against federal discrimination claim, because employee did not allege adverse actions or failed to rebut the employer's legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for its actions or present any other direct or circumstantial evidence that discrimination more likely motivated  the employer's actions.  District court properly granted...

District court properly granted summary judgment against employee's discrimination and retaliation claims, because employee did not suffer adverse employment action or show the employer's legitimate reasons for its actions were pretextual.   Blount v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 22119 (9th Cir. Dec. 18, 2015). District court improperly granted summary judgment against...

District court improperly granted summary judgment against a human resource manager's FLSA retaliation claim.  There was evidence the supervisors who terminated her understood or reasonably should have understood that she was asserting rights protected by the FLSA and calling for their protection, because FLSA compliance was not part of her job portfolio.  Rosenfield v. Globaltranz...

District court improperly granted summary judgment dismissing union's petition to compel arbitration, because statute of limitations did not begin to run until employer made it clear it refused to arbitrate, even though the employer has earlier stated the matter was neither grievable nor arbitrable.  SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West v. Los Robles Regional Medical Center, 2015...