Featherstone v. Southern Cal. Permanente Med. Grp., 2017 WL 1399709 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017)
Ruth Featherstone alleged that her former employer (SCPMG) discriminated against her based on a "temporary disability" that was caused by an adverse drug reaction, which resulted in an "altered mental state." During this alleged altered mental state, Featherstone resigned orally from her job in a telephone conversation with her supervisor so that she could "do God's work" and then, a few days later, confirmed her resignation in writing. When Featherstone emerged from the altered mental state (which caused her to take off all of her clothes and walk around naked in front of others, swear at family members and take showers for no reason), she sought to rescind her resignation, which SCPMG declined to permit her to do. Featherstone alleged that SCPMG acted with discriminatory animus by refusing to allow her to rescind her resignation. Although Featherstone was eligible for rehire, she never reapplied for her position. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of SCPMG, and the Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that the refusal to allow a former employee to rescind a resignation is not an adverse employment action under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The Court further held that SCPMG was not contractually obligated to permit the rescission of an at-will employee's resignation and affirmed summary adjudication of the remainder of Featherstone's related claims, including failure to prevent discrimination, failure to accommodate a disability, failure to engage in the interactive process and wrongful termination in violation of public policy.
Santillan v. USA Waste of Cal., 853 F.3d 1035 (9th Cir. 2017)
Gilberto Santillan, a 53-year-old garbage truck driver in Manhattan Beach, was employed for 32 years before his employment was terminated by a new route manager (Steve Kobzoff) after Santillan had four accidents in a 12-month period. Santillan disputed that he had four accidents and testified that he was one of five older Spanish-speaking employees who were fired or suspended after Kobzoff became the route manager. Following what the court described as a "public outcry" over Santillan's termination (the son of one of the homeowners dressed up as Santillan for Halloween because he considered Santillan to be a "hero"), USA Waste agreed to reinstate Santillan if he passed a drug test and physical examination, a criminal background check and "e-Verify" to prove his right to work in the United States. When Santillan failed to provide sufficient information for the employer to complete an e-Verify check on Santillan, he was fired again because he did not provide "proof of [his] legal right to work in the United States within three days of hire as required by the Immigration Control and Reform Act of 1986." The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the employer, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that Santillan had established a prima facie case of age discrimination, which USA Waste had failed to rebut because it did not offer a legitimate reason for firing Santillan. The Court held that Santillan was exempt from the IRCA requirements because he was a "continuing" and not a "new" employee. Moreover, the Court held that California public policy considers immigration status to be irrelevant in the enforcement of state labor, employment, civil rights and employee housing laws, so the agreement to satisfy the e-Verify requirements was void as against public policy. The Court also held that Santillan had engaged in protected activity by using an attorney to represent him in negotiating the original settlement agreement.
McLane Co. v. EEOC, 581 U.S. ___, 137 S. Ct. 1159 (2017)
Damiana Ochoa filed a charge with the EEOC alleging sex discrimination (based on pregnancy) in violation of Title VII, when, after she tried to return to her job following maternity leave, her employer (McLane Co.) informed her that she could not come back to the position she had held for eight years as a cigarette selector unless she passed a physical strength test. Ochoa took the test three times but failed to pass and, as a result, her employment was terminated. McLane disclosed that it administers the test to all new applicants and to employees returning from a leave that lasts longer than 30 days. Although McLane voluntarily provided general information about the test and the individuals who had been required to take it (gender, job class, reason for taking the test and the score received), it refused to disclose "pedigree information" for each test taker (name, social security number, last known address, telephone number and the reasons why particular employees were terminated after taking the test). In this EEOC subpoena enforcement action, the district court refused to compel production of the pedigree information, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed that order following a de novo review of the lower court's order. In this opinion, the United States Supreme Court vacated and remanded the judgment of the Ninth Circuit, holding that the district court's decision to quash or enforce an EEOC subpoena should be reviewed under the more deferential abuse of discretion standard.
Somers v. Digital Realty Trust, Inc., 850 F.3d 1045 (9th Cir. 2017)
Paul Somers...
