Malk Law Firm

11/09/2021

“This is a case in which women did complain, both within the Public Defender’s Office and even to law enforcement, about s*xually inappropriate conduct, s*xual assault or just plain s*x harassment...[a]nd there were claims that were not investigated, they were not taken seriously, and the problems continued.”

Top management perpetuated an ‘Animal House’ frat party atmosphere at the office, which is tasked with representing indigent clients facing criminal charges.

11/01/2021

"Some of the workers say they were paid as little as $2.40 an hour."

https://abc7.com/caregivers-wages-unpaid-california/11149178/

Some of the workers -- who cared for elderly residents 24 hours a day, six day a week -- say they were paid as little as $2.40 an hour.

10/31/2021

"A judge has ordered two Twin Cities rental companies and their officers to pay $736,000 to nearly two dozen women over allegations that one of the defendants pressured the tenants for s*x to avoid eviction"

A judge has ordered two Twin Cities rental companies and their officers to pay $736,000 to nearly two dozen women over allegations that one landlord pressured the tenants for s*x to avoid eviction.

10/29/2021

"The data further illustrates the rising leverage workers have gained in the job market this year and they are commanding higher pay, more benefits, and other perks like flexible work hours. With more jobs available than there are unemployed people, government data shows, businesses have been forced to work harder to attract staff."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wages and salaries jumped in the three months ending in September by the most on records that date back 20 years as companies are forced to offer higher pay to fill a near-record number of available jobs.

09/20/2021

"A massive new peer-reviewed study from Microsoft that found that, while remote work is fine for plowing through day-to-day work, it has the potential to put a serious damper on collaboration and innovation long -term."

http://ow.ly/IEzG50Gdj3e

The new study confirms what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella calls the hybrid work paradox.

08/30/2021

Over the last few weeks, many people have contacted our office requesting representation because their respective employers are introducing a vaccine mandate, and employees who refuse to vaccinate will lose their jobs. We declined to represent each of these potential clients (and politely declined attempts to discuss vaccines and politics), and we explained that California law allows employers to require vaccinations, with very limited exceptions. Whether the vaccine has emergency use approval (as some callers have pointed-out) is irrelevant to private employers in California, although the vaccine now has full approval. The bottom line is that, just as individuals have a choice of whether to vaccinate, employers have a choice of whether to require vaccinations. Both groups have these choices, and must deal with the consequences. It’s worth noting that, if any employer requires employee to vaccinate, the employer must pay for the time spent getting the vaccine, including travel time.

08/04/2021

"Law school was once considered a surefire ticket to a comfortable life. Years of tuition increases have made it a fast way to get buried in debt.Recent graduates of the University of Miami School of Law who used federal loans borrowed a median of $163,000. Two years later, half were earning $59,000 or less."

http://ow.ly/7YZB50FKw9v

With high-paying jobs out of reach for most, graduates of the University of Miami and other well-regarded programs routinely carry six-figure student loans for years. “I thought I would come out making much more than I did,” said a recent graduate who owes nearly $300,000.

08/03/2021

"[T]he Governor’s behavior toward Executive Assistant #1 escalated to more intimate physical contact, including regular hugs and kisses on the cheek (and at least one kiss on the lips), culminating in incidents where the Governor grabbed Executive Assistant #1’s butt while they took a selfie in the Executive Mansion, and where the Governor, during a hug, reached under Executive Assistant #1’s blouse and grabbed her breast."

07/12/2021

"Frito-Lay workers in Topeka, Kansas, have been on strike since Monday over low pay and forced overtime. Some workers have been forced to work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, for weeks on end due to short staffing. They want to see that change. 'Nobody I know loves Frito-Lay enough that they want to live there,' said Monk Drapeaux-Stewart, a box drop technician."

Frito-Lay workers in Topeka, Kansas, have been on strike since Monday over low pay and forced overtime. Some workers have been forced to work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, for weeks on end due to short staffing. They want to see that change. “Nobody I know loves Frito-Lay enough that they wan...

06/14/2021

"An AP investigation last year found that several senior FBI officials have avoided discipline — quietly transferring or retiring with full benefits — even after claims of s*xual misconduct against them were substantiated.

That includes James Hendricks, the former top agent in Albany, New York, who was alleged to have s*xually harassed eight female subordinates, including by asking one to have s*x in a conference room. An assistant director also retired after he was accused of drunkenly groping a female colleague in a stairwell."

http://ow.ly/ksIy50Fa3dn

Faced with a reckoning, the FBI says it is getting serious about s*xual harassment in its ranks, starting a 24/7 tip line, doing more to help accusers and taking a tougher stand against agents found to have committed misconduct.

06/03/2021

The fact that Google's Chief of Global Diversity wrote, "If I were a Jew I would be concerned about my insatiable appetite for war and killing in defense of myself," doesn't inspire confidence in how companies view diversity.

Google’s head of diversity strategy is under fire over a 2007 blog post in which he wrote that Jews have “an insatiable appetite for war and killing” — and an “insensitivity” to people’s suff…

06/02/2021

Forced employment arbitrations are generally unfair for many reasons, including, 1) the the wavier of jury trial and appeal, 2) the unavailability of the class and collection action device to collectively litigate claims which, when brought alone, are too small to pursue, and 3) some law firms representing companies give lots of mediation business to an arbitrator once he or she is selected in their case in hopes of influencing the arbitrator, whose fees their client is paying.

Companies have been forcing these agreements on employees for years, and avoiding class actions lawsuits in the process.

It's hard to feel any sympathy for the companies who forced these arbitration agreements on employees in hopes that - absent a the possibility of a class action - employees wouldn't enforce their wage and hour rights in arbitration. Kudos to employee rights attorneys who have been mass-filing arbitrations against companies to secure real relief for large groups of employees. Judge William Alsup perhaps said it best: “No doubt, DoorDash never expected that so many would actually seek arbitration...Instead, in irony upon irony, DoorDash now wishes to resort to a class-wide lawsuit, the very device it denied to the workers, to avoid its duty to arbitrate. This hypocrisy will not be blessed.”

The retail giant is no longer steering customers away from the court system, as companies scramble to find ways to avoid lawyers who file mass-arbitration claims.