ArticleSilicon Valley Venture Survey - Third Quarter 2014We analyzed the terms of 180 venture financings closed in the third quarter of 2014 by companies headquartered in Silicon Valley.United StatesCorporate/Commercial LawFenwick
ArticleCalifornia Employment Law RoundupAs we reported last year, the California Legislature passed AB 51 in an effort to prohibit employers from requiring employees to arbitrate claims under the California Labor CodeUnited StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleWal-Mart Defeats Largest Class Action For Gender Discrimination; All Employers Benefit From Reduced Risk Of Class Claims Arising Out Of Subjective Decisions By ManagersIn a far-reaching and favorable decision for employers, the U.S. Supreme Court in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes barred the "most expansive class action ever" as lacking evidence of the "common policy of discrimination" necessary for class treatment.United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleEuropean Commission Proposes New Rules Seeking Uniform Trade Secret ProtectionOn November 28, 2013, the European Commission issued a proposal for a directive "on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information against their unlawful acquisition, use, and disclosure." European UnionIntellectual PropertyFenwick
ArticleIntroducing The EUIPO: Understanding Recent Changes To EU Trademark LawSome of the most significant changes to the trademark law system in the European Union since its establishment in 1996 went into effect earlier this year.European UnionIntellectual PropertyFenwick
VideoBig Data Is The SEC's New Secret Sauce In Search For Potential Accounting FraudWith big data analysis, SEC investigators can more easily zero in on potential accounting or reporting violations even before a company's outside auditors or management ever do.United StatesCorporate/Commercial LawFenwick
ArticleTrump Executive Order Penalizes Federal Contractors For Advancing Allegedly Divisive DEI Training ConceptsThe order also applies limits to purportedly divisive DEI training within the military and federal agencies, and with respect to federal grant recipients.United StatesCorporate/Commercial LawFenwick
ArticleYou're The Man—Government Targets Individuals In FCPA CasesThe government has increasingly focused its FCPA enforcement firepower on individuals.United StatesCriminal LawFenwick
ArticleAge Discrimination Claim Survives Dismissal Where Questions Existed Regarding Adequacy Of Job Performance And Employee Presented Evidence Of Supervisor BiasReversing a trial court’s decision, a California Appeals Court in "Cheal v. El Camino Hospital" held that a former employee may present her age discrimination claim to a jury.United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleAre LinkedIn Contacts The Employer's Trade Secrets?A federal district court in California held that whether LinkedIn contact information can be an employer's trade secret is a factual dispute that must be decided by a jury.United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleCA Governor Expected To Sign Order Eliminating Workplace Mask Mandate For Vaccinated PersonnelCalifornia's Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal-OSHA) has released proposed revisions to its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleCalifornia Becomes Second State To Mandate Paid Sick LeaveGovernor Brown signed into law the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, which requires all California employers to provide employees paid sick leave.United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleCalifornia Court Addresses Admissibility Of "Me Too" Evidence Of DiscriminationIn "Hatai v. Dept. of Transportation", a California court of appeal upheld a trial court's decision to exclude "me too" evidence of discrimination from individuals outside of the plaintiff's protected class.United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleCalifornia Court Of Appeal Significantly Expands Pregnancy Leave RightsIn a case of first impression, a California court of appeal has applied the California Fair Employment and Housing Act to significantly expand the leave rights of employees disabled by pregnancy.United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleCalifornia Court Rejects "Narrow Restraint" Exception To State’s Prohibition On Non-Compete AgreementsA California appellate court expressly rejected a "narrow restraint" exception to California’s non-compete statute, an exception relied on by federal courts to enforce non-competes against California employees where the restraint excludes an employee from a narrow portion of his or her profession. United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleCalifornia Supreme Court Dramatically Reshapes California Worker Classification LawsThe California Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, imposing a simplified but more burdensome test that businesses ...United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleChange To Handbook Arbitration Policy—Adding Class Action Waiver—Was Valid And EnforceableOn the same day that the California Supreme Court issued Iskanian, another important ruling with respect to class action arbitration waivers was issued by the Ninth Circuit.United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleEmployee Claiming Retaliation Must Meet Higher Standard Of ProofIn another favorable ruling for employers, the Supreme Court in "University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar" clarified that employees must satisfy a higher "but for" standard of proof to prevail in a Title VII retaliation claim. United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick
ArticleEmployee Lawfully Terminated For Failure To Undergo Psychological ExamA California appellate court upheld a jury’s verdict that the USF lawfully terminated a professor who refused to undergo a fitness-for-duty examination.United StatesEmployment and HRFenwick