California employment case index

Tipped employees won preliminary certification of a nationwide FLSA collective in Arizona, and the district court authorised notice to out-of-state servers because one Arizona plaintiff had sued. The Ninth Circuit held that theory wrong, joining four circuits against the First to hold that Bristol-Myers Squibb applies in FLSA collective actions: where jurisdiction is specific, each opt-in plaintiff's claim must bear its own connection to the forum. The panel simultaneously preserved the Campbell two-step and refused to require pre-notice rulings on absent employees' arbitration agreements — a split decision whose wins and losses both reshape forum strategy in hybrid wage cases.

A unanimous California Supreme Court fixes the two-step framework for the duty to protect against third-party harm — special relationship first, the Rowland policy factors only to limit it — the controlling analysis for negligent hiring, supervision, and retention claims against employers.

Harte-Hanks paid outside sales representatives higher salaries and commission rates than inside representatives and treated the difference as reimbursement for their automobile expenses. The California Supreme Court held the practice permissible in principle, but only where the employer establishes a means to identify which portion of overall compensation is intended as reimbursement and that portion fully covers expenses actually and necessarily incurred. Section 2804 bars any agreement that waives full reimbursement – a holding that unravelled the trial court's denial of class certification.