As more employees return to the office, this is a good time to review dress code policies to be sure that they reflect the most recent developments in federal and California law. One significant change is California’s Crown Act, effective since January 1, 2020. The Crown Act expanded the definition of race under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) such that hairstyle traits associated with race – braids, afros, and twists, among others – are now protected against discrimination. This article reviews current law and makes recommendations for employers so that their dress code policies do not adversely affect a protected class.

This month, the Biden Administration announced that it has directed the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue Emergency Temporary Standards requiring that employers with 100 or more employees mandate that employees be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or test on a weekly basis for COVID. OSHA has not yet released these Temporary Standards, but the news has already raised important questions for employers, including how to handle employee medical information. This article reviews the state of the law with respect to employee health information and makes recommendations regarding what every employer should do now to prepare for the new Temporary Standards.

California passed a law in March of 2021 that allowed employees to take up to an additional 80 hours of supplemental COVID paid sick leave, if they met certain requirements. This law expires on September 30, 2021, and the Legislature did not pass any new legislation extending by the deadline for the Regular Session. This means that except in specific circumstances discussed below, employers will not be required to provide their employees with supplemental COVID paid sick leave starting October 1, 2021.

On September 10, 2021, the last day of the 2021 legislative session, the California State Assembly unanimously passed Senate Bill 41, titled the Genetic Information Privacy Act. The bill will go before Governor Gavin Newsom and must receive his approval over the next 30 days to become law.

On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that he was directing the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to adopt Emergency Temporary Standards requiring many employers to mandate that their employees are vaccinated for COVID or tested weekly for COVID. The mandate will apply to employers with 100 or more employees and is expected to apply to nearly 80 million workers.

Scali Rasmussen announced today that attorneys Colleen O'Brien and Monica Baumann have been selected as a nominees by L.A. Times B2B Publishing for its inaugural 'Inspirational Women Awards.'

Scali Rasmussen Founder and Managing Shareholder Christian Scali has been recognized as a 'Visionary' in Business of Law: Trends, Updates & Visionaries, a special feature published this week by L.A. Times B2B Publishing. Attorneys were recognized as visionaries "for their contributions and leadership within their organizations, the legal field, and the community at large," the feature says.

Passwords are ubiquitous. We use them to access everything from our bank accounts and sensitive business documents, to our social media and online memberships. The most secure passwords are a series of random numbers, letters, and characters. Using these types of passwords can present practical challenges, though, because they are easily forgotten and difficult to enter correctly. Further, because passwords are such a common part of our lives, we can too easily fall into bad habits that put business or personal information at risk.

If you’ve ever felt uneasy about providing so much personal information to your phone apps, a $58 million settlement by Plaid Inc. this month makes clear those concerns are well founded.

California law provides parties with the opportunity to make a settlement offer without fear of incurring additional fees and costs if the case goes to trial and a less favorable judgment is awarded. That opportunity is found in Code of Civil Procedure section 998. While 998 offers are common in litigation, different issues periodically arise that require judicial review. Two recent appellate decisions provide insight into how to ensure the court will uphold your 998 offer, while also reminding us that 998 offers have very specific requirements to be valid.