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January 16, 2024
In October 2023, we reported on several changes – involving workplace violence, cannabis, sick leave, and retaliation – to California’s employment laws becoming effective on January 1, 2024. But wait, there are more …
California Provides Additional Safeguards for Victims of Workplace Harassment or Discrimination
Existing law in California provides that libel is a false and unprivileged written publication that injures the reputation, and that slander is a false and unprivileged oral publication that injures the reputation. Existing law makes certain publications privileged (protected from civil actions), including complaints of sexual harassment by an employee, without malice, to an employer based on credible evidence, as well as communications between the employer and interested parties regarding a complaint of sexual harassment.
Effective January 1, 2024, California extended these protections to publications regarding experiences of sexual assault, sexual harassment, workplace harassment or discrimination, and cyber sexual bullying. See Assembly Bill No. 933. Therefore, parties who are sued for making defamatory statements based on their experiences as victims of sexual assault, harassment, or discrimination may assert privilege as a bar to liability. The law further specifies that a prevailing party may recover attorney’s fees and costs, as well as treble and punitive damages.
Public Prosecutors Can Bring Actions for California Labor Code Violations
Effective January 1, 2024, public prosecutors, including the Attorney General, district attorney, city counsel, or any other city or county prosecutor, will be able to prosecute (either civilly or criminally) certain violations of the California Labor Code, including those provisions dealing with wage and hour and employee classifications. See Assembly Bill No. 594. Prosecutors may file such actions in court, regardless of any arbitration agreement between employers and employees.
The California Legislature and Governor Newsom believed that this bill was necessary because wage theft – particularly in low-wage industries – has become so pervasive in the State that the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement no longer is able to address the problem on its own.
In addition to expanding public prosecutors’ authority to prosecute certain Labor Code violations, the new law provides for stricter punishments. For example, for wage and hour violations, the court may award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff, in addition to the unpaid wages, interest, and penalties already recoverable under the law.
For willfully misclassifying employees as independent contractors or for depriving a misclassified employee of owed compensation, employers face fines between $5,000 and $15,000 per violation. If the violations are determined to be part of a pattern or practice, the fines increase to $10,000 to $25,000 per violation. In addition to fines, if a court finds that an employer violated the classification provisions of the Labor Code, the employer must, for one year, prominently display – either on its website or at a physical location:
Employers in California should review their policies to ensure compliance with the state wage and hour and classification laws.
*Special thanks to Ava Petrellese, our Paralegal, for her contributions to this article.
The author of this article, Patricia Tsipras, is a member of the Bar of Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in California, Pennsylvania, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
