California - General

On June 30th, California’s Governor signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2155, which concerns the enforceability of written arbitration agreements in California. The bill amends Code of Civil Procedure Section 1281 and provides that any agreement unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) is also unenforceable under the California Arbitration Act (CAA). AB 2155 takes effect January 1, 2027. The legislation underscores the importance of regularly reviewing arbitration agreements to ensure they r…

On June 23, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Cocom rejected a plaintiff-appellee’s argument that an employment arbitration agreement was unconscionable. Because the agreement’s scope was limited to employment-related claims, rather than all potential claims, the court ruled it was not unconscionable. The court’s decision is a key win for employers and limits several recent California state court cases that had found arbitration agreements unenforceable due to their scope…

Workplace defamation claims can arise from termination explanations, reference checks, investigation interviews, complaints, and manager comments. In this...

In the fifth and final episode of this five-part podcast series, Karen Tynan (shareholder, Sacramento) and Robert Rodriguez (shareholder, Sacramento), who are co-chairs of Ogletree’s Workplace Violence Prevention Practice Group,, discuss how employers can build a high reliability workplace violence

On April 7, 2026, a California appellate court enforced an arbitration agreement spanning three onboarding documents. The court held that ambiguities among the documents did not negate the parties’ clear intent to arbitrate. It also found the agreement was not unconscionable.

In the fourth part of this five-part podcast series, Karen Tynan (shareholder, Sacramento) and Robert Rodriguez (shareholder, Sacramento), who are co-chairs of Ogletree’s Workplace Violence Prevention Practice Group, discuss how California’s SB 553 workplace violence prevention law applies to law en

In the third part of this five-part podcast series, Karen Tynan (shareholder, Sacramento) and Robert Rodriguez (shareholder, Sacramento), who are co-chairs of Ogletree’s Workplace Violence Prevention Practice Group, examine the exemptions to California’s workplace violence prevention law, SB 553. Ka

The Supreme Court of California recently ruled that the formatting and legibility of an arbitration agreement do not bear on whether it is substantively unconscionable but clarified that courts must still scrutinize difficult-to-read agreements for unfairness as with other contracts.

In the second part of this five-part podcast series, Karen Tynan (shareholder, Sacramento) and Robert Rodriguez (shareholder, Sacramento), who are co-chairs of Ogletree’s Workplace Violence Prevention Practice Group, continue their conversation on Cal/OSHA citations under California’s SB 553. Karen,

In the first part of this two-part podcast series, Karen Tynan (shareholder, Sacramento) and Robert Rodriguez (shareholder, Sacramento), who are co-chairs of Ogletree’s Workplace Violence Prevention Practice Group, review the first year of Cal/OSHA enforcement of California’s SB 553 workplace violen

Introduced by Assembly Member Nick Schultz on February 12, 2026, Assembly Bill 1898 (AB 1898) would impose significant new notice and transparency obligations on California employers that use AI-powered tools to manage workers or make employment-related decisions. If signed into law, this bill would

Costa Mesa has passed an ordinance that regulates staffing for grocery and drug retailers that operate self-checkout stations. The measure requires employee staffing and supervision of self-checkout, restricts certain transactions at self-checkout, and requires customer signage. It is similar to an

On January 13, 2026, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, issued a published decision in Tuufuli v. West Coast Dental Administrative Services, LLC , affirming a trial court’s order compelling arbitration of an employee’s individual claims and dismissing her class claims against

Assembly Bill (AB) 1940 , introduced in February 2026, represents a potentially significant development in California employment law. If enacted, this legislation would expressly include perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause within the definition of “sex” under the California Fair Employment a

California Risk Assessments: Seven Steps for Employers Effective January 1, 2026, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) requires certain employers to complete detailed, documented risk assessments before engaging in many routine data processing practices. Because the assessments must be finaliz

California High Court Limits Use of Formatting and “Fine Print” Arguments to Defeat Arbitration The California Supreme Court (the “Court”) has confirmed that an arbitration agreement’s formatting—standing alone—does not render its terms substantively unconscionable, even where the text is difficult

As California aggressively pursues its transition to electric vehicles, the state faces a significant fiscal challenge: the steady erosion of gas tax revenue, the primary funding source for road construction, maintenance, and repair for decades.