August 2008

Legislation that significantly altered an employer’s ability to utilize noncompete agreements in the state of Oregon took effect on January 1, 2008.  How has the new law impacted corporate policies around restrictive covenants? What are the new best practices you need to implement to stay in compliance? 

For answers to these questions and more, join

It’s a slow news week in American labor and employment law, so we have to go all the way to Russia for a newsworthy story:  a Russian judge recently ruled that sex harassment is lawful because it’s necessary for human procreation.  According to the judge, sex harassment is "gallant," not criminal:  "If we had no

Here’s something to be watching:  a bill currently winding its way through Congress is likely to bring significant changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act.  The bill, knows as the ADA Amendments Act ("ADAAA"), will greatly broaden the scope of the ADA. 

Some highlights of the ADAAA:

  • Reverses several Supreme Court decisions that have seemingly narrowed

A California bill to provide universal paid sick leave died in committee last week, following intensive lobbying efforts from small businesses and their lobbyists.  The bill would have granted employees of small companies in California up to five days of paid sick leave each year, while workers at larger companies could take up to nine

In a 7-0 decision yesterday, the California Supreme Court held that a noncompetition agreement signed by a former Arthur Andersen CPA was invalid under California law.   In Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP, the court reminded us that noncompetition agreements are invalid under California’s Business and Professions Code section 16600, even if they are written narrowly enough not to