Earlier this month, Starbucks scored an important procedural victory from the California Court of Appeals, which ruled that a class of employees lacked standing to sue over questions the coffee chain asked on its employment applications about prior marijuana convictions.  Click here to read the opinion in Starbucks v. Superior Court

Despite the apparent

A class of current and former FedEx Ground drivers misclassified as "independent contractors" will receive an additional $9 million in reimbursements for employment-related expenses, an appointed referee ruled October 20.  This award will be combined with a previous award of $5.3 million the drivers received in 2006.  The award will reimburse the drivers for such expenses as truck

As previously reported in the Stoel Rives World of Employment, the California Assembly passed Senate Bill 1583, which would have made paid consultants who advise employers to treat workers as independent contractors to avoid employee status jointly and severally liable with the employer if it is determined the workers are not independent contractors.  The Governator