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California Supreme Court Confirms Public Agencies Are Exempt from State Meal and Rest Break Requirements and PAGA Civil Penalties

The California Supreme Court recently held in Stone v. Alameda Health System (August 15, 2024, No. S279137) __ Cal.__ __[2024 WL 3819163] that certain Labor Code provisions and related Industrial Wage Commission (IWC) wage orders governing meal and rest breaks do not apply to public agencies.

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Taxpayer Protection Act Removed from November Ballot

On June 20, 2024, the California Supreme Court ruled that the ballot initiative designated as Initiative 1935 and known as the “Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act” (TPA) amounts to an impermissible revision of the Constitution and ordered the Secretary of State to refrain from placing it on the November ballot.

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Supreme Court Clarifies Test for Whether Blocking Public from Officials’ Social Media Accounts Violates First Amendment

The United States Supreme Court finally resolved a split between the circuits by articulating a new test which aims to preserve the right of public officials to remain private persons, even when they create content on social media which implicates their public persona.

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Communication is Everything: Ninth Circuit Declines to Award Private School Tuition to Parents who Failed to Respond to School District’s Offer to Hold IEP Meeting

In Newport-Mesa Unified School District v. D.A. (9th Cir. 2024, No. 23-55351), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held in an unpublished decision that the school district had no obligation to convene an annual individualized education plan (IEP) meeting when the parents of a parentally-placed private school (PPPS) student who had previously received special education and related

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U.S. Supreme Court Lowers Threshold for Proving Harm in Title VII Employment Discrimination Cases

On April 17, 2024, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held, in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri (2024) 601 U.S. __ [144 S.Ct. 967], that an aggrieved employee who was transferred to another position need only suffer "some harm" in an employment discrimination case brought under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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U.S. Supreme Court Holds that Legislatively-Adopted Development Impact Fees Must be Related and Proportional to Development Impacts

In its recent holding in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado (2024) __ S.Ct. __ [2024 WL 1588707], the United States Supreme Court held that legislatively-adopted development impact fees are subject to constitutional scrutiny under the Takings Clause.

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Ninth Circuit Upholds District's Manifestation Determination

In C.D. v. Atascadero Unified School District (9th Cir. April 9, 2024, No. 23-55563) __F.3d __ [2024 WL 1526748], a panel of Ninth Circuit judges agreed with findings from the District Court and Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) that a high school student plaintiff had failed to establish (1) that his conduct was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to his disabili

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School Board Prevails Against PERB in For-Cause Dismissal of Union President

On January 9, 2024, California’s Fifth District Court of Appeal issued a unanimous published decision in Visalia Unified School District v. Public Employment Relations Board (2024) ___ Cal.Rptr.3d ___, finding that Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) terminated a permanent classified employee – who also served as the union president – for her ongoing poor performance

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