Moratorium on Evictions: When Will it End?

As most Californians are aware, the ban on residential evictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a key feature of the measures taken at the State level to maintain the status quo while the state (and country) recover from the financial impacts of stay-at-home orders and other measures.Landlords in California have been eager to know when they...

Cal/OSHA Revised Emergency Temporary Standards

On June 17, 2021, Cal/OSHA implemented revised emergency temporary standards for COVID-19 prevention.  These orders were put into effect immediately in accordance with Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-09-21, and have been filed with the Secretary of State by the Office of Administrative Law.  The newly adopted emergency temporary standards apply to all employees and places of employment, with the exception...

Public Entities Have Discretion to Limit Public Comment

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently affirmed public entities’ ability to limit public comment during meetings.  In the case of Bezis v. City of Livermore, the Livermore City Council was considering whether to establish a downtown planning steering committee and plaintiff spoke during public comment.  During his public comment, he focused on an unrelated action that the Council...

California Maintains Strict Compliance with Masking and Physical Distancing Emergency Temporary Standards Requirements

In a surprise decision by Cal/OSHA’s Standards Board late on June 9, 2021, they withdrew revisions to their COVID-19 prevention emergency temporary standards which were expected to have taken effect on June 15, 2021.  California employers are looking to Cal/OSHA to guide the state’s reopening and minimize the impacts on employer obligations.  The revisions were an attempt to bring workplace...

SB 95 – Resurrection of Supplemental Paid Sick Leave for COVID-19

Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 95 on March 19, 2021.  SB 95 requires California private and public employers with 25 employees or more to provide “Supplemental Paid Sick Leave” for qualifying leave events between January 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021.  SB95 became effective on March 29, 2021, and is retroactive to January 1, 2021.  This means that employees can...

I Care Too Much

In 2008 I witnessed a superstar, talented, attractive, has-it-all woman, who was approximately my age, shaving her head, attacking paparazzi with an umbrella, having a shotgun wedding in Las Vegas (and an annulment soon thereafter), walking barefoot in public, and participating in other erratic behavior detailed in the tabloids.  The result of these “Oops, I Did it Again” behaviors was...