EdLawConnect Blog

As has been widely reported in the media, earlier this month a Rutgers University student was convicted of bias crimes for homophobia-motivated webcam spying on his roommate, who committed suicide after learning of the spying. The case has focused attention on the phenomenon of bullying on college and university campuses.

School district administrators aren’t used to “thanking” Sacramento too often, given the annual slew of additional mandates and reduced funding from the Legislature. When the “Rodda Act,” the set of laws that provides for collective bargaining by school district employees in California, was enacted in 1975, however, the Legislature provided a little known exemption from the normal ...

On February 15, 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a “notice of proposed rule making,” describing proposed revisions to regulations under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). These regulations are proposed primarily to implement recent amendments to the military leave provisions.

The FMLA entitles eligible employees to take job-protected, unpaid leave ...

During the every day course of business, actual or potential disputes may arise that could lead to later legal action. In these situations, the preservation of electronically stored information can be overlooked.

In addition, litigation discovery rules provide that parties in litigation must take necessary measures to preserve electronic evidence. If appropriate measures are not taken in that regard, a ...

As noted in a recent AALRR alert, the March 1, 2012, decision of the Court of Appeal in Stockton Teachers Association v. Stockton Unified School District held that certificated employees hired into categorically funded positions pursuant to temporary contracts may nevertheless have the rights of probationary employees with respect to seniority, eligibility for tenure, and rehire rights after layoff. Although the case involved certificated employees of a K-12 district, the case has significant implications for community college districts as well in both the short- and long-term.

On February 28, 2012, the court in Maria Esther Rey v. Madera Unified School District (February 28, 2012) held that a county committee on school district organization may not be held liable under the California Voting Rights Act ("CVRA," Elections Code § 14025 et seq.) when the county committee has taken no action to impose or apply an election method on behalf of one of its school districts. The court also upheld the trial court’s decision to reduce by over 90%, the amount of attorneys’ fees awarded to plaintiffs in the case.