Firm files reply on behalf of workers in California Supreme Court

September 6, 2022 – Today firm lawyers Randy Erlewine, Brian Conlon, and Kyle O’Malley filed a Reply Brief on behalf of workers in the California Supreme Court in Raines v. U.S. Healthworks, Case No. S273630. The firm represents two job applicants who sued Concentra-owned U.S. Healthworks on behalf of hundreds of thousands of California job applicants after U.S. Healthworks, working on behalf of employers, subjected applicants to discriminatory, arbitrary, and invasive medical examinations as a condition of employment. The complaint in the case alleged these questions violate California’s employment and civil rights laws, including the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”).

Despite the plain language of FEHA, which defines “agents” of employers as themselves being “employers,” the trial court dismissed the complaint, ruling that no agent of an employer may ever be liable under FEHA. With the support of the California Attorney General and leading advocates for workers and persons with disabilities, Plaintiffs appealed to the Ninth Circuit. At the firm’s urging, that court sought clarification from the California Supreme Court about this important and unresolved area of California law. No further briefing from the parties is expected and amicus briefs are due to be filed in the California Supreme Court in early October. Oral argument has not yet been set.