Supreme Court of California

In this case, plaintiff's employer terminated him while he was absent on approved medical leave, as plaintiff was engaged in outside employment in violation of company policy. The arbitrator relied on the federal "honest belief" defense and rejected plaintiff’s claim that the employer violated his right to reinstatement under the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act (CFRA) and its federal counterpart, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The Court of Appeal vacated the arbitrator’s award in the employer's favor. The judgment of the Court of Appeal is reversed, where, although the arbitrator may have committed error in adopting an untested defense, any error that may have occurred did not deprive plaintiff of an unwaivable statutory right because the arbitrator found he was dismissed for violating his employer's written policy prohibiting outside employment while he was on medical leave.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/29/2015
• Published 01/29/2015

Judges

• Chin

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel