Cal. Supreme Court Rules in Sick Pay Case

In McCarther v. Pacific Telesis Group, --- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, 2010 WL 547321 (February 18, 2010), two employees brought a putative class action, seeking a determination that Cal. Labor Code section 233, which permits an employee to use accrued paid sick leave to care for ill relatives, applies to paid sick leave policies in a collective bargaining agreement that provide for an uncapped number of compensated days off. Prior to class certification, the parties filed competing motions for summary judgment as to whether employers had the relevant duty under the Labor Code.

What about Fireside Bank v. Superior Court (2007) 40 Cal. 4th 1069 (discussing rule against one-way intervention), you ask? The Court did not address it.

Judge Freedman of the Alameda Superior Court granted summary judgment in favor of employer, and the employees appealed. The Court of Appeal reversed, but the Supreme Court granted review and affirmed the trial court. "We conclude, contrary to the Court of Appeal, that Labor Code section 233 does not apply to paid sick leave policies that provide for an uncapped number of compensated days off." Slip op. at 1.