The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) has published its 13th annual summary of recent appellate court cases and decisions that may be of interest to ACWA member agencies and their counsel. The compilation represents cases decided by the courts in 2020 and 2021 across categories of significance to the water community, including the Endangered Species act, Clean Water Act, water rights, CEQA, NEPA, public contracting, public agency liability, the California Public Records Act, FOIA, Brown Act, and conflicts of interest, among others.

Somach attorneys Alexis Stevens and Alyson Ackerman co-authored the chapter covering employment law. The summarized cases include:

• Freyd v. Univ. of Or. (9th Cir. 2021) 990 F.3d 1211 — an Equal Pay Act claim
• Christian v. Umpqua Bank (9th Cir. 2020) 984 F.3d 801 — a hostile work environment case
• Olson v. United States, (9th Cir. 2020) 980 F.3d 1334 — on FMLA violation
• Kaanaana v. Barrett Business Services, Inc. (2021) 11 Cal.5th 158 — a prevailing wage case
• Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Internat. (2021) 10 Cal.5th 944 — independent contractor classification
• Choochagi v. Barracuda Networks, Inc. (2020) 60 Cal.App.5th 444 — medical leave under CFRA
• Miles v. City of Los Angeles (2020) 56 Cal. App.5th 728 — IWC wage orders
• Arnold v. Dignity Health (2020) 53 Cal. App.5th 412 — FEHA claim
• Oliver v. Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (2020) 51 Cal. App.5th 1 — on commute time

ACWA is a non-profit statewide association of more than 455 public agencies that are responsible for about 90% of the water deliveries in California.