Katie E. Briscoe

Partner

Sacramento

kbriscoe@orrick.com

Read full biography at www.orrick.com

Katie Briscoe is a Partner in Orrick’s Employment Law Group in the Sacramento office.

Katie collaborates with employers to resolve challenging litigation and avoid risky compliance issues. She defends employers against PAGA, class, multi-plaintiff, and single plaintiff actions involving a variety of claims ranging from complex wage and hour disputes to contentious discrimination and harassment claims. Katie has jury trial experience and practices before a variety of forums, including state and federal trial courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and private arbitration and mediation. She understands the challenges that employers face and helps them to navigate ever-changing state, federal, and local laws. Katie has significant experience litigating and advising on wage and hour issues; exempt/non-exempt classification; discrimination, harassment, and retaliation; arbitration agreements; independent contractor classification; business expense reimbursement; compensation; Section 17200, and more. She also works with clients to resolve employment disputes prior to litigation.

Katie earned her J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law, where she graduated Order of the Coif.

Posts by: Katie Briscoe

Try To Restrain Yourself: California Is Temporarily Restrained From Enforcing Arbitration Ban

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Remember California’s new ban on mandatory workplace arbitration agreements? The Eastern District of California has put it on ice, granting a temporary restraining order against the ban’s enforcement. As a refresher, and as we wrote about here, on October 10, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law California’s latest afront on workplace arbitration—AB 51. Under AB 51, employers may not, “as a condition of employment, continued employment, or the receipt of any employment-related benefit, require an applicant or employee to waive any right, forum, or procedure” for FEHA and Labor Code claims. Violations of the new statute carry hefty consequences, including criminal penalties. Many employers see arbitration agreements as necessary to manage employment disputes and an outright ban on this efficient process strongly affects their bottom line. The ban was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2020, but the TRO put enforcement on hold for now. READ MORE →

The Golden State Expands Lactation Accommodations For Working Mothers

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Mother cares for child

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law SB 142, significantly expanding employers’ obligations to provide break time and lactation room accommodations for working mothers. Following in the footsteps of San Francisco’s Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance, SB 142 imposes a host of new requirements regarding lactation accommodation spaces, policies, and break time: READ MORE →

Money for Nothing? On-Call Checks For Free: California Court Says Employers Must Pay Employees For Certain On-Call Scheduling Requirements, Even If Employees Are Not Called Into Work

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A California Court of Appeal recently issued an order in Ward v. Tilly’s, Inc. finding that certain on-call scheduling practices trigger “reporting time pay” requirements even when the employee does not actually come into the work site. READ MORE →

Employers, Victims, and Witnesses Rejoice: California Bars Sexual Harassers from Suing for Defamation

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In the wake of #MeToo, California has enacted a new statute aimed to protect victims, witnesses, and former employers from claims of defamation for making complaints or communicating information about alleged sexual harassers to others.  On July 9, 2018, Governor Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 2770. The bill amends Civil Code section 47, which makes certain communications “privileged,” meaning those communications cannot be the basis of a defamation claim.

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Don’t Stand So Close to Me: Ten California Sexual Harassment Bills to Watch

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In tandem with the growing #MeToo movement, sexual harassment appears to be top of mind for California legislators in 2018. In the wake of Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and the like, California has been flooded with an unprecedented number of bills aimed at combatting sexual harassment.  The 20+ pending bills take on topics ranging from confidentiality provisions to increased mandatory harassment training.  Now more than ever, employers must pay heed to how sexual harassment issues are handled at their companies. Here are the highlights from the top 10 bills that – if passed – will most likely impact employers:

Senate Bill 820 would prohibit settlement agreement provisions that prevent the disclosure of facts related to claims of sexual assault, sexual harassment or sex discrimination cases. Otherwise known as the STAND (Stand Together Against Non-Disclosures) Act, the bill would apply to agreements entered into after January 1, 2019 and would create an exception where a complainant requests a nondisclosure provision (unless the defendant is a government agency or public official, in which case the exception would not be available). The STAND Act passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1, 2018 with a vote of 5-1, and is now headed to a full vote in the Senate. Assembly Bill 3057 contains similar prohibitions, and is currently in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. READ MORE →

California Takes One Step Closer to Imposing Reporting Requirements and Public Shaming for Employer Pay Gaps

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When we last checked in on AB 1209, the Gender Pay Gap Transparency Act, the proposed legislation was making its way through the California Senate. After making a few key amendments, the Senate passed the bill on September 7, 2017. The California Assembly approved the amendments on September 11, 2017, and now the fate of AB 1209 lies in the hands Governor Jerry Brown. READ MORE →

Upon Further Review: Supreme Court Weighs Deference Due District Courts in EEOC Subpoena Proceedings

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In a recent oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices considered a narrow procedural issue that could have broader implications for the subpoena power of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”).

At issue in McLane Company, Inc. v. EEOC is the standard of review applicable to district court decisions in proceedings brought to compel compliance with EEOC subpoenas issued in administrative investigations.  While all the other circuits to have considered the issue have applied an abuse-of-discretion standard, the Ninth Circuit held that such decisions are subject to de novo review. READ MORE →

To Free or Not to Free: The DOL’s New Overtime Regulations May Give Employees the Ability to “Unplug”—But at What Cost?

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Today, mobile technology allows many exempt employees to work remotely and perform work outside traditional working hours.  Some commentators assert that the smartphone has stretched the traditional 9-to-5 workday into a 24/7 on-call period, where employees are expected to respond to work-related communications long after they leave the office and late into the night.  The expectation that employees will be available to respond on evenings and weekends, however, has sparked pushback, causing some employees to call for more work-life separation and the ability to “unplug.”  In France, this push to unplug recently resulted in a new law that gives employees a “right to disconnect.”  Under that law, many French employers soon will be required to implement rules governing work-life balance and reasonable use of digital tools.

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It’s Contagious: Paid Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Hikes Spread to Los Angeles and San Diego

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Paid sick leave is on the rise, as we reported here, here, here, and here.  As we approach the one-year compliance anniversary for state-mandated paid sick leave, employers now face additional compliance wrinkles in the Los Angeles and San Diego markets.  Earlier this month, both Los Angeles and San Diego passed paid sick leave and minimum wage ordinances that take effect (and require compliance) as soon July 2016.

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Big Bucks for Baby-Bonding: San Francisco Passes Employer-Paid Parental Leave Ordinance

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Staying true to form, earlier this month San Francisco passed the nation’s first fully-paid parental leave law known as the Paid Parental Leave for Bonding with New Child Ordinance (“Paid Parental Leave Ordinance”).  California’s Paid Family Leave (“PFL”) program currently provides six weeks of partially-paid leave at 55 percent of an employee’s pay, up to $1,129 per week.  The Paid Parental Leave Ordinance mandates that employers pay the difference up to a weekly maximum, meaning most employees will receive six weeks of bonding leave at full pay.  Unlike PFL, which is funded through employee contributions to state disability insurance, benefits under the Paid Parental Leave Ordinance are employer-funded.

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