Source: https://www.lcwlegal.com/people/default/detail/alias/paul-knothe
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 20:39:27+00:00

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Paul Knothe is an associate in Liebert Cassidy Whitmore's Los Angeles office. Paul advises and represents clients in the areas of employment law and labor relations. Paul has extensive experience in handling employment litigation, grievance arbitrations, administrative hearings, and providing day-to-day legal counsel to clients.
Paul's litigation practice includes matters in state and federal courts, including appellate courts pertaining to alleged discrimination and retaliation, wage-hour issues, and issues surrounding collectively bargained Memoranda of Understanding; handling all aspects of litigation, from case assessment and pre-trial motion practice, through all forms of discovery proceedings, and settlement, to trial. Paul has litigated both class-action and single or multi-plaintiff employment matters.
Paul also regularly conducts thorough workplace investigations, with a focus on high-profile incidents or allegations against senior management personnel.
Prior to joining LCW, Paul practiced labor and employment law in both the public and private sectors.
Police Officers v. City (2015) - Currently prosecuting the termination appeals of multiple officers terminated in connection with an internationally renowned incident of excessive force resulting in the death of a citizen.
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs v. County of Los Angeles (2015) - Published Court of Appeal decision holding that deputy sheriffs' associations that were parties to five MOUs providing for individual arbitration of wage/hour disputes could not combine claims and proceed instead in court in an interest of "judicial efficiency." This opinion arose out of the same matter as Los Angeles County v. Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission.
Munroe v. County of Riverside (2016) - LCW represented the County of Riverside in a lawsuit brought by a former Deputy County Counsel for violation of the California Equal Pay Act, FEHA gender discrimination and retaliation, discrimination for use of medical leave under the California Family Rights Act, and whistleblower retaliation under Labor Code section 1102.5. The plaintiff alleged that her male counterpart was paid significantly more even though she had more experience and was performing comparable work and that her termination was retaliatory. LCW obtained summary judgment on all claims.
Romero v. City of Barstow; City of Barstow v. Barstow Police Officers Association (2015) - Defeated a petition for writ of mandate and obtained an order confirming arbitration award where terminated police officer claimed that he was entitled to judicial review of binding arbitration award under the POBR and Constitutional due process.
Los Angeles County v. Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission (2013) - Obtained a writ of mandate overturning the order of the Employee Relations Commission combining into one multi-class action approximately 10,000 wage-hour claims that were required to be brought individually under the terms of five Memoranda of Understanding between the Association and the County.
On February 20, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Timbs v. Indiana, holding for the first time that the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition of excessive fines applies to civil forfeiture by state law enforcement agencies. It did not, however, decide how large a forfeiture constitutes an unconstitutionally “excessive” fine.
On September 30, 2018, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. signed two significant pieces of legislation, Senate Bill 1421 and Assembly Bill 748, that will require major changes in how law enforcement agencies respond to requests for peace officer personnel records. We described this legislation in detail in a previous Special Bulletin.
On the evening of August 31, 2018, the California Legislature passed two bills intended to increase public access to information regarding use of force incidents and officer misconduct. In the event Governor Brown signs these bills into law, law enforcement agencies will need to adapt their policies, procedures and practices regarding peace officer personnel files and California Public Record Act (“CPRA”) requests beginning as soon as January 1, 2019 for some records, and July 1, 2019 as to others, as described below.
Assembly Bill 2282, signed into law by Governor Brown on July 18, 2018, attempts to clarify elements of California’s salary history and equal pay statutes, Labor Code sections 432.3 and 1197.5. This legislation, which appears to help answer several common questions about these statutes, takes effect January 1, 2019.
On October 12, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 168, which will go into effect January 1, 2018 as Labor Code 432.3. This new statute prohibits employers, in many circumstances, from attempting to obtain information regarding a job applicant’s salary history, or from considering that salary history in determining whether to offer employment to an applicant or what salary to offer an applicant. This prohibition applies only to the applicant’s salary history in the private sector, and generally does not prohibit employers from considering public sector salary history.

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