LEX VINI

Supreme Court Upholds Arbitration Class Action Waivers

It’s official.  Class action waivers are enforceable in employment arbitration agreements.  On Monday, May 21, 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the enforceability of the waivers in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis.  The Court resolved a conflict between the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) as to which Act trumped […]

TTB Extends Alternate Procedure For Excise Taxes Credits through 2019

Today TTB announced in Industry Circular 2018-1A that it is extending until December 31, 2019 the ”Alternate Procedure” under which wine producers can tax pay wine stored at bonded tax wine cellars (“BWC”) without having to physically transfer their wine back from the BWC in bond.  This update to TTB’s prior procedure is a welcome […]

Napa River and Sonoma Creek Vineyard General Permit

In July 2017, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted waste discharge requirements (a “General Permit”) to regulate vineyards parcels of 5 acres or more in the Napa River and Sonoma Creek watersheds to monitor vineyard sediment, pesticide and nutrient discharges. General enrollment is due by July 31, 2018. The Regional board […]

California Supreme Court Redefines Independent Contractor Analysis

On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, completely overhauling (but not overruling) the independent contractor standard previously set forth in the seminal case of S.G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal. 3d 341. All businesses using independent […]