California employers must reimburse workers for their COVID work-from-home expenses, a panel of the state’s Court of Appeal has ruled.
To accomplish his duties for his employer, Paul Thai required Internet access, telephone service, a telephone headset, and a computer and accessories.
On March 19, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that directed, effective immediately, all individuals living in the state of California to stay home or at their place of residence, with limited exceptions.
Thai’s employer directed him and several thousand of his coworkers to continue performing their regular job duties from home. Thai and his coworkers personally paid for the services and equipment necessary to do their jobs while working from home and were never reimbursed.
In a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) action on behalf of the workers, he alleged that the employer failed to reimburse employees for their work-from-home expenses in violation of Section 2802(a) of the Labor Code, which provides:
“An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer… .”
The employer demurred to the complaint, and the trial court sustained the demurrer, reasoning that the Governor’s order was an intervening cause precluding direct causation by the employer.
Thai appealed and the appellate panel...
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