Ex-worker suffered severe burns from fire at company's cannabis farm in California

A recent case before the California Court of Appeal discussed strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP), which are subject to a motion to strike unless the person filing has established that they will probably prevail on the claim.

In Callanan v. Grizzly Designs, LLC, the complainant filed a complaint against the defendants, who were Grizzly Designs, LLC and two individual defendants. The complainant alleged that the defendants:

• employed him to work on their licensed cannabis farm in Northern California;
• deliberately misclassified him and others as independent contractors to deny them protections that employees usually receive under California wage and hour laws;
• ordered him to stay on the farm and threatened to reduce his production bonus if he did not;
• only paid him the $30,000 production bonus that they owed while he was lying in the hospital after suffering severe burns in a fire in the farm’s bunkhouse;
• failed to provide workers’ compensation insurance.

The complainant said that, while he initially chose not to file an employment claim, he later decided he should because of the defendants’ baseless complaint against him, which alleged that he intentionally started the bunkhouse fire.

The complainant made claims under the Labor Code and other laws against the defendants, including the following: failure to pay minimum wages, failure to pay wages for missed meal and rest...

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