Photo of Pamela Devata

Pamela  is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. She specializes in all aspects of employment defense including counseling, training, and litigation. Ms. Devata’s employment litigation practice includes state and federal court cases involving allegations of sex, race, and national origin discrimination and harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and state laws, allegations of retaliation, allegations of disability discrimination and reasonable accommodation issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and state statutes, allegations of age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), allegations of discrimination under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and wage and hour disputes. She also has extensive experience with employment litigation in administrative agencies.

Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Legislature has just created yet another protected class of individuals entitled to sue employers under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The new class of potential plaintiffs are applicants denied employment because of their conviction history, where the employer is unable to justify relying on that conviction history to deny employment.

We’ve reported on two January
Continue Reading California Passes State-Wide Ban-the-Box Law

Seyfarth Synopsis:  The California Fair Employment and Housing Council (“FEHC”) has approved new regulations, effective July 1, 2017, to limit employers’ use of criminal history when making employment decisions.

Request for a criminal background checkNew Regulation Highlights

Updating our prior post, the FEHC has finalized new regulations on employer consideration of criminal history, largely adopting the guidance set forth by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Continue Reading New Regulations Limit California Employers’ Consideration of Criminal History

Responsive Web Design Concept. VectorSince New Jersey led the way in 1994, many states have enacted so-called Megan’s Laws, which establish public online registries of individuals who have been convicted of a sex-based offense. California’s version of Megan’s Law is codified as California Penal Code § 290.46.

Section 290.46 requires all convicted sex offenders to register with the state’s sex-offender Registry. California then publishes
Continue Reading Megan’s Law: How California Limits its Use for Employment Purposes