Cheryl Sabnis

The pandemic changed the employment law landscape, Sabnis says. “It’s a brave new world out there for both sides of the V.”

“Plaintiffs and defendants are dealing with the ways that covid can create liability or potential liability,” she said. “And there are new and novel theories, and new and novel uses of existing law.”

As an example, Sabnis is defending a healthcare facility she can’t identify against a lawsuit by several workers and their union claiming the defendant did not do all it should have to protect employees from coronavirus infection and illness. One plaintiff even blames the facility for her mother’s death from COVID-19, she said.

“We’re seeing a development in employment law in a space that nobody’s really talked about before. It’s pandemic law, really,” she said.

Employers must abide by health and safety requirements, including the ever-shifting federal, state and local regulations and orders. But the question is whether an employer is liable for creating a public nuisance for not doing so.

Like many management-side employment attorneys, Sabnis has been spending much of her time counseling clients on new rules and regulations. She also advises them on the ramifications of working from home and returning to the office.

With employees at home, concerns include data security, engagement and productivity, and meal and rest breaks. Those who return to the office will likely want more freedom to work at home temporarily for unusual situations, such as a sick child. “It’s going to be harder for an employer to say, ‘No, we’re paying you to work full time,’” she said.

“The concept of work from home seems so simple, but the ramifications for businesses and employers and practitioners like myself are legion.”

Sabnis also had several important litigation wins recently. In one, a senior female dockworker had a dispute with her union, which declined to let her work. She lost her position as a “steady foreman” with Sabnis’ client, which the woman then sued for discrimination.

“It was very important to set the precedent that there shouldn’t be any liability for our client for following the rules that were agreed to with the union” in its collective bargaining agreement, she said. “It was one of those cases that you have to win. … And we did win.” Sabnis obtained summary judgment in mid-January. Kobren v. Total Terminals International LLC, 2:19-cv-09189 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct 24, 2019).

In recent years, Sabnis has made a number of presentations to legal and employer groups on the #MeToo movement as well as consulted with clients on sex harassment concerns. Thanks to the pandemic, that work slowed down.

“For example, the rash of calls I usually get after holiday parties didn’t happen this year,” she said.

— Don DeBenedictis