On September 4, 2024, Oakland City Attorney Barbara J. Parker and Altshuler Berzon LLP filed a lawsuit in Alameda Superior Court on behalf of the City of Oakland alleging that Southwest Airlines Co. has violated Oakland and California’s sick leave laws. The lawsuit alleges that Southwest imposes unlawful limits on its Oakland-based employees’ rights to use paid sick leave, retaliates against employees who seek to use their accrued sick leave, and has failed to provide employees with sick-leave-related records and information required by law. The City also alleges that Southwest breached a 2020 settlement agreement with the City requiring the company to restore certain sick leave hours to employees.
A copy of the complaint is available here.