On Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 399, the “California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act” (the “Act”) that should be of interest to any company with employees in the state. The Act, which takes effect on January 1, 2025, adds a new section to the California Labor Code to prohibit employers from taking or threatening adverse employment action against an employee because the employee refuses to attend employer meetings about, or to participate in, receive, or listen to, any communications about the employer’s opinion on religious or political matters. The law is similar to, but broader than, laws in several other states that attempt to decrease the influence of “captive audience” meetings communicating an employer’s political or religious opinions.Continue Reading California Joins Growing List of States Prohibiting Employer Action Against Employees Who Refuse Political or Religious Communications
Andrew Garrahan
Andrew Garrahan represents and counsels clients at the intersection of law and politics. He guides them through both regulatory compliance issues and government investigations on matters including state and federal campaign finance, ethics, lobbying, and corruption, as well as in congressional investigations.
Andrew’s prior career in political fundraising gives him a unique perspective on the challenges faced by his clients, which include corporations, candidates, government officials, political and nonprofit organizations, and private individuals.
Andrew’s counseling and advisory practice includes:
- guiding clients on structuring of and compliance for their state and federal lobbying and grassroots advocacy campaigns;
- representing campaigns, Super PACs, corporations, trade associations, and individuals on the applicability of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and state campaign finance law;
- counseling on Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) registration and disclosure, and its interaction with the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA);
- helping companies comply with state and federal ethics laws, particularly on gifts and conflicts of interests, and domestic anticorruption; and
- auditing corporate political law compliance practices.
Andrew’s investigations and defense work includes:
- representing clients in Congressional investigations, including responding to letter requests and subpoenas;
- preparing company officers and other individuals for testimony in Congressional investigative hearings;
- defending clients in Department of Justice matters related to campaign finance, lobbying, ethics, and public corruption; and
- representing clients before the FEC and state campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics regulators.