On March 15, 2021, Los Angeles County officially entered into the state’s Red Tier, permitting restaurants to offer limited capacity indoor dining, and permitting gyms, museums and galleries to open some indoor operations. The County issued several reopening protocols laying out the rules for businesses with the current reopening.

Dining

The County’s Department of Public Health issued a revised Public Health Order for Dining Protocols (the “Order”) with new protocols for indoor dining, outdoor dining and worker safety in light of the reopening.

Indoor Dining

With ...

On February 24, 2021, a judge in the United States Court for the Northern District of California preliminarily approved a $15 million class-action settlement for Post Foods, based on the case Debbie Krommenhock et al. v. Post Foods, LLC, Case No. 3:16-cv-04958-WHO, which concerns representations made by Post Foods LLC in the labeling and advertising of several popular cereal brands, including Honey Bunches of Oats and Raisin Bran.

Plaintiffs Debbie Krommenhock and Stephen Hadley filed a class action complaint against Post in August 2016 alleging that Post violated California ...

On March 11, 2021, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (the “Department”) announced an anticipated reopening of certain activities between March 15 and March 17, as L.A. County moves to the lower risk Red Tier of the state’s reopening plan. The exact date of the reopening will depend on when the County hits the threshold of 2 million vaccine doses being administered to people in the most under-resourced communities across the County.

The following activities will be permitted next week after L.A. County moves to the Red Tier:

• Museum, zoos and aquariums can open ...

On February 4, 2020, California State Senator Scott Weiner, who represents San Francisco and parts of San Mateo County, introduced Senate Bill 314, the Bar and Restaurant Recovery Act (the “Act”), to modernize the bar and restaurant industry and provide more flexibility to facilitate the economic recovery of the industry from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Act’s goal is to help the bar and restaurant industry bounce back from the pandemic by reducing the red tape, lengthy turnaround times and permit redundancies of the industry in order to provide more economic ...

The American Rescue Plan Act (“the Act”) was passed by the Senate on March 6, 2021, and is now headed for ratification by the House of Representatives and signature by President Biden. The $1.9 trillion stimulus includes over $25 billion earmarked as direct aid to restaurants.

Restaurant Revitalization Fund

Section 6003 of the Act establishes a Restaurant Revitalization Fund, to be administered by the Administrator of the Small Business Administration. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund includes $25 billion earmarked for restaurant Revitalization Grants. The Act ...

On March 1, 2021, the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District ruled in favor of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (the “Department”) officials who halted outdoor dining in November 2020 during a spike in COVID-19 cases.

After the Department announced a ban on all outdoor dining, the California Restaurant Association (“CRA”) filed a lawsuit. State Court Judge James Chalfant initially ruled in favor of the CRA on December 8, 2020, and held that the Department acted arbitrarily and failed to perform the required risk-benefit analysis before issuing the ...

Q: I am a defendant in a fraudulent transfer action brought by a state court receiver. Can I demand a jury trial? I don’t want the judge who appointed the receiver to try my case, because he is clearly biased!

A: Whether you are entitled to a jury on a fraudulent transfer claim (now called a “voidable transfer” under California law— Civil Code § 3439 et. seq.) depends upon the specific relief being sought. If the action just seeks the recovery of money, it is a purely legal action, and you would be entitled to a jury. If, however, the action ...

On February 23, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a legislative package of six bills providing relief to individuals and businesses experiencing hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these measures are directly targeted towards the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Small Business Grant Relief

The new measures provide $2.1 billion in small business grants of up to $25,000. This is a significant increase over the $500 million that was initially approved for these grants in November 2020.

Grants are available only for businesses and nonprofits with gross ...

The CalSavers Retirement Savings Program (CalSavers) was established to assist the estimated 7.5 million California employees without employer retirement savings plans. Mandatory compliance is phased-in over time and depends on the size of the employer. The current phase requires all California employers with 51 to 100 employees to register with CalSavers or certify that they are exempt by June 30, 2021. More specifically, employers without employer-sponsored retirement plans must register to begin offering the state-mandated employer retirement plan to their employees ...

On February 24, 2021, the Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 to pass an ordinance mandating that employers provide $5/hour in additional premium hazard pay for on-site grocery and drug retail workers.

The ordinance is expected to go into effect the week of March 1, after it is signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has already expressed support. The pay increase will go into effect for 120 days and then expire.

The ordinance applies to grocery stores and drug retails stores with more than 300 employees nationwide and more than ten employees on-site in Los Angeles. Approximately 26,000 ...