Ari Stiller Wins Seating Case in Court of Appeal

On July 19, 2022, the California Court of Appeal decided Meda v. Autozone in favor of Monica Meda, a client of Stiller Law Firm principal, Ari Stiller, through his association with Kingsley & Kingsley.

California requires employers to provide employees with seats when the nature of their job allows seated work. This is the first published case addressing what an employer needs to do to "provide" seats. The Court agreed with Mr. Stiller’s argument that the seats must be "present or ready for immediate use" and that employers cannot "impede or discourage" employees from sitting down while they work.

This is a similar standard to the one that the California Supreme Court adopted in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, which governs what employers must do to “provide” employees with meal periods. Stiller Law Firm was happy to contribute to this result strengthening protections for California workers.

The case is published as Meda v. AutoZone, Inc., 81 Cal.App.5th 366 (2022).