Smith v. Golden State Warriors, LLC

Background

Nicholas M. Smith worked for the Golden State Warriors, LLC, from July 2012 until March 16, 2018, as a Senior Account Executive in Group Sales. His complaint asserted 15 causes of action, including claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, various California wage laws, California’s Private Attorneys General Act, breach of contract, and retaliation laws.

Smith sought partial summary judgment on causes of action 6 through 11, involving wage and Private Attorneys General Act claims. The Warriors sought summary judgment on all claims. The parties disputed, among other things, whether the Warriors lawfully deducted a five-percent arena fee when calculating commissions and whether Smith was terminated for poor performance or for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons.

Commission deduction and wage claims

The court held that the five-percent arena-fee deduction was permitted. Smith’s compensation agreements based commissions on net revenue, and the court found that the fee was directly tied to each salesperson’s ticket sales, was included in the commission calculations, and was not hidden. The court therefore concluded that the deduction did not violate California Labor Code section 221 or section 223 and did not support Smith’s breach-of-contract claim.

The court granted the Warriors’ motion for summary judgment on the 10th cause of action, concerning unlawful deductions under Labor Code sections 221 and 223, and the 11th cause of action, for breach of contract. It also granted the Warriors’ motion on the 6th cause of action, concerning allegedly inaccurate wage statements, because the arena-fee deduction was proper and identifying the employer as “Golden State Warriors” rather than “Golden State Warriors LLC” was not enough to violate the wage-statement law.

The court granted the Warriors’ motion on the 7th cause of action, concerning allegedly late payment of wages during Smith’s employment, and the 9th cause of action, under California Business and Professions Code section 17200. Those claims depended on the theory that the arena-fee deduction was improper.

The court reached the opposite result on the 8th cause of action, concerning final wages due upon resignation or discharge under California Labor Code sections 201, 202, and 203. The evidence showed that Smith was terminated on March 16, 2018, but did not receive his final paycheck until March 23, 2018. The court granted Smith’s motion for summary judgment on that cause of action. In its conclusion, the court described this claim as failure to pay timely wages upon resignation or discharge under the Private Attorneys General Act.

Discrimination and retaliation claims

The Warriors argued that Smith was terminated for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons and could not show that those reasons were a pretext, meaning an explanation used to conceal unlawful discrimination or retaliation. The court found a genuine dispute of material fact about why Smith was fired.

Smith was terminated shortly after returning from disability leave, within days of requesting additional workplace accommodations, and after raising concerns to his superiors about workplace conditions, overtime, and alleged racism and sexism in a letter he planned to send to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The court also considered the Warriors’ evidence concerning Smith’s workplace conduct and the November 2017 written warning. Because the evidence could support competing explanations for the termination, the court denied the Warriors’ motion for summary judgment on causes of action 1 through 5 and 12 through 15. Those causes of action included the disability-discrimination, discrimination-prevention, wrongful-discharge, and retaliation claims identified in the complaint.

Disposition

The court granted Smith’s motion for summary judgment on the 8th cause of action and denied his motion in all other respects. It granted the Warriors’ motion for summary judgment on the 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, and 11th causes of action and denied the motion in all other respects. The court granted the Warriors’ request for judicial notice. It denied Smith’s motions to seal because he did not establish a compelling reason for sealing, particularly because most or all of the documents had already been publicly filed by the Warriors without objection.