A California appeals court has ruled that an engineer who worked remotely from Utah for a Bay Area software company cannot claim California’s workplace protections after he was fired over an arrest in Florida, even though his employer was headquartered in the state. The decision in Saberin v. Alation, Inc. clarifies a question that has grown more urgent as remote work has reshaped the California workforce: does an employer’s home base alone pull out-of-state remote workers under the umbrella of California law?
Pejman Saberin began working for Alation Inc., a California-based enterprise software company, in 2021, living and working remotely from Utah, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. While returning from vacation, Saberin was arrested in Florida. His sister reported to Alation that he had been injured in an accident and emailed the company to request additional time off, the Union-Tribune reported. Alation later uncovered Saberin’s arrest, and executives Daniel Rose and Christos Mousouris decided to terminate him, citing his unapproved absence and dishonesty about the reason for it.
The termination decision was made in Illinois, per the newspaper’s account, though Mousouris normally worked from home in California and Saberin’s direct supervisor worked remotely from Washington. California-based employee Liz Laber, who performed her work from California, provided input into the termination decision and ultimately communicated it to Saberin. The criminal case against Saberin was later dismissed in March 2024.
Arbitration and the Fight Over Which State’s Law Applies
Alation’s proprietary and inventions agreement required binding arbitration of employment disputes pursuant to California law, and Saberin argued in arbitration that his termination violated that law. He specifically invoked California Labor Code Section 432.7, which bars employers from considering a worker’s arrest not followed by conviction when deciding on any condition of employment, including termination, and California Government Code Section 12952, which similarly prohibits employers with five or more workers from weighing an applicant’s non-convicted arrest…