Labor & Employment Law
Labor & Employment Law
In demanding proof of detrimental reliance before finding the waiver of an arbitration right, the Eighth Circuit applied a rule found nowhere else. A finding of prejudice was not necessary to determine whether an employer had waived its right to co...
“The court determined that the statute violated the equal protection clause of the California Constitution.” On May 13, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, issued a verdict following a bench trial that effectively struck down SB ...
“This article discusses some tips for employers to consider when drafting their employment applications to avoid some of these legal pitfalls.” Employers trying to minimize risk of legal exposure must consider several critical issues when screening p...
Because podiatrists are not, by statute, qualified to refer patients to the Medical Marijuana Program, disabled podiatrist’s discrimination suit was dismissed. In a non-binding opinion, the Third Circuit upheld a district court’s dismissal of a New J...
The physician failed to sufficiently counter the hospital’s proffered legitimate reasons for his termination in the face of hundreds of text messages and damaging testimony by the subordinates. A discharged physician of Indian descent and Hindu faith...
The Tribe had contended that the NLRA preempted its compact with the State of California that required it to enter into a contract with the union that included an arbitration clause The Ninth Circuit has affirmed a district court’s judgment compellin...
The appeals court concluded that had the Board considered the tweet’s full context, it could not have concluded that a reasonable employee would view the tweet as a threat of reprisal. Substantial evidence did not support the NLRB’s finding that a su...
Below, the district court denied a preliminary injunction in the grantees’ challenge to the interim final rule and dissolved a temporary restraining order it previously granted. In an order, the Sixth Circuit declined to issue an injunction pending a...
Amazon met its burden to show that, at all relevant times, its manager was subject to the executive exemption and was not entitled to overtime or to rest and meal periods. After a former shift manager at Amazon filed suit against the company, claimin...
The court found the employer could not be liable for aiding and abetting discrimination as the underlying violation would form the basis for that claim, but it did grant leave to amend the unpaid overtime claims. A makeup artist and skincare consulta...
The food service workers initiative combines enforcement with outreach and education to raise awareness of the types of pay practices and other actions by employers that most commonly violate the FLSA and other federal labor laws. The Department of L...
Actions by the Arizona State OSHA Plan suggest that the state is either unable or unwilling to maintain its commitment to provide a program for worker safety and health protection, the DOL contends. The Labor Department is extending the deadline by 4...
After taking over the federal contract, ISS Action Security purportedly made changes to health and welfare benefits and eliminated a pay category without bargaining with the union. On May 20, the NLRB announced that its Region 16-Fort Worth Regional ...
However, they are underrepresented in leadership roles, and disability discrimination complaints have risen. The EEOC released a new report showing that opportunities for persons with disabilities in the federal workforce continue to improve but that...
Labor & Employment Law
The appeals court affirmed the ruling below that “a reasonable young woman of that age would have found the performance of nude dancing for older men to be sufficiently severe to create a hostile, intimidating and offensive working environment.” An a...
Employees are eligible to take leave under the Act once they have been employed by their employer for at least 12 months, and if they have at least 1,250 service hours in the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave. On May 10, 2022, Delaware ...
Sign-on bonuses are typically subject to a policy that requires the employee to work a minimum number of weeks or months before they are paid the bonus or, the bonus is subject to a clawback provision. Let's talk about problems with retention bonuses...
The court affirmed the lower court’s finding that the company failed to meet its burden to show a valid agreement to arbitrate claims between it and the people. In an enforcement action brought by the San Diego City Attorney, Instacart was denied a m...
Given the degree of operational entanglement between two companies, as well as the shared ownership and leadership of the companies, the entities should be considered a single employer for Title VII purposes. An office manager who alleged sexual hara...
The employee failed to cast doubt on the employer’s assertion that the he was terminated based on the decisionmakers’ honest belief that he exhibited “an overwhelming lack of leadership and engagement and supervision.”. A senior director for Ascensio...
The employee received lower performance scores during his annual reviews than the younger coworkers who were promoted to positions above him. A federal court in Kansas granted summary judgment to Frito-Lay, Inc. in a lawsuit in which an employee clai...
The trial court erroneously applied an outdated definition of “substantially limits” to conclude that the employee failed to show she was disabled under state law. A state court of appeals in Ohio ruled that a lower court erroneously applied an outda...
In a decision that could reshape enforcement throughout the executive branch, the Fifth Circuit held that in-house SEC proceedings for securities fraud were unconstitutional for at least two independent reasons. In a 2-1 opinion, a panel of the Fifth...
The complaint did not sufficiently allege a protected property or liberty interest in continued employment. A public school teacher without statutory tenure failed to plausibly allege infringement of his procedural due process rights in the terminati...
A roundup of recent decisions involving wage and hour issues of interest to the labor and employment community. D. Kan: Employee’s claims for unpaid bonus, and 401(k) contributions moves forward. An employee was granted his motion for summary for cla...
TECO admitted to willfully failing to hold a pre-job briefing; critical safety-related steps were not taken, including lowering the amount of coal entering a furnace, and shutting the unit down after a specified interval had lapsed. Tampa Electric Co...
The violations resulted from practices such as failing to pay prevailing wage, unlawfully deducting meal costs for H-2A workers, and paying straight time for all hours worked. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division has separately announced its recovery of ...
The DOL wants feedback on the appropriate salary level above which the exemptions for bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees may apply, among other issues. On May 25, 2022, the Department of Labor will hold an online listening...
The OFCCP focused on industries that have experienced employment growth during the pandemic, including a large proportion of industries expected to receive significant federal investments for infrastructure and economic recovery. On May 20, 2022, the...
OSHA proposed penalties totaling more than $1M after workers were exposed to serious hazards in unprotected construction trenches and a tire plant. OSHA issued citations to three employers after they exposed workers to serious hazards, resulting in t...
Labor & Employment Law
By the time she was fired, the employee had extensive work restrictions that would greatly limit her ability to perform clerical or administrative jobs. A district court did not err in granting the University of Minnesota’s motion for summary judgmen...
If you take a tip credit, you should also be aware of the requirements of the FLSA’s notorious “80/20” rule. Employers in the restaurant and hospitality industries know it’s a common practice to ask workers to share gratuities. Tip pools can promote ...
The DOL’s recent increased involvement in matters regarding classification of employees means that employers should exercise caution when hiring summer interns. Warm weather and summer are approaching, and so too is the end of the school year. As a r...
Employee brought direct suit for fees, rather than appeal of ALJ ruling denying certain portion of requested claimed fees. The Washington Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court’s award of $161,415 in attorney fees and costs to an employee, rejec...
The employer could argue the employee mutually agreed to terminate the contract early, but could not claim that he was terminated for cause or agreed to modify or waive the “for cause” requirement. An employee who claimed his employer breached his th...
Although the decisionmaker made a statement about not promoting ‘tenured employees’ for the managerial positions, which the court agreed “logically appears to be a euphemism for age,” the court declined to revive the employee’s non-promotion claims. ...
Although the D.C. Coronavirus Support Emergency Act amended the DCFMLA to cover employees working from outside of the district, it did so only for purposes of COVID-19-related leave. An asthmatic manager working for Exelon and the Potomac Electric Po...
A juror could find the employee’s statements to Telemundo were essentially the same as ones a typical transit rider could have made. The First Circuit vacated a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Worcester Regional Transit Aut...
The convenience store employee was subject to a flurry of disciplinary actions despite having a clean record prior to her complaint regarding the beverage distribution driver. A federal district court in Mississippi granted partial summary judgment i...
Amazon allegedly permits worksite managers to override recommendations made by Accommodations Consultants, causing employees to be denied reasonable accommodations for disabilities and pregnancy-related conditions. According to the New York State Div...
The Indiana staffing company will also post notices of workers’ rights under the INA’s antidiscrimination provision, train staff, and be subject to departmental monitoring for three years. Under a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice, ...
Men’s and women’s soccer teams will receive equal pay under two separate but identical collective bargaining agreements. The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA), and the United...
Labor & Employment Law
The association, whose members are anonymous, challenged the federal entities’ implementation and interpretation of Title VII and Section 1557 of the ACA. A federal court in North Dakota granted a religious employer alliance’s motion for a preliminar...
While prior courts may have saved an overly broad restrictive covenant by narrowing geographical or temporal scope, employers are now at risk of violating the statute simply by offering, entering into, or attempting to enforce an overly broad restric...
The EEOC highlights issues the agency thinks employers should consider to ensure such tools are not used to treat job applicants and employees in ways that the agency says might constitute unlawful discrimination under the ADA. The U.S. Equal Employm...
The employer complied with the interactive process and the employee failed to show that he had a disability or that the supervisor making the termination decision knew of his medical conditions. A software developer terminated in a restructuring fail...
The Ethan Allen employee was fired when she was temporarily unable to return to work after exhausting her FMLA leave. Although an Ethan Allen design consultant’s foot injury was not an actual disability under the ADA, as it was of limited duration, s...
Direct evidence of discrimination and retaliation led the court to deny summary judgment on those claims. A former Aerostar employee’s suit, alleging that the employer discriminated and retaliated against her, and unlawfully terminated her employment...
A jury would also decide whether her supervisor’s remarks that she would have no problem getting a job bartending because of her “tatas,” which he made to her individually and in front of her subordinates, created an HWE. An automobile dealership gro...
The lead plaintiff was not required to allege that employees on equivalent types of leave were treated differently from employees on FMLA leave, but only that his taking of FMLA-protected leave constituted a negative factor in the decision to termina...
Boiled to its essence, the Association was actually arguing that the grievant should not have been obligated to use any type of leave. An arbitrator denied an employee’s grievance to collect an additional 12 hours of pay. The employee had been schedu...
The current proceeding does not concern the merits of the union’s unfair labor practices complaint but concerns only whether or not the employer has complied with that judgment. The NLRB may proceed with a petition for civil contempt against an emplo...
The court characterized Tesla’s TRO application as without merit, ruling that Tesla had failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits of its trade secrets misappropriation claims. In a suit by Tesla alleging that a short-term employee stole tr...
A roundup of court actions granting conditional certification of FLSA collective actions and/or certification of Rule 23 class actions of interest to the labor and employment community. Call center employees alleged they were not compensated for work...
The court found the employee had not engaged in protected activity for reporting hydraulic systems manufacturer’s alleged violations of governor’s executive orders during the height of the pandemic. An employee’s calls to a work from home violations ...
The infractions resulted from practices such as paying H-2B workers below the advertised rate, failing to pay travel costs for H-2A workers, improper payroll deductions, and employing children during school. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division has separ...
Witnesses working in the construction industry highlighted inequality, toxic workplace culture. The EEOC examined, in a May 17, 2022 hearing, severe and pervasive discrimination in the construction sector, particularly against women and people of col...
The authorization for the WIOA expired in 2020; the U.S. labor force has grown by about half over the past 40 years, but federal spending on workforce development has fallen by two-thirds. On May 17, 2022, the House passed the Workforce Innovation an...
The defendant’s attorneys argued that jury instructions left each juror individually free to determine which predicate acts, among a “grab bag,” amounted to obstruction. In the Department of Justices’ first ever wage fixing conspiracy case, defendant...
The individuals pose as non-North Korean to obtain employment that helps fund the country’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, the advisory says. The Treasury Department, State Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigation have issued ...
Labor & Employment Law
Although the employer implemented some remedial measures, including setting up a trace inbox to receive anonymously emailed threats, there were questions about effectiveness stemming from its closure of its initial investigation and other delays. Boe...
From the start develop policies addressing various areas that will keep your business running smoothly once an employee joins the team and stick to them. So, you've started a business all by yourself. That is no small feat. You have chosen an awesome...
It appears that ICE officials have acknowledged that some workers remain sensitive to COVID-19 risks, even as their employers return to business-as-usual. In a surprise move, federal immigration officials recently announced that they will permit remo...
An arguably less qualified 53-year-old male was purportedly pre-selected by the decisionmaker for one of the jobs, and a 26-year-old female employee credited for her enthusiasm was selected for the other one. A jury will decide whether a long-tenured...
Despite being purportedly assured she would not lose her job based on the drug screen results, the employee was fired after a positive drug test. An IT business analyst for Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) who took CBD oil to treat her hemiplegic mi...
State regulations exclude from the definition of a FEHA disability those “conditions that are mild, which do not limit a major life activity, as determined on a case-by-case basis.” An employee who came to work with mild symptoms of COVID-19, was sen...
The molding company employee went on medical leave several times and each time returned with new job restrictions, until eventually the employer had no work for her, resulting in her termination. Initially employed as a “molder” and then as a “finish...
The court found sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude that the industrial company interfered with the employee’s FMLA rights but granted summary judgment on his retaliation claim. After failing to return to work after breaking his big...
The relator adequately pleaded that the contractor submitted falsely inflated estimates for facilities maintenance projects, resulting in the negotiation of fraudulently induced, exorbitant contract prices. The Sixth Circuit reversed summary judgment...
Neither the superintendent’s verbal recommendation for the administrator’s continued employment nor the board’s vote to accept her employment agreement was sufficient to confer a property interest in continued employment. A former school administrato...
First Amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act-based claims were not “constitutionally” or “prudentially” ripe for review. Eighteen federal civilian employees filed a lawsuit against President Biden vis-a-vis Executive Order 14043, which manda...
The FLSA is clear that ensuring compliance with the statute’s overtime requirements is the employer’s obligation “and it is absolute.” An employee who worked as a live-in manager of a motel was granted her motion for summary judgment with respect to ...
According to the agency, after sharing news of her pregnancy with her coworkers, the cafeteria worker was summarily fired. The EEOC announced a settlement in a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against a Florida employer. Presidente Supermarket No. 31...
The additional visas are intended to meet the demand for seasonal workers, particularly in light of the labor shortage. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor have released a rule authorizing an additional 35,000 H-2B tempora...