Labor

  • February 28, 2025

    CFPB Endgame Is Just 'Five Men And A Phone,' Filings Allege

    Current and former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees alleged in D.C. federal court filings that the Trump administration is much more aggressively trying to gut the agency than it has let on, warning it has already damaged vital functions.

  • February 28, 2025

    OPM Tells Agencies To Give On-The-Clock Union Task Info

    The U.S. Office of Personnel Management's acting director instructed federal agency heads to submit information about the official time unionized workers spent negotiating, handling grievances and engaging in labor-management relations, issuing the memorandum to carry out President Donald Trump's aim of restoring "efficiency and accountability" in the government.

  • February 28, 2025

    2nd Circ. Revives Electrical Worker's Union Pension Fight

    An electrical worker can try again to argue that two trustees of his union pension fund violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by paying themselves over $1 million in compensation from the fund's assets, with the Second Circuit ruling Friday that the worker has standing to sue.

  • February 28, 2025

    Starbucks Broke Labor Law At Conn. Cafes, NLRB Judge Says

    Starbucks violated federal labor law at two Connecticut stores in its efforts to quell support for Workers United, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, dinging the coffee giant for unlawfully firing a union supporter and threatening the loss of a Lyft reimbursement, among other actions.

  • February 28, 2025

    Attys Debate NLRB Deference, Athlete Status At ABA Panels

    Labor lawyers don't know yet how the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 2024 to scale back deference to agencies will affect their practices, nor do they agree on how the courts have treated this emerging issue so far, a panel at an American Bar Association showed Friday.

  • February 28, 2025

    Wash. Hospital Beats Claim It Balked On Union Pay Agreement

    A hospital in Kennewick, Washington, wasn't obligated to enter into a written agreement with a union after two meetings about potential wage enhancements, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, saying the union and hospital still need to hash out some disagreements before codifying the changes.

  • February 28, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: 9th Circ. Hears NLRB, UPS, Teamsters Dispute

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for Ninth Circuit oral arguments in a labor dispute involving the National Labor Relations Board, a UPS subsidiary and an International Brotherhood of Teamsters local. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • February 27, 2025

    FTC Asks To Delay In-House PBM Insulin Case

    Arguing that pharmacy benefit managers accused of artificially inflating insulin prices have already "unreasonably delayed" discovery, the Federal Trade Commission is asking an in-house judge to push back an evidentiary trial in the case, saying it would allow the administrative court more time to accommodate up to 17 expert witnesses.

  • February 27, 2025

    Unions Can Depose DOGE In Agency Access Suit, Judge Says

    The Department of Government Efficiency must tell a group of unions whom it's sent into the Department of Labor, the Department of Health & Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and what computer systems they've accessed, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

  • February 27, 2025

    NLRB Tells 6th Circ. Constitution Args Can't Block Board Case

    The National Labor Relations Board has asked the Sixth Circuit to deny an auto parts manufacturer's bid to pause an NLRB case on constitutional grounds, saying the company hasn't shown it would suffer the type of harm that justifies an injunction if the case moves forward.

  • February 27, 2025

    NLRB Atty Not Afraid Of Constitutional Challenges To Agency

    A pile of suits seeking to freeze the National Labor Relations Board's prosecution of specific employers on constitutionality grounds aren't a threat to disable the agency because losing would only spell the end of its officials' job protections, a board litigator said Thursday at an American Bar Association conference.

  • February 27, 2025

    NLRB Mandates Workers Return To Offices By End Of March

    The National Labor Relations Board is requiring its employees to return to the office full time by March 31, according to a copy of a new policy obtained by Law360, drawing ire from the unions representing the agency's workers who claim the requirements violate their collective bargaining agreements.

  • February 27, 2025

    Yellow Corp. Beats Teamsters In WARN Act Row

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge has ruled that trucking company Yellow Corp. is not liable for its failure to provide 60 days notice of layoffs to 22,000 union workers who lost their jobs as the company descended into Chapter 11, finding that Yellow was a "liquidating fiduciary" at the time and intended to comply with the WARN Act.

  • February 27, 2025

    DOL Pick Faces Scrutiny About DOGE From Senate Dems

    President Donald Trump's nominee for deputy labor secretary faced intense questioning about "the sheer incompetence" of the administration's actions in what otherwise might have been expected to be a less controversial U.S. Senate confirmation hearing Thursday.

  • February 27, 2025

    Farmworker Union Sues Over Calif. Border Patrol Raid

    A farmworker union and Kern County, California, residents accused U.S. Border Patrol agents of carrying out an unlawful, nearly weeklong immigration enforcement sweep to arrest people of color who appeared to be farmworkers regardless of their immigration status.

  • February 27, 2025

    Former Seyfarth Partner To Chair DOL's Review Board

    The U.S. Department of Labor tapped a former Seyfarth Shaw LLP partner with more than 25 years of experience on employment and immigration law to be chair of the Administrative Review Board.

  • February 27, 2025

    US Senate Panel Advances Trump's Labor Secretary Pick

    A U.S. Senate committee voted Thursday to move forward the nomination of former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the U.S. Department of Labor.

  • February 26, 2025

    Amazon Fights NLRB's Finding On Off-Duty Access Rule

    National Labor Relations Board prosecutors were too quick to go after Amazon for banning off-duty workers from accessing company facilities three years ago, the company argued, saying prosecutors owed the e-commerce giant a chance to adjust its 2022 off-duty access policy before alleging the policy violated a 2021 settlement.

  • February 26, 2025

    Calif. AG's Hiring Of Lieff Cabraser In Climate Suit Challenged

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta improperly hired Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP to assist with the state's climate deception suit against fossil fuel companies when attorneys in his office were capable of handling the litigation, the union representing the public lawyers contended in a newly filed state court complaint.

  • February 26, 2025

    NLRB Asks 3rd Circ. To Save Post-Gazette Union's Power

    The National Labor Relations Board told the Third Circuit Wednesday that an injunction is needed to save what is left of the union representing newsroom employees at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, though members of the panel questioned if the NewsGuild's alleged loss of bargaining power was due to the publisher's actions or a two-year-long strike.

  • February 26, 2025

    US Chamber Urges 6th Circ. To Back FedEx Pension Suit Toss

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday to affirm dismissal of FedEx retirees' suit alleging their pensions were undervalued due to outdated mortality data used in conversions, warning that a reversal in favor of the proposed class could set off a wave of new benefits litigation.

  • February 26, 2025

    NLRB Attys Endorse New Union Vote At Ala. Amazon Facility

    Amazon mounted an aggressive anti-union campaign at a Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse, resulting in a National Labor Relations Board judge correctly ordering a new union representation election at the facility, board prosecutors and the union told the NLRB, asking it to uphold the judge's order.

  • February 26, 2025

    Aramark, Spinoff Co. Want 'Fraud By Hindsight' Suit Tossed

    Aramark and a uniform supplier spinoff company asked a Georgia federal judge Tuesday to dismiss claims that it intentionally lied to investors about chronic underfunding of the business, accusing a union pension fund of "using a pleading tactic universally condemned by the courts: fraud by hindsight."

  • February 26, 2025

    MSPB Pauses Firing Of 6 Probationary Fed Employees

    The Merit Systems Protection Board paused the Trump administration's attempt to fire six federal workers on probationary status, saying the U.S. Office of Special Counsel showed it was likely the firings violated civil service laws that require the government to undertake reductions in force based on merit.

  • February 26, 2025

    'Go Forth And Settle': NLRB Acting GC Talks Easing Deals

    In a shift from a foundational policy of his fired predecessor, the acting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board said at an American Bar Association conference Wednesday that he will settle cases on terms short of what prosecutors could win at trial.

Expert Analysis

  • How DOGE's Severance Plan May Affect Federal Employees

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    President Donald Trump's administration, working through the Department of Government Efficiency, recently offered a severance package to nearly all of the roughly 2 million federal employees, but unanswered questions about the offer, coupled with several added protections for government workers, led to fewer accepted offers than expected, says Aaron Peskin at Kang Haggerty.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Axed ALJ Removal Protections Mark Big Shift For NLRB

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    A D.C. federal court's recent decision in VHS Acquisition Subsidiary No. 7 v. National Labor Relations Board removed long-standing tenure protections for administrative law judges by finding they must be removable at will by the NLRB, marking a significant shift in the agency's ability to prosecute and adjudicate cases, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • The Future Of ALJs At NLRB And DOL Post-Jarkesy

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Jarkesy ruling, several ongoing challenges to the constitutionality of the U.S. Department of Labor's and the National Labor Relations Board's administrative law judges have the potential to significantly shape the future of administrative tribunals, say attorneys at Wiley Rein.

  • Water Cooler Talk: 'Harry Potter' Reveals Magic Of Feedback

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    Troutman Pepper's Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter chat with Wicker Park Group partner Tara Weintritt about various feedback methods used by "Harry Potter" characters — from Snape's sharp and cutting remarks to Dumbledore's lack of specificity and Hermione's poor delivery — and explore how clear, consistent and actionable feedback can transform workplaces.

  • What To Expect From Trump's Deputy Labor Secretary Pick

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    President Donald Trump's nominee for deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, Keith Sonderling, has a track record of prioritizing clear guidance on both traditional and cutting-edge issues, which can provide insight into what employers can expect from his leadership, say attorneys at Littler.

  • A Look At Order Ending Federal Contractor Affirmative Action

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    To comply with President Donald Trump's executive order revoking affirmative action requirements in the next 90 days, federal contractors should focus on identification of protected groups, responsibilities of "diversity officer" positions and annual compliance reviews, says Jeremy Burkhart at Holland & Knight.

  • The Implications Of E-Cigarette Cos. Taking Suits To 5th Circ.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds over the definition of an "adversely affected" person under the Tobacco Control Act, and the justices' ruling will have important and potentially wide-ranging implications for forum shopping claims, says Trillium Chang at Zuckerman Spaeder.

  • 4 Employment Law Areas Set To Change Under Trump

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    President Donald Trump's second term is expected to bring significant changes to the U.S. employment law landscape, including the potential for updated worker classification regulations, and challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion that are already taking shape, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 8 Lessons Yellow Corp. Layoffs Can Teach Distressed Cos.

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    A Delaware bankruptcy court’s recent decision, examining trucking company Yellow Corp.’s abrupt termination of roughly 25,500 employees, offers financially distressed businesses a road map for navigating layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • 10 Key Worker-Friendly California Employment Law Updates

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    New employment laws in California expand employee rights, transparency and enforcement mechanisms, and failing to educate department managers on these changes could put employers at risk, says Melanie Ronen at Stradley Ronon.

  • 7 Employment Contracts Issues Facing DOL Scrutiny

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    A growing trend of U.S. Department of Labor enforcement against employment practices that limit workers' rights and avoid legal responsibility shines a light on seven unique contractual provisions that violate federal labor laws, and face agressive litigation from the labor solicitor, says Thomas Starks at Freeman Mathis.

  • How Trump Presidency May Influence NLRB's Next Phase

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    Attorneys at Paul Hastings discuss how last year’s key National Labor Relations Board developments may progress once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, including the wave of lawsuits challenging the board’s constitutionality and two landmark board decisions that upset decades of precedent.