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Employment
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October 24, 2024
Calif. Chili's Workers Fight Uphill For Meal Break Class Cert.
A California federal judge considering class certification for nearly 1,300 Chili's employees, who are accusing the owner of their restaurants of not providing meal breaks, said Thursday that individualized questions about whether workers were coerced into asserting they voluntarily skipped their break could doom their bid.
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October 24, 2024
CFPB Cautions Over 'Unchecked Surveillance' Of Workers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday it is taking action to protect consumers from "unchecked surveillance" in the labor force, issuing guidance that warns companies to get consent from workers when using algorithmic hiring scores or other outside profiling data for employment purposes.
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October 24, 2024
NYC Council Passes Bill Requiring Hotel Licenses
The New York City Council passed a bill Wednesday that requires hotel operators to be licensed with the government in order to do business in the city.
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October 24, 2024
Fenway Food Safety Czar Fired For Flagging Rats, Suit Says
A former Aramark food safety manager said in a suit filed Thursday that he was fired because he raised concerns about unsanitary conditions at Fenway Park, a Boston music hall, and the spring training ballpark of the Boston Red Sox.
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October 24, 2024
State Farm Agrees To Settle Immigration Bias Row With DOJ
The U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday that State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. will pay $30,000 in back pay and penalties to settle claims that one of its Texas corporate offices fired a worker for flagging citizenship discrimination.
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October 24, 2024
3 Insurance Execs Beat Ex-Employer's Trade Secrets Suit
A North Carolina federal judge has ruled Sherbrooke Corporate Ltd. failed to properly allege three former executives it accused of stealing confidential, proprietary software to start their own company actually used that software or kept how it worked a secret.
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October 24, 2024
MSU Moves To Spike Ex-Football Coach's Termination Fight
Michigan State University officials want a federal judge to toss the wrongful termination suit of its former football coach Mel Tucker, whom the school fired amid sexual misconduct allegations, arguing Wednesday it followed policy and has immunity based on state and federal law.
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October 24, 2024
IBM Pans Fired White Worker's Diversity Quota Claims
IBM disputed a white former consultant's claim that the company fired him to fulfill diversity targets in a court filing Wednesday, saying the worker's allegations that the company has racial and gender-based hiring quotas are unsupported.
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October 24, 2024
Co-Worker's Affair With Father Made Work Hostile, Suit Says
A former employee of a healthcare research company has said she was forced to resign from her job after a co-worker developed an "unhealthy obsession" with her father, making sexual comments about him and engaging in a torrid affair while he participated in one of the company's clinical trials.
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October 24, 2024
Conn. High Court Snapshot: $13M Tax Appeals, Will Dispute
The Connecticut Supreme Court's second term of the 2024-2025 season will commence Monday with a dispute over whether an attorney bungled a will that sought to divide a $845,368 TD Ameritrade account among five beneficiaries, only one of whom received any cash.
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October 24, 2024
Huawei Trade Secrets Trial Pushed Back To 2026
A Washington federal judge on Thursday approved a request from Huawei and the government to delay a trial until October 2026 in a case alleging the company stole T-Mobile's trade secrets.
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October 24, 2024
Statute Of Limitations Tolled In AT&T Workers' OT Suit
An Illinois federal judge agreed Thursday to toll the statute of limitations for call center workers claiming that AT&T failed to pay them overtime, one day after the workers said extraordinary circumstances required tolling.
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October 24, 2024
DOL Says H-2A Farmworker Protections Must Remain
The U.S. Department of Labor urged a Georgia federal court to uphold its new protections for foreign H-2A farmworkers, arguing that conservative-led states' bid to block its rule should fail because safeguarding foreign workers is key to ensuring better pay and conditions for American-born farmworkers.
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October 23, 2024
Boeing Machinists Reject Labor Deal, Prolonging Strike
A majority of roughly 33,000 Boeing employees represented by the International Association of Machinists voted Wednesday to reject a new labor contract that included a 35% wage increase over four years, prolonging a nearly six-week strike that has hampered Boeing's production and cash flow.
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October 23, 2024
Court Denies Fees In 'Objectively Specious' Trade Secrets Suit
A Seattle federal judge has agreed that a dental health insurer litigated an "objectively specious" trade secrets lawsuit against two of its former company officials, but ruled that not enough showed it was pursuing the case "in bad faith."
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October 23, 2024
Ex-Kia, Hyundai Workers Seek Conditional Cert. In FLSA Suit
Mexican nationals accusing Kia and Hyundai units of failing to pay overtime have urged a Georgia federal court to grant them conditional certification for their fair labor collective action claims, saying there are others who likely also didn't get proper wages.
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October 23, 2024
Jury Awards Fired SF Rail Workers Over $7.8M In Vax Trial
A California federal jury on Wednesday awarded combined damages of more than $7.8 million to six former Bay Area Rapid Transit District employees after finding the rail agency committed religious discrimination by refusing to exempt them from a COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
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October 23, 2024
Feds, Huawei Ask To Delay 'Complex' Trade Secret Theft Trial
Washington federal prosecutors and Huawei have both asked to delay until 2026 a trial in a case accusing the company of stealing T-Mobile's trade secrets, noting the complexity of the case and difficulties the attorneys for the Chinese chipmaker have had communicating with witnesses.
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October 23, 2024
Ameriprise, Ex-Worker Duo To Arbitrate Stolen Docs Claims
Financial services company Ameriprise will arbitrate claims that a father-son pair of ex-employees took confidential records "in the dark of the night" on their way out the door to work for a competitor, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has determined.
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October 23, 2024
Fla. Law Firm Gets Win In Trial Over Pregnancy Bias
A Florida federal judge on Wednesday granted a judgment in favor of a law firm accused of firing its former human resources manager because she was pregnant, agreeing that the evidence presented at trial wasn't sufficient to prove a discrimination claim.
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October 23, 2024
Hibachi Restaurant Reaches $500K Wage Deal With Workers
A New Jersey hibachi restaurant struck a $500,000 settlement with five former servers to resolve their lawsuit alleging the company did not pay them any wages and deducted money from their tips, which was their only source of income, according to a filing in federal court.
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October 23, 2024
No Xenophobia Taint In Fired Prof's Jury Trial, Panel Says
An Ohio state appellate court has upheld a jury's finding that a Cincinnati medical center did not violate employment law when it fired a tenured associate professor, rejecting the professor's argument that the medical center attempted to stoke "xenophobic bias" in the jury by mentioning his Chinese heritage during trial.
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October 23, 2024
Full 9th Circ. Passes On SF Nurses' Salary Basis Case
The full Ninth Circuit said Wednesday it won't reconsider a panel's ruling that it wasn't clear whether a group of San Francisco city nurses in two consolidated cases were paid on a salary basis and could therefore be considered overtime-exempt.
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October 23, 2024
Combs, Feds At Odds Over Gag Order Amid Press Blitz
Attorneys for Sean "Diddy" Combs told a Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday that they are unable to agree with prosecutors about who should be barred from talking to the press about the hip-hop mogul's sex-trafficking and racketeering case.
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October 23, 2024
Amazon Must Face Drivers' Tip Suit Despite FTC Settlement
A Washington federal judge largely refused Wednesday to toss a proposed class action accusing Amazon of violating Evergreen State laws by withholding portions of drivers' tips, saying the claims are still valid despite the Federal Trade Commission reaching a nearly $62 million deal with the company over the same alleged conduct.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.
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3 Surprising Deposition Dangers Attorneys Must Heed
Attorneys often do not think of discovery as a particularly risky phase of litigation, but counsel must closely heed some surprisingly strict and frequently overlooked requirements before, during and after depositions that can lead to draconian consequences, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.
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What Employers Need To Know About Colorado's New AI Law
The Colorado AI Act, enacted in May and intended to regulate the use of high-risk artificial intelligence systems to prevent algorithmic discrimination, is broad in scope and will apply to businesses using AI for certain employment purposes, imposing numerous compliance obligations and potential liability, say Laura Malugade and Owen Davis at Husch Blackwell.
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Opinion
Paid Noncompetes Offer A Better Solution Than FTC's Ban
A better alternative to the Federal Trade Commission's recent and widely contested noncompete ban would be a nationwide bright-line rule requiring employers to pay employees during the noncompete period, says Steven Kayman at Rottenberg Lipman.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Where Anti-Discrimination Law Stands 4 Years After Bostock
On the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Bostock ruling, Evan Parness and Abby Rickeman at Covington take stock of how the decision, which held that Title VII protects employees from discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, has affected anti-discrimination law at the state and federal levels.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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Crafting An Effective Workplace AI Policy After DOL Guidance
Employers should take proactive steps to minimize their liability risk after the U.S. Department of Labor released artificial intelligence guidance principles on May 16, reflecting the reality that companies must begin putting into place policies that will dictate their expectations for how employees will use AI, say David Disler and Courtnie Bolden at Porzio Bromberg.
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Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In May
A look at recent cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court provide guidance on how to succeed on appeal by clarifying the obviousness analysis of design patents, the finality of a judgment, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Politics In The Workplace: What Employers Need To Know
As the 2024 election approaches and protests continue across the country, employers should be aware of employees' rights — and limits on those rights — related to political speech and activities in the workplace, and be prepared to act proactively to prevent issues before they arise, say attorneys at Littler.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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What High Court Ruling Means For Sexual Harassment Claims
In its recent Smith v. Spizzirri decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court compelling a case to arbitration is obligated to stay the case rather than dismissing it, but this requirement may result in sexual harassment cases not being heard by appellate courts, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.