Employment

  • November 13, 2024

    2nd Circ. Doubts Bakery Drivers Fall Under Arb. Requirements

    A Second Circuit panel seemed to express skepticism Wednesday over a baked goods company's argument that its products' delivery drivers are not exempt from federal arbitration requirements as interstate transportation workers, weighing in on an independent contractor classification suit that went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • November 13, 2024

    Highway Workers Reach Deal In Misclassification Row

    Three construction firms have agreed to settle a False Claims Act suit after the U.S. Department of Labor agreed with an electrical workers union and a whistleblower that a subcontractor misclassified employees who worked on 25 federally funded highway projects in Pennsylvania.

  • November 13, 2024

    Couple Sues Poultry Processor For Harassment, Retaliation

    Poultry processing company Sanderson Farms was sued in Georgia federal court Tuesday by a couple who alleges they were fired for reporting sexual harassment and retaliation they suffered at the hands of managers and co-workers.

  • November 13, 2024

    Detroit Tigers Argue Ex-VP Fired Due To COVID, Not Bias

    The Detroit Tigers have asked the court to rule in their favor in a discrimination suit filed in Michigan federal court by a Black former executive who said she was terminated due to her race and age, arguing there were legitimate reasons for workforce reductions amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

  • November 13, 2024

    4th Circ. Won't Rethink Ex-Development Director's Wage Case

    The Fourth Circuit declined Wednesday to reconsider its decision affirming a North Carolina city's win on a former development director's claims for unpaid overtime, turning down the former employee's argument that the record did not make clear that she was classified as exempt under federal law.

  • November 13, 2024

    Former Fla. Law Prof Turns To 11th Circ. For Reinstatement

    A former tenured professor at Florida A&M University College of Law has asked the Eleventh Circuit to be reinstated, arguing that the university wrongly terminated her in retaliation for suing it under the federal Equal Pay Act.

  • November 13, 2024

    Groom Law Atty To Lead Morris Manning Benefits Group In DC

    A former Groom Law Group principal who spent almost 15 years with that firm has moved to Morris Manning Martin LLP to lead its employee benefits and executive compensation practice in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Tuesday.

  • November 13, 2024

    Paralegal Says She's Owed For Work On Stuart Scott Estate

    A former paralegal at the disbanded Hartford, Connecticut-based firm Rome McGuigan PC claims in a recently filed suit that she is owed $50,000 for work she performed while the firm represented the estate of legendary ESPN anchor Stuart Scott.

  • November 13, 2024

    Connecticut Atty Frees AAA From Firm Break-Up Spat

    Connecticut attorney Andrew P. Garza has removed the American Arbitration Association as a defendant from a lawsuit seeking to block his former 50-50 partner Ryan C. McKeen from arbitrating a dispute about their law firm's breakup, according to a withdrawal notice filed Tuesday in state court.

  • November 13, 2024

    NY Suit Co. Says Union Fund Can't Bypass Trial In Debt Fight

    A Rochester, New York, suit manufacturer shouldn't have to pay $6.2 million to a union healthcare fund before standing trial on claims that it defrauded the fund and violated federal benefits law, the manufacturer told a federal judge.

  • November 13, 2024

    Kohl's Accused Of Cheating Calif. Workers Out Of OT, Breaks

    Department store chain Kohl's engaged in a series of wage and hour violations in California, including failing to pay overtime to nonexempt employees and failing to provide meal and rest breaks, a worker told a state court.

  • November 13, 2024

    NLRB Outlaws Captive Audience Meetings

    The National Labor Relations Board issued an eagerly awaited decision Wednesday curbing a go-to tactic for employers battling union drives, holding that so-called captive audience meetings violate federal labor law. 

  • November 13, 2024

    Feds Want 2 Years' Jail For Biz Owner In $2.8M Tax Scheme

    A construction company owner who paid workers off the books by pretending they were subcontractors, even after one of them died, should serve two years in prison and pay $2.8 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for the tax loss, prosecutors told a Massachusetts federal court.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Duane Morris' Gerald L. Maatman Jr.

    Gerald L. Maatman Jr. of Duane Morris LLP has helped his clients fend off potentially catastrophic exposures, including a suit alleging Geico misclassified thousands of insurance agents, by utilizing defense strategies to gut the claims before courts were able to assess the merits of the case, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Employment MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    Gibson Dunn 'Titan,' Ex-Solicitor General Theodore Olson Dies

    Theodore B. Olson, the founder of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's appellate and constitutional law practice group and a former U.S. solicitor general, died Wednesday, the law firm announced.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trump Taps Elon Musk To Head New 'Gov't Efficiency' Dept.

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly created "Department in Government Efficiency" for his administration come January.

  • November 12, 2024

    Sephora Again Loses Bid To Toss Ex-Workers' Late Pay Suit

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday stood by his decision denying Sephora's motion to dismiss a proposed class action accusing it of not paying employees every week, rejecting the company's contention that he used an incorrect standard of review when departing from a federal magistrate judge's recommendation to toss the case.

  • November 12, 2024

    Merrill Lynch Disfavors Black And Female Advisers, Suit Says

    Two longtime Merrill Lynch financial advisers have filed a proposed class action against Bank of America and its subsidiary Merrill Lynch alleging the firms' policies systematically discriminate against African American and female advisers by favoring white male colleagues in teaming and account distribution practices.

  • November 12, 2024

    Judge Notes 'Serious Issue' In Fired Firm Worker's Appeal

    The outcome of a fired Whitman Breed Abbott & Morgan LLC legal assistant's appeal of her loss in a disability discrimination suit may hinge on whether there is a genuine dispute about the demands of the job, a Connecticut judge signaled Tuesday. The judge noted a "substantial" disagreement about whether the position was supposed to be a hybrid of remote and in-person.

  • November 12, 2024

    SkyWest Had 'Lewd, Crude' Work Environment, Jury Hears

    SkyWest Airlines enabled a workplace that was hostile to women, a jury heard during opening arguments Tuesday, driving a woman who worked at the company to consider suicide in the face of unrelenting sexual assault jokes and supervisors who didn't take her concerns seriously.

  • November 12, 2024

    Genasys Reaches Deal With Ex-Workers In Trade Secrets Case

    Genasys Inc. has agreed to settle a suit against two former employees it accused of stealing trade secrets to form a competing business, saying they have reached a provisional deal.

  • November 12, 2024

    Spa Worker's Claim Against Cruise Line Heads To Arbitration

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday punted on deciding if Norwegian Cruise Line could push claims brought by a ship worker into Bahamian arbitration despite not actually being a signatory of that contract, opting to allow the parties to take the dispute into mediation.

  • November 12, 2024

    5th Circ. Backs Dismissal Of Black Tech's Race Bias Suit

    The Fifth Circuit rejected a Black worker's bid to revive his suit claiming his pay was cut by a construction and maintenance services company because of his race, ruling his case is devoid of detail that would allow a court to find that bias plagued his employment.

  • November 12, 2024

    University Of Washington Scores Worker Vax Suit Dismissal

    A Washington federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a group of healthcare workers who alleged the University of Washington denied their religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccination requirement, saying the university was justified in firing the workers to prevent patients and employees from being exposed to the virus.

  • November 12, 2024

    American Airlines Escapes Pandemic Early Retirement Suit

    A Texas federal court on Tuesday agreed to permanently toss a group of flight attendants' suit against American Airlines Inc. alleging they were misled into taking a less favorable retirement package during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, finding a suit dismissed earlier over the same conduct bars their claims. 

Expert Analysis

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: The MDL Map

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    An intriguing yet unpredictable facet of multidistrict litigation practice is venue selection for new MDL proceedings, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation considers many factors when it assigns an MDL venue, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • What 7th Circ. Collective Actions Ruling Means For Employers

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    With the Seventh Circuit’s recent Fair Labor Standards Act ruling in Vanegas v. Signet Builders, a majority of federal appellate courts that have addressed the jurisdictional scope of employee collective actions now follow the U.S. Supreme Court's limiting precedent, bolstering an employer defense in circuits that have yet to weigh in, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Google And The Next Frontier Of Divestiture Antitrust Remedy

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    The possibility of a large-scale divestiture in the Google search case comes on the heels of recent requests of business breakups as remedies for anticompetitive conduct, and companies should prepare for the likelihood that courts may impose divestiture remedies in the event of a liability finding, say Lauren Weinstein and Nathaniel Rubin at MoloLamken.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • Exploring Practical Employer Alternatives To Noncompetes

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    With the Federal Trade Commission likely to appeal a federal court’s recent rejection of its noncompete ban, and more states limiting the enforceability of these agreements, employers should consider back-to-basics methods for protecting their business interests and safeguarding sensitive information, says Brendan Horgan at FordHarrison.

  • 3 M&A Elements To Master In A Volatile Economy

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    The current M&A market requires a strategic approach to earnouts, past-due accounts payable and employee retention in order to mitigate risk and drive successful outcomes, says Robert Harig at Robbins DiMonte.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • Behind 3rd Circ. Ruling On College Athletes' FLSA Eligibility

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    The Third Circuit's decision that college athletes are not precluded from bringing a claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act raises key questions about the practical consequences of treating collegiate athletes as employees, such as Title IX equal pay claims and potential eligibility for all employment benefits, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Rise Of Transpo Contractors Brings Insurance Disputes

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    As more independent contractors are contracted and subcontracted in the delivery industry, companies must be prepared to defend claims from drivers who are injured on the job as they are often seeking to establish an employment relationship with one of the entities in the chain, says Nathan Milner at Goldberg Segalla.

  • What To Know About Ill. Employment Law Changes

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    Illinois employers should review their policies in light of a number of recent changes to state employment law, including amendments to the state’s Human Rights Act and modifications to the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • 5 Credibility Lessons Trial Attys Can Learn From Harris' Run

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    In launching a late-stage campaign for president, Vice President Kamala Harris must seize upon fresh attention from voters to establish, or reestablish, credibility — a challenge that parallels and provides takeaways for trial attorneys, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Basics Of Collective Bargaining Law In Principle And Practice

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Rebecca Bernhard and Jennifer Service at Barnes & Thornburg discuss the nuts and bolts of what the National Labor Relations Act requires of employers during collective bargaining, and translate these obligations into practical steps that will help companies prepare for, and succeed during, the negotiation process.

  • Mich. Whistleblower Ruling Expands Retaliation Remedies

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    The Michigan Supreme Court's recent Occupational Health and Safety Act decision in Stegall v. Resource Technology is important because it increases the potential exposure for defendants in public policy retaliation cases, providing plaintiffs with additional claims, say Aaron Burrell and Timothy Howlett at Dickinson Wright.

  • New Employer Liability Risks In Old Ill. Genetic Privacy Law

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    Illinois’ Genetic Information Privacy Act has been litigated very sparsely, but two recent federal court decisions — Taylor v. Union Pacific and McKnight v. United Airlines — holding that preemployment family medical history questions violated the 1998 law may encourage more lawsuits, say Peter Berk and Madison Shepley at Clark Hill.

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