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Mealey's Employment

April 25, 2024
Las Vegas Casino And Hotel Will Settle EEOC’s Disability Bias, Retaliation Case

LAS VEGAS — A hotel and casino in Las Vegas agreed to pay $720,000 to end a disability bias and retaliation lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing it of failing to provide accommodations and firing an employee because he wore an ostomy bag, the EEOC announced April 25.
April 25, 2024
Workday Opposes EEOC Brief Saying AI’s Use Doesn’t Redefine Employment Agency

SAN FRANCISCO — Workday Inc. opposed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s motion to participate in a discrimination case involving artificial intelligence employment software as amicus curiae, portraying the brief as an improper second opposition to a motion to dismiss. Earlier, the EEOC said the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in screening and sorting job candidates offers a “more sophisticated means” of performing employment agency tasks but does not differentiate the company from traditional employment agencies.
April 25, 2024
Ariz. Federal Judge: Expert Can Estimate Unpaid Wages In Suit By Class Of Drivers

PHOENIX — A forensic accounting expert retained by the operator of a fleet of chauffeured transportation services can testify, an Arizona federal judge ruled, denying a motion filed by a class of drivers who sued for wage violations.
April 25, 2024
FTC Issues Final Rule Banning Noncompetes

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule banning the issuance of new noncompete agreements nationwide and largely banning the enforcement of existing agreements.
April 24, 2024
U.S. High Court Denies Petition In Appeal Over Jury Trial For ADA Retaliation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former employee who argues that he was entitled to monetary damages and a jury trial after his claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were reduced to one claim of retaliation based on his firing.
April 23, 2024
Starbucks, NLRB Present Arguments To High Court On Test For NLRB Injunctive Relief

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorneys representing Starbucks Corp. and M. Kathleen McKinney, a National Labor Relations Board regional director, appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 23 to present arguments on the appropriate standard for reviewing injunctive relief sought by the NLRB; in the case on appeal, the relief sought was the reinstatement of seven fired employees who engaged in pro-union activities.
April 23, 2024
NLRB Urges 9th Circuit To Enforce Bargaining Without Election Framework

SAN FRANCISCO — A new framework for determining when an employer has violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by refusing to bargain with a majority union without an election “will better advance the core statutory policies of effectuating employee choice and deterring unlawful conduct” and “is consistent with decades of precedent,” the National Labor Relations Board argues in an April 22 brief asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to enforce its August 2023 decision.
April 23, 2024
Calif. High Court Answers 9th Circuit Question, Finds Inmate Class Not Owed Wages

SAN FRANCISCO — A class of nonconvicted inmates in a California county jail who perform services for a for-profit company that supplies meals have no claim for minimum wages and overtime under current state law, the California Supreme Court ruled April 22, answering a question certified by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an interlocutory appeal.
April 23, 2024
Red Robin Will Pay $600,000 To End EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit

SEATTLE — Red Robin International Inc. will pay $600,000 and provide other injunctive relief to end a complaint by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging sexual harassment, retaliation and constructive discharge according to an order by a federal judge in Washington approving a consent decree between the parties.
April 23, 2024
Jury Awards Zurich Workers $75M In Punitive Damages After Time ‘Theft’ Verdicts

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California jury awarded three workers $25 million each in punitive damages one day after issuing verdicts for the three on claims that they were the subject of defamatory statements and wrongly fired for allegedly stealing time from the company after being awarded and using “off the record” paid time off (PTO).
April 23, 2024
Researcher Says Amazon Fired Her For Taking Maternity Leave During AI Race

LOS ANGELES — Worried that it was losing the race to develop artificial intelligence and panicked by the release of ChatGPT, Amazon.com Services LLC played catch-up in part by barring employee leave, an AI researcher alleges in a complaint claiming that the company mistreated her for taking legally protected maternity leave and fired her when she complained about her treatment.
April 23, 2024
Uber, Lyft Ask High Court To Review Arbitrability Of California Wage Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Uber Technologies Inc. and its subsidiaries and Lyft Inc. filed petitions for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a California appellate court ruling affirming the denial of their attempt to compel arbitration of claims brought on behalf of workers by state officials who accused the companies of misclassifying drivers in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
April 23, 2024
Arguments On Staying Or Dismissing Pending Arbitration Heard By U.S. High Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorneys representing delivery drivers and the individual owners and managers of Intelliserve and related corporate entities (together, Intelliserve) presented oral arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court on April 22 in a dispute over the dismissal rather than the stay of a case alleging wage-and-hour violations where both sides agreed that the claims were subject to arbitration.
April 22, 2024
U.S. High Court Denies Domino’s FAA Petition In Truck Drivers’ Expenses Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 22 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Domino’s Pizza LLC after the company’s truck drivers (D&S drivers) were found by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to be exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) in their class case alleging unreimbursed business expenses and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
April 22, 2024
Amazon’s High Court Petition Denied In Flex Delivery Drivers’ Tips Class Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 22 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari by Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Logistics Inc. (together, Amazon) concerning the applicability of Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) Section 1’s exemption to Amazon Flex delivery drivers in a class case over tips.
April 19, 2024
Plaintiffs Win Little In Suit Over Business Deal Involving Reinsurance Distributor

MIAMI — Following a bench trial over “a failed business relationship” involving a managed health care reinsurance distribution company, a Florida federal judge ruled for the defendants on claims for breaches of an asset purchase agreement (APA) and the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, but found that the plaintiffs proved breach of employment agreements based on disparaging comments and salary miscalculations.
April 19, 2024
Car Dealerships Will Pay $325,000 To End EEOC Disability, Age Bias Suit

TEXARKANA, Texas — A Texas company that owns car dealerships will pay $325,000 and provide other relief to settle a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a Texas federal court alleging that the employer fired a senior sales executive to avoid medical costs related to his cancer diagnosis, the EEOC announced.
April 18, 2024
2nd Circuit Affirms $13M Ruling For Multiemployer Fund In Withdrawal Liability Row

NEW YORK — In a per curiam opinion upholding confirmation of a roughly $13 million award, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed with an arbitrator that the appellant’s predecessor “was not operating in the business and construction industry” and so didn’t quality for an exemption from withdrawal liability under part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
April 18, 2024
EEOC Complaint Accuses Sheetz Of Racially Biased Hiring Practices

BALTIMORE — Sheetz Inc., Sheetz Distribution Services LLC and CLI Transport LP (together, Sheetz) discriminate against classes of Black, Native American and other multiracial applicants based on their race by screening for criminal convictions and then denying employment based on them, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges in a complaint filed April 17 in a federal court in Maryland.
April 17, 2024
Judge Issues Limited Stay In Catholic Employment Groups’ Gender Transition Case

FARGO, N.D. — Because a forthcoming final rule governing Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Section 1557 could impact some portions of religious employers’ case, the action can be stayed until May 1, after which if the rule is not yet finalized the government defendants must answer the complaint, a federal judge in North Dakota said April 16.
April 17, 2024
U.S. High Court: Job Transfer Bias Suit Must Show Harm, Not ‘Significant’ Harm

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An employee alleging that a lateral job transfer constitutes discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 must show harm, but that showing need not be of “‘significant’ harm,” the U.S. Supreme Court ruled April 17 in an appeal by a St. Louis Police Department sergeant who alleged that her transfer from a position as patrol detective to the Intelligence Division was discriminatory.
April 17, 2024
Jack In The Box Workers Partially Awarded Attorney Fees, Costs In Wage Suit

PORTLAND, Ore. — Motions for attorney fees and costs by both sides in a wage-and-hour suit brought by a class of Jack in the Box Inc. workers who saw some success with their claims were partially granted and partially denied by a federal judge in Oregon who ruled that the workers were entitled to a portion of the attorney fees and costs they sought and that the employer was entitled to no attorney fees but was entitled to a portion of the amount it sought for witness fees and other costs.
April 16, 2024
California Appeals Court Upholds Judgment, Sanctions In On-Call Rest Periods Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A California trial court did not err in retroactively applying the state’s Emergency Ambulance Employee Safety and Preparedness Act (EAESPA) to a putative class complaint by an ambulance service employee arguing that she and others were improperly denied rest breaks as they were required to remain on call and did not abuse its discretion in imposing $2,000 in sanctions against the worker’s counsel after they refused to dismiss the lawsuit, a California appellate panel ruled, opining in part that the retroactive application of the EAESPA had already been considered and ruled on.
April 16, 2024
Divided U.S. High Court Rules On Veterans’ Education Benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Service members who earn education benefits under both the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill may use the benefits under either one in any order up to the 48-month aggregate cap provided in 38 U.S. Code Section 3695(a), the U.S. Supreme Court majority ruled this morning.
April 15, 2024
EEOC Issues Final Rule Implementing The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on April 15 announced the issuance of the final rule implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and stating that the rule will provide the clarity needed “that will allow pregnant workers the ability to work and maintain a healthy pregnancy and help employers understand their duties under the law.”