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Mealey's Employment

November 06, 2024
Judge Denies Bid To Dismiss Unlawful Discharge Claim In Former Twitter Execs’ Suit

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge has denied a motion in which Elon Musk and related defendants sought dismissal of one of six Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims asserted against them by four former Twitter Inc. officers or executives who are seeking severance benefits, equitable relief and statutory penalties.
November 06, 2024
Employer Seeks Rehearing After Default Judgment Upheld In Wage-And-Hour Suit

ATLANTA — A steel fabricator moved for rehearing or rehearing en banc after an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a trial court did not err when it entered default judgment against the employer in a collective wage-and-hour lawsuit as a sanction following a finding of bad faith during discovery.
November 05, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments On FLSA Exemption Standard

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The preponderance-of-the-evidence standard, which is the default standard for civil cases, should be applied to all 34 exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the attorney representing a food distributor and the company’s CEO argued Nov. 5 before the U.S. Supreme Court.
November 05, 2024
Lyft Will Pay $2.1M Civil Penalty To End Misleading Earnings Statement Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Lyft Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.1 million civil penalty and to a permanent injunction to end a complaint filed in a federal court in California by the United States alleging that the rideshare company made false and misleading statements about how much its drivers would earn.
November 05, 2024
11th Circuit: Equitable Tolling Entitlement Not Shown In VA Worker’s Race Bias Case

ATLANTA — A Department of Veterans Affairs worker failed to show that she was entitled to equitable tolling of the 15-day deadline to file a formal administrative complaint with the VA, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in a race bias and retaliation case, affirming dismissal but finding that the case cited by the trial court did not control as the issues were different.
November 05, 2024
Worker, DOT And Amici File High Court Briefing On Differential Pay For Reservists

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Coast Guard reservist tells the U.S. Supreme Court in his reply brief that he is entitled to differential pay when performing active duty both during a national emergency and where his service is not found to be a part of a contingency operation.
November 05, 2024
Federal Jury Finds Granite Installer Fired For Age; Judgment Entered For Worker

PITTSBURGH — The same day a jury awarded a granite installer compensatory damages and front and back pay on age bias claims and found that the bias was willful, a federal judge in Pennsylvania entered judgment for the worker in the amount of $79,148.50.
November 04, 2024
NLRB Waives Response Petition On Deferring NLRA Interpretation To NLRB

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Labor Relations Board waived its right to respond to a petition for writ of certiorari filed in the U.S. Supreme Court by two hospitals who ask the justices to decide whether deferring an interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it comes to terminating a dues checkoff provision following the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to the NLRB violates Loper Bright Enterprises, Inc. v. Raimondo.
November 04, 2024
University Manager Seeks En Banc Review Of 6th Circuit’s Vaccine Ruling

CINCINNATI — A former University of Kentucky department manager filed a motion seeking en banc review after a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a summary judgment ruling for the university’s board of trustees in a dispute over a COVID-19 test-or-vaccinate policy.
November 01, 2024
Calif. Jury: Age Of Pool Company Employee Was Not ‘Substantial’ Reason For Firing

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A California jury returned a verdict for a pool and spa company, finding that the age of a fired worker, 62, was not “a substantial motivating reason” for his termination.
October 30, 2024
Interlocutory Appeal Filed After Dismissal Ruling In NYC Workers’ Vaccine Case

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — New York City workers who filed a putative class lawsuit after they were placed on leave for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine or claim that they were “coerced” into getting the vaccine filed a notice of interlocutory appeal after a federal judge in New York largely dismissed their claims.
October 29, 2024
Religious Bias Claims By 30 Dismissed In Mass Action Over Airline’s Vaccine Mandate

HONOLULU, Hawaii — A federal judge in Hawaii granted an airline’s motion to partially dismiss discrimination claims made by workers in a mass action filed after a vaccine policy was implemented in August 2021 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
October 29, 2024
En Banc 5th Circuit Majority: Ordering Deletion Of Union Tweet Violated Constitution

NEW ORLEANS — A post on social media by the CEO of Telsa Inc. regarding the loss of stock options if workers unionized did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), a split en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in a per curiam opinion, vacating an order by the National Labor Relations Board and remanding for the NLRB to reconsider whether Tesla’s firing of a union-supporting worker violated the NLRA as the decisionmaker was not shown to have anti-union animus.
October 29, 2024
Initial OK Given To $525,000 Settlement Of Philadelphia Inquirer Data Breach Suit

PHILADELPHIA — Granting an unopposed motion to preliminarily approve the settlement of a putative class action brought by past and present employees against the Philadelphia Inquirer over a 2023 data breach, a Pennsylvania federal judge deemed the proposed agreement, which includes a $525,000 settlement fund, to be “fair, reasonable and adequate.”
October 29, 2024
6th Circuit Denies Rehearing Sought By Contractor After At-Will Removal Ruling

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a road construction contractor’s petition for rehearing en banc filed after the panel ruled that the U.S. president has the authority at will to remove and replace the National Labor Relations Board general counsel.
October 29, 2024
Without Standing, 3rd Circuit Says Fired Employees’ Whistleblower Dispute Is Moot

PHILADELPHIA — A majority of a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that two former Exxon Mobil Corp. employees who allege that they were fired in violation of federal whistleblower protection laws failed to establish a mootness exception to maintain standing after they invoked the kick-out provision in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), which led to an administrative law judge dismissing the administrative proceedings, but one judge dissented, questioning whether any district court has the jurisdiction to enforce noncompliance of a reinstatement order.
October 28, 2024
Insurer: No Employment Practices Liability Coverage Owed For 2 Class Actions

SEATTLE — An insurer filed suit in a Washington federal court seeking a declaration as to employment practices liability coverage for two underlying putative class actions alleging that its insureds violated state law requiring employers to disclose the range in salary for posted job openings.
October 24, 2024
Chauffeurs Appeal 6 Orders After $2.5M Wage Settlement Granted Final Approval

PHOENIX — Chauffeur drivers who brought a class and collective action wage-and-hour complaint in a federal court in Arizona filed a revised and corrected notice of appeal as to six 2023 orders; the filing came a month after the drivers’ $2.5 million settlement with their employers was granted final approval.
October 22, 2024
FTC Files Notice Of Appeal After Judge Sets Aside FTC’s New Noncompete Rule

DALLAS — The Federal Trade Commission filed a notice of appeal after a federal judge in Texas ruled that the FTC lacks the statutory authority to issue a new rule largely banning noncompete agreements and set aside the rule that was set to take effect on Sept. 4.
October 22, 2024
Volvo Opposes Army Reservist’s Disability-Related U.S. High Court Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should deny a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former Volvo Group North America LLC employee and Army reservist in a case asserting discrimination as the petitioner’s premises on which she based her arguments are incorrect and her reliance on Torres v. Texas Dep’t of Public Safety “is misplaced,” Volvo argues in its opposition.
October 22, 2024
Iowa Federal Judge Denies Motion To Exclude Expert In FLSA Bench Trial

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — An Iowa federal judge said that because a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) dispute will be resolved through a bench trial, excluding certain testimony from an expert witness retained to opine on damages is unnecessary.
October 21, 2024
ERISA Fight Over Illinois Temp Worker Provision Returns To District Court

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals immediately granted an Oct. 18 motion to voluntarily dismiss an interlocutory Employee Retirement Income Security Act appeal that Illinois Department of Labor Director Jane R. Flanagan said was prompted by the latest amendment to the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act (DTLSA) and unopposed.
October 17, 2024
U.S. High Court Won’t Review Dismissal Of Gig Workers’ Suit Over Calif. Status Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by gig workers and the operators of two mobile applications that provide delivery and rideshare services asking the justices to decide whether a case challenging a California law that extended the application of the “ABC test” for determining worker status and exempted certain occupations may be dismissed for failure to state a claim “based on hypothetical facts not pleaded in the complaint.”
October 16, 2024
Ex-Employee Whose COVID- Related Suit Was Tossed For Not Filing With EEOC Appeals

MINNEAPOLIS — A former hospital employee who accepted a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccination but was then terminated for refusing to wear an N95 mask as required by hospital policy filed a notice of appeal on Oct. 15 to the Eight Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a Minnesota federal judge’s order dismissing the employee’s religious discrimination lawsuit for failure to exhaust her administrative remedies.
October 15, 2024
10th Circuit: Untimely Removal Of Class Wage Suit Against Wendy’s Supports Remand

DENVER — A fast food franchisor’s removal of a wage-and-hour complaint to federal court following class certification was untimely, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, opining that the company was given notice that the Class Action Fairness Act’s (CAFA) $5 million threshold was met in two letters sent months earlier demanding unpaid wages.