Mealey's Employment : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Employment

October 15, 2024
Researcher’s Contract Claims Over Penn’s Patent Policy Mostly Survive Dismissal

PHILADELPHIA — A former University of Pennsylvania (Penn) employee’s claims over royalties to which she is purportedly entitled under the university’s patent policy because of her work on a gene therapy patent were largely deemed adequately alleged by a Pennsylvania federal judge, who found that additional information and discovery were necessary to further consider the university's statute of limitations and sufficiency of pleadings arguments.
October 14, 2024
Florida Resort Pays $100,000 To End EEOC’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Case

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida hotel and resort will pay $100,000 to end a complaint by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging violations of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it terminated a worker shortly after she requested leave to recover and grieve following a stillbirth during the fifth month of her pregnancy, according to a consent decree approved by a federal judge on Oct. 11.
October 14, 2024
Exotic Dancer Dismisses Race Bias Claims After Employer Settles

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An exotic dancer whose race bias claims against her Alabama employer were reinstated by the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in November 2023 filed along with her employer in a federal court in Alabama a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice after “a full and final settlement [was] effectuated.”
October 09, 2024
7th Circuit Determines Showing For Class Certification Under Rule 23(c)(4)

CHICAGO — Certifying a class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(4) requires both a showing that “common questions predominate” as to the certified issues and a showing that certification of those issues is “the most practical and efficient way to resolve the litigation,” a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court’s decertification of a Rule 23(c)(4) class of workers in a wage-and-hour dispute.
October 09, 2024
Labor Union Denied Early Appeal Of Partial Dismissal In Data Breach Suit

NEW YORK — Deeming a labor union’s reading of controlling case law to be “plainly wrong,” a New York federal judge declined to certify for interlocutory appeal his previous ruling that permitted most of the plaintiff union members’ claims related to a 2023 data breach to proceed.
October 09, 2024
EEOC Complaint Alleges Wholesale Nursery Violated Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

BALTIMORE — A Maryland-based wholesale nursery violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 when it refused to allow a worker to return to her job following maternity leave, telling her that no work was available while hiring other new, nonpregnant employees, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges in a complaint filed in a federal court in Maryland.
October 08, 2024
Post-Trial Briefing Extension Granted After $3.9M Verdict For Fired University Dean

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania granted an extension to a Pennsylvania university and others for a filing brief in support of post-trial motions after a jury returned a verdict of more than $3.9 million verdict for a former university dean who alleged that he was fired for helping another worker report sexual harassment by the university president.
October 08, 2024
U.S. High Court Passes On State Employees’ Union Fees Joint Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of certiorari filed by employees of Oregon and California challenging union dues deductions and asking the justices to decide if unions “act under color of law” when they take “political campaign contributions from objecting employees’ wages” was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7.
October 08, 2024
High School Teacher’s Union Dues Deduction Petition Denied By U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a high school teacher following the dismissal of his lawsuit over a six-month delay in terminating his union membership as the request was made outside the open period was denied Oct. 7 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
October 07, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Ala. Unemployment Exhaustion Requirement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pursuant to Patsy v. Board of Regents, the “failure to exhaust [is] not a defense to liability under [42 U.S. Code] Section 1983,” and Felder v. Casey “confirms that [Patsy] applies in state court,” the attorney representing Alabama unemployment benefits applicants argued before the U.S. Supreme Court Oct. 7 in an appeal in which the applicants allege that their complaint over delays in processing the large amount of applications filed due to the coronavirus pandemic was improperly dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
October 07, 2024
Employment Bias Circumstantial Evidence Legal Test Petition Denied By High Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FDJJ) seeking a determination whether McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green and its progeny provide the correct legal test for proving employment discrimination based on circumstantial evidence or whether “the less-rigorous ‘convincing mosaic’ theory” may be used was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7.
October 07, 2024
U.S. High Court Justices Won’t Consider Walgreens Worker’s FMLA Questions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former Walgreen Co. employee who asked the justices to decide whether 29 U.S. Code Section 2615(a)(1) prohibits retaliation for exercising rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and, if it does, the appropriate standard for proving such a claim.
October 07, 2024
U.S. High Court Denies Contractual Limitation Petition In Race Bias Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former FedEx Corporate Services Inc. employee seeking a ruling on whether a contractual provision cutting the limitation to sue under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 is enforceable; the petition challenged the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ reduction of a more than $366 million jury verdict against FedEx in the employee’s retaliation case to $248,619.57.
October 07, 2024
High Court Denies Uber, Lyft Challenges To California Wage Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 denied separate petitions for writs of certiorari filed by Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., in which they challenged rulings from a California appellate court affirming the denial of their attempt to compel arbitration of state officials’ lawsuits against them for allegedly misclassifying drivers in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
October 07, 2024
After Mass. High Court Franchisee Ruling, 1st Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Claims

BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of claims by 7-Eleven Inc. franchisees that they were misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees in light of a Sept. 5 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that 7-Eleven Inc. franchisees who “perform various contractual obligations under the Franchise Agreement” and provide 7-Eleven with a percentage of their gross profits do not “‘perform[] any service’ for 7-Eleven within the meaning of” Massachusetts’ independent contractor statute.
October 07, 2024
Contractor Seeks Rehearing After 6th Circuit At-Will Removal Ruling

CINCINNATI — A road construction contractor filed a petition for rehearing en banc or panel rehearing following a ruling by a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that the U.S. president has the authority at-will to remove and replace the National Labor Relations Board general counsel.
October 04, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Owed For Class Actions Alleging Employees Were Underpaid

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 3 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that an insurance policy’s “wage and hour violation” exclusion barred coverage for two underlying class lawsuits alleging that the insured conducted an unlawful scheme of underpaying some of its employees.
October 04, 2024
U.S. High Court Takes Up Question On Showing In Straight Worker’s Bias Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether a heterosexual worker claiming bias based on her sexual orientation must present sufficient “background circumstances” was granted by the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4.
October 04, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Grants Petition In Age Bias Suit Over Reopening Dismissed Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4 agreed to take up a question asking whether a former employee’s Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41 voluntary dismissal of his age bias suit pending arbitration was a final judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b).
October 04, 2024
Army Reservist Asks U.S. High Court To Answer USERRA Disability Questions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Illinois erred when he “elevat[ed]” the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) over the protections provided by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and refused to alter or amend judgment following the second trial in a USERRA case that resulted in a verdict for the employer, a former Volvo Group North America LLC employee and Army reservist argues in a petition for a writ of certiorari filed in the U.S. Supreme Court.
October 01, 2024
FBI Agrees To Pay $22.6M To Settle Some Basic Training Gender Bias Class Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Current and former female employees of the FBI moved Sept. 30 in a federal court in the District of Columbia for attorney fees and to certify for the purposes of a $22.6 million settlement a class of workers who allege that they were subjected to gender bias during basic training.
September 30, 2024
Judge Reprimands Counsel, Says Only Use Of AI Explains Briefing Errors

DALLAS — While plaintiff’s attorneys in a proposed employment class action acknowledged and apologized for miscited case law, quotes and other errors, their claim of poor procedures and lack of proper oversight explain only a portion of the mistakes, a federal judge in Texas said in reprimanding counsel after concluding that despite protests to the contrary, artificial intelligence must have been used to craft the response brief.
September 30, 2024
Businessman Appeals New Trial Ruling Following $900M Sexual Assault Verdict

LOS ANGELES — A Cypriot-British businessman and actor accused by a former employee of sexual assault filed a notice of appeal in a California state court after a judge conditionally granted the businessman’s motion for a new trial on compensatory and punitive damages unless the former employee accepted a reduction to $90 million from the $900 million in damages awarded by the jury.
September 27, 2024
Airlines’ $4.75M USERRA Payless Leave Class Pact For Pilots Preliminarily OK’d

SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington granted preliminary approval of a $4.75 million settlement between Alaska Airlines Inc., Horizon Air Industries Inc. and a class of commercial airline pilots who allege that they were denied pay during short-term military leaves while pay was provided to pilots taking other types of leaves.
September 27, 2024
6th Circuit Denies En Banc Rehearing In Coca-Cola Employee Drug Testing Case

CINCINNATI — A petition for rehearing en banc filed by Coca-Cola Bottling Co. (CCBC), now known as Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc., after a split Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a former employee who is Black and was terminated for failing a drug test may proceed with his race discrimination and retaliation claims was denied Sept. 26.