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Employment
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June 18, 2013
Hensel Phelps, Subcontractors Pay $8.1M To End Labor Fight
The California labor commissioner said Monday more than 2,000 workers who built a Hilton hotel in San Diego will recover nearly $8.1 million in unpaid wages after the office reached an agreement in a prevailing wage case against Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and subcontractors.
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June 18, 2013
Producer Slams Saudi Prince In Suit Over Unpaid Salary
Film producer Steven Saxton told a Los Angeles jury Tuesday that a Saudi prince who alleges Saxton stiffed him on commissions and other monies was not entitled to a salary for work unrelated to raising investment capital, saying the prince was “barely qualified” to be an intern.
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June 18, 2013
Ex-Tribe Accountant Wants Fraud Conspiracy Suit Dismissed
The former senior accountant for the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida on Monday moved to dismiss the tribe's suit in Florida state court accusing her of taking part in conspiracies to defraud the tribe of millions of dollars and revealing confidential information.
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June 18, 2013
Winston & Strawn Sues Disgruntled Partner Over Legal Threats
Winston & Strawn LLP hit a partner and former head of the firm's Los Angeles labor and employment group with a suit in Illinois court Tuesday, saying the attorney violated his partnership agreement by threatening to sue the firm over a compensation dispute.
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June 18, 2013
Union Carbide Loses Bid To Reverse Calif. Asbestos Ruling
A California appeals court affirmed Tuesday that Union Carbide Corp. is liable for a deceased construction worker's mesothelioma, even though he suffered from a form of the disease typically associated with a type of asbestos not found in the company's product.
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June 18, 2013
Abercrombie Can't Prove Hijab Hurt Sales, EEOC Says
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged a California federal judge Tuesday to find that Abercrombie & Fitch Stores Inc. wrongly failed to accommodate a Muslim employee's headscarf, arguing that the retailer has no evidence that the worker's hijab harmed its reputation or sales.
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June 18, 2013
AT&T Can't Escape Field Technicians' Wage Suit
An Indiana federal judge on Monday denied an attempt by units of AT&T Inc. to dismiss a collective action brought by 11 field technicians alleging the telecom did not properly pay for meal periods, ruling that the plaintiffs claims are strong enough to allow the case to advance.
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June 18, 2013
Boehner Sets Potential Roadblock For Immigration Reform
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Tuesday that he would not bring an immigration reform package up for a vote unless it had the support of a majority of Republicans, setting a potentially high hurdle for any proposed legislation.
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June 18, 2013
7th Circ. Nixes Ex-Navistar Workers’ Suit Over Nonunion Hires
A group of former Navistar Inc. workers lost their bid Tuesday to revive a suit alleging the engine manufacturer fired them in favor of nonunion subcontractors, when the Seventh Circuit ruled their required companion claims against their union were insufficient.
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June 18, 2013
Commerce Bank Founder Wants New Trial On $17M Severance
Commerce Bancorp LLC founder Vernon Hill II asked a New Jersey federal judge Monday for a new trial over a $17.2 million severance payment he sought after an investigation into real estate dealings led to his resignation, saying a jury instruction made jurors believe the payment was legally prohibited.
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June 18, 2013
Law Firm's Arbitration Clause Doesn't Cover Age Bias Claims
A New Jersey appellate panel Tuesday agreed to bifurcate certain claims against a law firm accused of discriminating against an older attorney, sending claims of alleged breach of contract to arbitration while leaving the discrimination claims to be tried in court.
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June 18, 2013
Pa. McDonald's Hit With Class Action Over Debit Card Wages
A Pennsylvania woman hit a McDonald’s franchisee with a putative class action in state court on Thursday, alleging that the employer violated state laws by paying employees solely via debit cards.
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June 18, 2013
Minority Reps. Raise Concerns About DOL Fiduciary Rule
Members of U.S. congressional minority caucuses on Friday expressed concerns that the U.S. Department of Labor's plan to repropose controversial regulations broadening the definition of "fiduciary" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act could actually disadvantage those the agency is trying to help.
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June 18, 2013
Cancer Testing Co. Blasts False Claims Suit As 'Speculation'
Cancer diagnostic company Caris Life Sciences Inc. told a Texas federal court Monday that allegations that it overbilled Medicare and gave hospitals kickbacks were based on "mistaken assumptions and speculation" from former employees who couldn't possibly have known about any false claims.
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June 18, 2013
Dignity Health Blasts ERISA Suit Over $1.2B Pension Shortfall
Dignity Health on Monday asked a California judge to dismiss a putative class action alleging that the health care conglomerate underfunded its pension plans by $1.2 billion, arguing its status as a religious institution exempts it from the law.
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June 18, 2013
Temple U. Can't Block Fired Worker's Return, Pa. Judge Rules
A Pennsylvania state judge last week shot down a suit by Temple University Hospital seeking to overturn an arbitrator's decision allowing a worker who was fired for sexual harassment to return to her job.
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June 18, 2013
NLRB Overstepped Authority In Union Ruling, Judge Says
An Oregon federal judge Monday vacated a National Labor Relations Board decision, siding with the collective bargaining association for multiple West Coast port operators and finding that the board overreached in awarding certain jobs to public workers instead of the union with which the companies were under contract.
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June 18, 2013
Q&A With Fisher & Phillips' Chris Hoffman
While I do not think we will see substantial changes in the rules and regulations of wage and hour law, I do think the ongoing evolution in the enforceability of arbitration agreements may hold the practical solution, says Chris Hoffman, a partner with Fisher & Phillips LLP.
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June 18, 2013
GOP Lawmakers Blast DOL's Prevailing Wage Calculations
Republican members of a U.S. congressional subcommittee on Tuesday assailed the U.S. Department of Labor's methods for determining prevailing wage rates for public works projects under the Davis-Bacon Act and suggested that the agency may need to overhaul its data collection process.
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June 18, 2013
NLRB Denied Group Due Process In Union Row, 5th Circ. Says
The Fifth Circuit on Monday overturned a National Labor Relations Board decision that found an electrical trade group had discriminated against union members through two employment programs, ruling the board had unlawfully based the decision on a different section of law than the case was filed under.
Expert Analysis
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How To Avoid Discriminatory Wellness Programs Under HIPAA
In addition to providing clear guidance for designing nondiscriminatory wellness programs, recent insight from the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services may also bring more outcome-based programs and new plan designs that shift costs to employees who do not participate, says Priscilla Ryan of Sidley Austin LLP.
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How Flexible Flyer Slipped Past The WARN Act
Interestingly, though the Fifth Circuit in In re Flexible Flyer based its analysis on the WARN Act's "unforeseen business circumstance" exception, the factors that the court considered had more to do with the company's "good faith, well-grounded hope and reasonable expectations." This suggests that, at least from the Fifth Circuit's perspective, the WARN Act is also meant to encourage companies to take reasonable actions to preserve the company and jobs, say Amy Vanderwal and George Klidonas of Baker & Hostetler LLP.
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Hold That Sneeze — Paid Sick Time Coming Soon To NYC
Recently, the New York City Council passed the Earned Sick Time Act. While Mayor Bloomberg is expected to veto the act, the act has sufficient support within the city council to override any veto, so employers should be mindful of the new record keeping and anti-retaliation requirements, among other things in the act, say attorneys with Bingham McCutchen LLP.
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How To Evaluate Insider Threats And Trading Risks
In light of several recent insider trading scandals, any hedge fund hoping to succeed should know that setting up an innovative internal mechanism to detect employee risk is paramount. Such an effective program requires evaluating factors such as employee behavior and anomalies in communication to create a new lens to investigate potential insider risk, says Jason Golub of K2 Intelligence LLC.
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Is TAR Right For Your Discovery Project?
There are several critical decision factors to weigh to assess whether Technology Assisted Review is right for a discovery project — for example, the nature of the case, internal capabilities, production considerations and overall comfort with this technology, say Michele Lange and Joseph White of Kroll Ontrack Inc.
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Know Your Options Before You Pay Those Taxes
New and increased taxes that went into effect Jan. 1, 2013, are hitting employers and employees in several areas. Now is the time for employers to consider their options for qualified retirement plans, such as the individual account plan and cash balance plan, says Lee Polk of Epstein Becker & Green PC.
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Class Arbitration Is Back In Arbitrators’ Hands
Arbitrators can still interpret contracts pretty much any way they want, according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter. The holding should come as no great surprise as it reflects decades of federal arbitration law, yet the unanimous ruling is a surprise, given what preceded it, says Christopher King of Homer Bonner Jacobs.
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5 Documents Sure To Appear In Employment Litigation
When it comes to employment litigation, the fundamental activities often make a far greater difference than sophisticated lawyering. Such is the case with five basic documents created by an employer that lie at the core of an employment dispute. In litigation, these documents often make the difference between success and failure, says Mauro Ramirez of Fisher & Phillips LLP.
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Texas Jumps On The Uniform Trade Secrets Act Bandwagon
Texas recently became the 48th state to adopt a version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, the result of which should be claims that are less expensive to prosecute and easier for juries to understand, as well as improved predictability, allowing parties to better assess the strength and weaknesses of their case, says Christopher LaVigne of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
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Intelligence Leak Places Spotlight On Classified Programs
The recent leak of sensitive information by an employee of a major government contractor highlights how vulnerable every contractor is to the actions of a single employee. All contractors performing classified work should use this event as a lesson learned and proactively evaluate their internal systems, say Todd Canni and Marques Peterson of McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP.