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Employment
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May 21, 2013
Marine Services Co. Hit With Human Trafficking Suits
More than 500 employees of Signal International LLC launched suits in Texas and Mississippi federal courts Tuesday, alleging the marine services company and its recruiters lured them from India with false promises of permanent resident status and forced them into slave labor.
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May 21, 2013
Immigration Reform Bill Advances To Full Senate
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation Tuesday that would create a 13-year path to citizenship for most of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, brightening prospects for the U.S.' first major immigration reform in more than 25 years.
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May 21, 2013
New Mental Disorders Mean ADA Headaches For Employers
The latest version of the official manual used to diagnose mental disorders threatens to make the already complex task of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act more difficult by forcing employers to figure out whether and how to accommodate newly recognized mental conditions without much guidance from courts or the government.
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May 21, 2013
Commerce Bank Founder Loses Bid For $17M Parachute
A New Jersey federal jury on Tuesday sided with Commerce Bancorp in a breach of contract suit, ruling the bank was legally prohibited from paying its founder and former CEO Vernon W. Hill II a $17.2 million severance due to federal regulations governing "golden parachute" payments.
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May 21, 2013
Texas Bill Curbing Suits Over Ex-Offender Hiring Reaches Gov.
Texas employers can’t be sued for negligently hiring workers or independent contractors with certain past criminal convictions, under a bill sent to Gov. Rick Perry for approval Monday.
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May 21, 2013
CVS Workers Near Class Status In Security-Check Pay Suit
A California judge indicated Tuesday he will certify a class of more than 40,000 Caremark CVS Corp. workers who allege the drugstore chain stiffed them by not paying them for time spent in security inspections, saying CVS had a uniform classwide compensation policy.
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May 21, 2013
NY Starbucks Tip Fight Percolates Beyond Java Giant
Restaurateurs say the outcome of a New York high court fight over which Starbucks Corp. workers get tips could subject the state's massive hospitality industry to crippling liability, but plaintiffs' lawyers say bosses really see the battle as an opportunity to cut payrolls by spreading tips to more employees.
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May 21, 2013
Ralphs Presses High Court To Take Union-Picketing Case
Ralphs Grocery Co. on Monday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a California Supreme Court decision allowing a labor union to picket outside one of its stores, saying the “radical” ruling will allow protesters on its private property solely because their speech is about labor.
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May 21, 2013
Calif. Hospital Workers Picket Amid Stalled Contract Talks
Some 13,000 hospital employees from one of the largest trade unions in the country began their two-day strike Tuesday picketing five University of California medical centers as union contract talks remain stalled after a yearlong negotiation process.
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May 21, 2013
Atlantic City Gets Award In Police Arbitration Row Remanded
A New Jersey public employment panel has ordered an arbitrator to revisit his award in a labor dispute between Atlantic City and a union for 330 police officers over his decision to not rely on certain city-provided salary information, though it agreed that the information wasn't clearly conveyed.
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May 21, 2013
NY DOL Unveils Proposed Regs On Wage Deductions
The New York Department of Labor is slated to publish proposed regulations in the State Register on Wednesday that govern how businesses can implement recent amendments to state labor law that expand an employer's ability to make voluntary deductions from employee wages.
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May 21, 2013
EU Proposal Sets Groundwork For Banker Bonus Cap
The European Banking Authority on Tuesday released draft rules national regulators will follow when determining which bankers will have their bonuses capped as part of new risk-prevention mechanisms that take effect early next year.
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May 21, 2013
Workers' Comp. Judges Not Entitled To Raise, Pa. Justices Say
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court finding that a state administrative board's decision to eliminate a one-time pay increase for Pennsylvania's workers' compensation judges didn't violate the state or federal constitutions.
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May 21, 2013
Minn. Home Care Workers Get Green Light To Unionize
Minnesota lawmakers narrowly passed controversial legislation Monday that would amend state law and allow thousands of in-home care workers to unionize, marking a victory for labor groups, which could pick up droves of new members.
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May 21, 2013
Nortel's British Retirees Fight Objection To $1.3B In Claims
Nortel Network Corp.'s British retirees asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge Monday to strike an objection to their $1.3 billion in claims, contending the response by the defunct telecom's U.S. unit does not properly address any of the pension fund's allegations.
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May 21, 2013
Quorum Fight Should Halt NLRB Injunction Bid, DC Circ. Told
Santa Fe Tortilla Co. on Monday asked the D.C. Circuit for help halting the National Labor Relations Board's efforts to get an injunction against the company while the appeals court determines whether the board has the authority to seek such relief in the wake of the Noel Canning decision.
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May 21, 2013
Whistleblower Takes Takeda FCA Case To Supreme Court
A Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. sales leader has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive his whistleblower suit accusing the company of defrauding Medicare by overbilling for stomach acid drug prescriptions, arguing that it meets False Claims Act qualifications.
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May 21, 2013
Drinker Biddle Lures Back Employee Benefits Pro
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has landed an experienced partner to strengthen its employee benefits and executive compensation practice group in Chicago, the firm said on Monday.
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May 21, 2013
Dimon Survives, But Risk Concerns Loom For JPMorgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon will keep his chairman’s seat after investors defeated an effort to split the roles Tuesday, but slim re-election margins for the bank’s risk committee will fuel calls for board reforms, experts say.
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May 21, 2013
Norfolk Southern Gets Rail Yard Safety Order Tossed
Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court on Monday sided with Norfolk Southern Railway Corp. in ruling that federal regulations preempt a 1975 order from the state’s Public Utility Commission requiring the railroad to employ two brakemen around the clock to maintain safety at a rail yard.
Expert Analysis
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6 Ways The ACA May Increase Federal Contractors’ Costs
Federal contractors face significant cost increases and compliance requirements as a result of the health insurance reforms in the Affordable Care Act. To minimize costs and compliance risks in the future, companies should take a number of steps in the coming months, say attorneys with Arnold & Porter LLP.
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Legal Risks Behind Workplace Wellness Programs
Although more clarity is needed from administrative agencies and the courts regarding the contours of a lawful employee wellness program, it is definitely better at this point to structure such programs using rewards or incentives for participation as opposed to penalties for nonparticipation, says Kevin Kelly of Locke Lord LLP.
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A Buzz Kill For Colo. Marijuana User-Employees
The recent precedent-setting decision in Coats v. Dish Network LLC appears to foreclose marijuana users’ most compelling argument against termination for off-duty, off-premises marijuana use. It further suggests that Colorado courts may continue protecting employers’ rights to enforce drug policies, notwithstanding the state’s legalization effort, say attorneys with Holland & Hart LLP.
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Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
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The Evolution Of Ohio's Statute On Employer Tort Claims
With the recent change in Ohio law on employer intentional tort claims comes changes to the good faith obligations an insurance carrier owes to its insureds: In cases involving employer intentional tort claims, insurers may no longer select counsel. Rather, insureds have the right to select counsel with whom they have a preferred relationship and whom they trust, says Thomas Wyatt Palmer of Thompson Hine LLP.
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A New Procedural Trend In Qui Tam FCA Cases
As the federal government faces increased pressure from courts and Congress to speed up intervention decisions in qui tam False Claims Act cases, it is starting to respond by postponing those decisions until after the cases have been unsealed, which could drastically impact how these cases are litigated while the government is waiting in the wings, say attorneys with Nixon Peabody LLP.
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High Court's Nassar Case — What's At Stake For Employers
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard argument for University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, and while the case seems promising for employers, it should also remind them that their best protection against retaliation claims will continue to be contemporaneous written evidence of a real reason for taking unfavorable actions against an employee, say attorneys with Seyfarth Shaw LLP.
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NY Jumps On Domestic Violence Protection Bandwagon
In the last few years, there have been significant legal developments to increase protections for victims of domestic or sexual violence, including New York state's recently approved bill that provides 90 days of job protection to victim-employees. If the bill passes, New York legislation, along with that of Illinois and California, would provide arguably the most expansive state protection in the country, say attorneys with Proskauer Rose LLP.
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Calif. Moves Forward To Prevent Human Trafficking
In an effort to combat the $32 billion human trafficking industry, California law now requires certain businesses to post public notices regarding slavery and human trafficking. By doing so, the recently passed bill has effectively made these establishments aware that they may already be unwitting participants in the human trafficking industry, say attorneys with Gordon & Rees LLP.
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SEC Must Stop The Latest Effort To Impede Whistleblowers
Increasingly, employees have been presented with language in severance and settlement agreements that impose on whistleblowers a number of restrictions. These provisions pose a serious threat to the success of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's whistleblower program, say David Marshall and Debra Katz of Katz Marshall & Banks LLP.