EmploymentRSS

  • March 28, 2008

    Judge Stops Bear Stearns Exec from Defecting

    A federal judge has blocked a Boston-based Bear Stearns Cos. executive from working for rival firm Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., at least for now.

  • March 27, 2008

    Starbucks Hit With Another Tip-Sharing Suit

    Starbucks Corp. has been hit with yet another proposed class action, this time in Minnesota state court, alleging that it wrongly shared tips between baristas and managers.

  • March 27, 2008

    FedEx Drivers From 19 States Win Class Certification

    Drivers for FedEx Ground Package System Inc. scored a victory on Tuesday, when a judge certified classes of drivers from 19 states in their lawsuit to claim benefits for which they were deemed ineligible because of their status as independent contractors.

  • March 27, 2008

    DOE Lab Hit With FLSA Suit

    Sandia National Laboratories, which develops nuclear weapons parts for the U.S. Department of Energy, is facing a collective action for allegedly denying current and former employees overtime pay.

  • March 27, 2008

    Appeals Court Revives Coach's Suit Against College

    A women's basketball coach has been given another chance to pursue his suit against Clark College after he was fired from the Washington institution, allegedly for questioning the way the school handled the women's basketball program in comparison to the men's.

  • March 26, 2008

    Starbucks Slammed Again For Shaving Tips

    Starbucks Corp. has been hit with a class action alleging that it wrongly shared tips between baristas and managers, just days after the coffee chain was ordered to pay $105 million to California servers who levied similar charges.

  • March 26, 2008

    Lumenis Sues Alma For Trade Secret Violations

    Israeli medical device maker Lumenis Ltd. has sued four former employees for allegedly misappropriating its trade secrets and technology for use at their new company, Alma Lasers Ltd.

  • March 26, 2008

    Controllers Sue To End Stalemate On Jurisdiction

    The union representing federal air traffic controllers filed suit on Friday against several government agencies, asking a court to confirm that the Federal Services Impasses Panel has jurisdiction over collective bargaining cases involving the Federal Aviation Administration.

  • March 25, 2008

    ETrade Hits Ex-Employees With Trade Secrets Suit

    Online brokerage firm ETrade Financial Corp. has sued two former employees and a Bank of America subsidiary for allegedly misappropriating trade secret information to poach its customers.

  • March 25, 2008

    7th Circuit Reinstates Race Bias Suit Against Prada

    A federal appeals court has revived a racial discrimination and retaliation suit brought by a former Prada saleswoman against the luxury goods company, finding the lower court misinterpreted the definition of race under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 in dismissing the suit.

  • March 24, 2008

    Suit Seeks OT Pay For Prudential Associates

    A former Prudential employee in California has filed a proposed class action against the company, seeking back pay for overtime hours that he claims the company owes him and other financial sales associates.

  • March 24, 2008

    Clifford Chance Hit With $75M Race Bias Suit

    A Haitian woman who was fired by Clifford Chance LLP in 2002 has reportedly sued the multinational firm for $75 million, claiming that she was the victim of racial discrimination and a campaign by the firm to blacklist her in the legal community.

  • March 24, 2008

    High Court Won't Hear Retiree Health Benefits Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a challenge to a controversial rule exempting employers from the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in coordinating employees' health benefits with Medicare.

  • March 24, 2008

    DHS Renews Battle To Enforce 'No-Match' Rule

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security renewed its push Friday to force employers to fire workers whose names don't match their Social Security numbers, continuing its quest to make the so-called no-match policy a law and denouncing a judge's decision last year to block the rule.

  • March 20, 2008

    Jewelry Giant Not A Girl's Best Friend: Suit

    The largest jewelry store chain in the U.S. has been hit with a potential class action alleging that the company's managers discriminated against female employees when handing out both payment and promotions.

  • March 21, 2008

    Court Overturns NLRB Decision On Harassment Rule

    A federal appellate court has partially overturned a National Labor Relations Board ruling which found that executives at auto parts maker Stanadyne Automobile Corp. did not commit unfair labor practices in the weeks leading up to a union vote.

  • March 19, 2008

    Wachovia Subsidiary Hit With FLSA Suit

    A World Mortgage Co. employee launched a proposed class action Monday, claiming the Wachovia subsidiary's failure to pay certain workers overtime violates both the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • March 19, 2008

    Justices Weigh California's Limit On Employer Speech

    In a case that could affect similar legislation proposed in 15 other states, U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared divided Wednesday over whether a California law can bar employers from using state funds to influence union-organizing activities.

  • March 19, 2008

    NLRB Ignored Evidence In Contractor Ruling: FedEx

    FedEx Home Delivery has filed a brief in its appeal of a National Labor Relations Board decision that found the company had misclassified employees working out of two Massachusetts distribution centers as independent contractors.

  • March 18, 2008

    $5M Workplace Exposure Award Upheld

    A Tennessee appeals court dealt a blow to a major railroad company Friday, affirming a lower court's decision to award an ailing employee $5 million for illnesses he claimed to have contracted from his workplace exposure to hazardous materials.

Expert Analysis

  • 'Contractor' Vs. 'Employee' — The FedEx Model

    FedEx Home Delivery’s recent successes in obtaining federal court and IRS rulings that its drivers are independent contractors because they are entrepreneurs may provide other companies a guide to structuring independent contractor relationships in order to withstand attempts to reclassify contractors as employees, says David Barmak of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC.

  • 'Unauthorized Access' Under CFAA

    While asserting claims for trade secret theft under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act has become increasingly common, plaintiffs should be aware that courts are increasingly less willing to simply find federal jurisdiction over employees who obtained confidential information by accessing their employer’s computer system if there were no limitations in place as to the computer information accessible, says Peter J. Toren of Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP.

  • Calif.'s Shifting DLSE Enforcement Policy

    A recent opinion letter from the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement on behalf of Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet signifies a shift in the DLSE's enforcement policy in favor of giving employers more flexibility by allowing them to implement vacation and sick leave policies that apportion paid time to partial-day absences of exempt employees, says Betsy Johnson of EpsteinBeckerGreen.

  • Overhauling Exec Comp, Corporate Governance Rules

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent amendments to the executive compensation and corporate governance disclosure requirements for publicly held companies reflect an effort to increase investor awareness of executive compensation practices and provide shareholders with a greater voice in their companies, says Gregory C. Schick of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.

  • RU L%kin @ my txt msgs?

    Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Company Inc., the balance between the rights of government employers to manage their workplace on the one hand and an employee’s electronic privacy rights on the other will be recalibrated to meet the “operational realities” of our ever evolving electronic communication age, says Jesse M. Jauregui of Alston & Bird LLP.

  • The Perils Of Hiring/Rehiring After An RIF

    Companies have undertaken unprecedented reductions in force in the last two years, and unemployment remains at a 26-year high. Even so, experts predict that the worst is over, and pockets of rehiring are beginning to pop up geographically and in certain industries — posing multiple complex questions of law for employers, say Linda G. Burwell and Terry W. Bonnette of Nemeth Burwell PC.

  • On The Rise: Service Contract Act Enforcement

    Contractors covered by the Service Contract Act are at the vortex of three high priorities for the Obama administration: significant increase in U.S. Department of Labor enforcement, their general anti-contractor agenda, and the attempts to “in-source” tens of thousands of service positions back in government, say Robert K. Tompkins and Douglas B. Mishkin of Patton Boggs LLP.

  • Recent Trends In Health Care Wage And Hour Actions

    Health care suits in recent months have focused on off-the-clock claims, with particular attention to automatic meal break deductions. Other issues on the horizon include potential changes to the law on home health care workers and potential litigation over the inclusion of racketeering claims in health care wage and hour suits, say Randall D. Avram, David C. Lindsay and Michael T. Rosenberg of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP.

  • Awaiting A National Standard For 'Place Of Business'

    The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the wage-and-hour class action, Hertz Corp. v. Friend. The court's decision will resolve the Circuit split of different tests and methods used to determine a corporation’s principal place of business, say Kimberly D. Baker and Arissa M. Peterson of Williams Kastner.

  • The Return Of The Global Employment Audit

    At worst, audits are perceived as a necessary evil that drain company resources and distract from the core activities of the business with little return. Global employment audits, however, can be extremely effective. The key is recognizing the traps, and conducting the audit with clear, realistic goals, planning and carefully focused inquiry, say Susan F. Eandi and Ute Krudewagen of Baker & McKenzie LLP.