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May 16, 2013
3rd Circ. Finds NLRB Recess Appointment Of Becker Invalid
Agreeing with the D.C. Circuit that recess appointments can be made only during the intersession break between Senate sessions, the Third Circuit ruled Thursday that the president's intrasession recess appointment of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board was invalid, putting the validity of even more labor board decisions into doubt.
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May 16, 2013
Labor Nominee Moves Toward Senate Vote Despite GOP Gripes
A Senate committee voted along party lines Thursday to send U.S. Department of Justice civil rights division chief Thomas Perez's nomination to serve as secretary of labor to the full Senate for a vote, despite Republican concerns that Perez leaked information about a $335 million settlement to a reporter.
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May 15, 2013
Commerce Bank Alumnus Says CEO Involved In Probed Deals
A TD Bank NA executive on Wednesday told a New Jersey federal jury that his former boss, Commerce Bancorp founder Vernon W. Hill II, was directly involved in deals that attracted regulatory scrutiny and led to his ouster, as the jury considers awarding Hill a $17.2 million severance.
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May 15, 2013
Applebee's Waitress' Tip-Credit Claim Cut From Wage Case
An Indiana federal judge on Monday trimmed a claim in a proposed collective action against the franchisees of more than 20 Applebee's International Inc. restaurants alleging they violated minimum wage provisions by saddling tipped employees with duties for which they receive no gratuity.
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May 15, 2013
Obama's 1st Term Rulemaking Rate Soars By Bush's Mark
President Barack Obama has pushed through a significantly higher number of major rules over the last four years than former President George W. Bush did during his own first term, according to a report by the research arm of Congress.
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May 15, 2013
NY The Likely Loser As Strike Pits Lawyer Against Lawyer
Anger over cuts to legal services budgets boiled over in New York City on Wednesday as unionized attorneys representing low-income clients went on strike, ripping their managers — also lawyers — in an ugly dispute experts said would cost the city and state far more than the $8 million at issue if the dispute wears on.
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May 15, 2013
Bass Pro Says EEOC Bullied It To Accept $30M Bias Settlement
A subsidiary of Bass Pro Inc. on Wednesday urged a Texas federal court to toss a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging the sporting goods chain systematically excluded minorities from its workforce, arguing the agency rebuffed mandatory dispute resolution efforts and demanded $30 million before filing suit.
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May 15, 2013
NASA Lab Vows To Fight NLRB Ruling On Scientists' Emails
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Wednesday that it planned to appeal a National Labor Relations Board judge's ruling that it violated federal labor law when it disciplined scientists for sending mass emails from work computers criticizing a policy of required background checks.
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May 15, 2013
EEOC Updates Guidance On Cancer, Other Disabilities
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Wednesday updated its informal guidance for employers on how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to job applicants and employees with cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and intellectual disabilities to reflect the broadening of the law's definition of a disability.
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May 15, 2013
Comcast Ruling Undermines Seating Class, Kmart Says
Kmart Corp. urged a California federal court Monday to reject a former worker's bid to certify a statewide class of cashiers who weren't provided seats while working, claiming that class treatment could lead to complex, individualized penalty calculations that conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court's March Comcast ruling.
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May 15, 2013
NLRB Facebook Cases No Ploy To Boost Reach, Director Says
A series of recent National Labor Relations Board rulings applying federal labor law to worker conduct on Facebook is a product of social media's popularity, not the NLRB trying to increase its influence in nonunion workplaces, a regional director told Law360 Wednesday.
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May 15, 2013
Goodyear Factory Employees Sue For $4M Over Downsizing
A group of French factory workers hit Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company with a $4 million tortious interference suit in April alleging the tire manufacturer's French subsidiary moved ahead with a downsizing plan in violation of its obligations to the employees' union.
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May 15, 2013
Amici Pile Up In Calif. Dispute Over Employment Class Waivers
Interested parties including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, corporate counsel and plaintiffs lawyers groups, and a union have lodged briefs in a lawsuit in which the California Supreme Court may clarify how the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Concepcion decision affects class waivers in California employment disputes.
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May 15, 2013
Medicare Doesn't Trump State Workers' Comp Law: 5th Circ.
The Fifth Circuit ruled Tuesday that a Medicare statute cannot trump a Texas law that requires preauthorization for workers' compensation expenses because Medicare indicates that claimants should exhaust their state law remedies first.
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May 15, 2013
NFL Goes To NY Appeals Court For Concussion Suit Coverage
The National Football League recently took its sprawling insurance fight over former players' head injury suits to a New York appeals court, challenging a trial court's refusal to toss claims brought by a slew of insurance carriers.
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May 15, 2013
Top NY Officials Rapped For Secret Lopez Sleaze Settlement
Disgraced Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez has avoided criminal charges for subjecting staffers to sexual harassment, but a Staten Island prosecutor criticized a top legislative leader — and the state attorney general's office — on Wednesday for bottling up the matter and approving a secret settlement.
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May 15, 2013
Swarovski Looks To Nix Workers' Forced Jewelry Buy Claims
Swarovski North America Ltd. asked a California federal judge Tuesday to dismiss claims by store employees who say in a proposed class action that the jeweler unlawfully forced them to buy its merchandise and wear those items — and no competitors' — at work.
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May 15, 2013
Q&A With LeClairRyan's Michael Barnsback
The uncertainty of the National Labor Relations Board's operations after Noel Canning v. NLRB makes it difficult to provide clear guidance to employers and creates the potential for significant additional expenses, says Michael Barnsback, a partner with LeClairRyan LLP specializing in employment law.
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May 14, 2013
Arnold & Porter Atty Says Bank Couldn't Certify CEO Payout
A managing partner at Arnold & Porter LLP told a New Jersey federal jury Tuesday that he never advised Commerce Bancorp to hold $17.2 million in severance pay to Commerce's founder Vernon W. Hill II, saying the payment couldn't be executed without regulatory filings the bank was unable to make.
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May 14, 2013
Fla.-Owned Insurer's Shutdown Of Ethics Office OK'd
Florida Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel reported Tuesday that she did not find evidence of retaliation in state-owned insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp.'s decision to disband its Office of Corporate Integrity shortly after it conducted investigations into misconduct at Citizens.
Expert Analysis
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10 Things To Know About OIG's Self-Disclosure Protocol
Recently, the Office of Inspector General released an updated self-disclosure protocol by which health care providers can identify, disclose and resolve situations involving potential fraud. Providers considering the SDP program will now have more specific details to guide their submission but also face stricter requirements, say attorneys with Patton Boggs LLP.
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How To Run Team Meetings In Complex Cases — Part 2
Remember that the structure of a meeting guides the team's conduct. There are three types of alternative meeting structures that can and should be utilized by the litigation team, says David Dolkas of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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Pay Gap? Yes, But Discrimination? Rarely
As we approach the sixth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision of Lilly Ledbetter's case against Goodyear and the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, I'm going to be contrary and say that the gender pay gap is mostly baloney for several reasons, says Robin Shea of Constangy Brooks & Smith LLP.
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How To Run Team Meetings In Complex Cases — Part 1
Many litigation teams struggle with making good decisions and running effective team meetings for three reasons: compromised decision-making, lack of healthy meeting conflict, and lack of alternative meeting structures, says David Dolkas of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
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What To Know About ACA Collective Bargaining
For companies with a unionized workforce, the Affordable Care Act poses additional challenges and strategic considerations above and beyond those confronting nonunionized workforces. In addition to the general matter of "pay or play" provisions, unionized companies must also keep in mind of what may constitute an unfair labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act, say attorneys with Epstein Becker & Green PC.
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FAQs On Franchise Development Insurance
The franchisor-franchisee contractual relationship is one that incites many questions, particularly in terms of insurance. As specific fact patterns and state laws differ, insurers and insureds should use the general principles regarding frequently asked questions of insuring franchise developments as guidelines, says Carl Anthony Maio of Fox Rothschild LLP.
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Know Your Codes Before Litigation Blows Up
A recent analysis of Occupational Safety and Health Administration data on boiler incidents at workplaces illustrates the need for manufacturers, designers and operators to be aware of applicable codes and standards. If litigation results from a catastrophic incident, any violations of applicable codes, standards and safety rules will be important evidence, says Jonathan Shoebotham of Thompson & Knight LLP.
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US Airways V. McCutchen Spurs Revision Of ERISA Plans
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in U.S. Airways v. McCutchen should guide the drafting and revising of Employee Retirement Income Security Act plans. Certainly, a plan should protect itself by granting itself reimbursement rights in the beneficiary’s full recovery against a third party, say attorneys with Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP.
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Genesis V. Symczyk: A Win For Employers In The End
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court evaded resolving a particular circuit split in Genesis Healthcare Corp. v. Symczyk, the court did resolve another issue that should provide employers confidence in the proper disposition of Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions, say attorneys with Paul Hastings LLP.
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Paying Your Employees While On Lockdown
The events that occurred following the Boston Marathon bombings have had a disruptive effect on businesses throughout the metro area, and employers may wonder about their obligations to pay employees for work that they performed or missed during the lockdown. In Massachusetts, these issues are particularly poignant, says Barry Miller of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.