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May 13, 2013
NHL's Rough-And-Tumble History Will Color Concussion Suits
A Friday lawsuit accusing the National Hockey League of failing to warn deceased player Derek Boogaard about the long-term health risks of head injuries could kick off a torrent of litigation against the NHL, but attorneys say that hockey’s lack of involvement in concussion research and its tolerance for fighting could prove to be game-changers for the league.
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May 13, 2013
Kelley Drye Lures Labor Pro Back From Littler Mendelson
A 22-year veteran of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP who left the firm in May 2010 for Littler Mendelson PC has returned to chair Kelley Drye’s labor and employment practice with an eye to expanding its footprint, the firm said Monday.
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May 13, 2013
Farms Settle EEOC's Sexual Exploitation Suits
An Oregon farm operator agreed Monday to pay $150,000 to dodge U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims that a supervisor sexually harassed a female employee and encouraged her co-worker husband to kill her, one week after the commission settled a similar suit against another farm for $650,000.
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May 13, 2013
Ex-Gersten Savage Bankruptcy Atty Sues Over Unpaid Wages
A former Gersten Savage LLP bankruptcy partner sued the defunct law firm and its founder Jay M. Kaplowitz in New York state court Friday alleging they owe him about $360,000 in unpaid wages and damages.
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May 13, 2013
Tech Workers Renew Class Bid In Anti-Poaching Case
Former software engineers at Apple Inc., Google Inc. and other technology giants moved to pare down their bid for class certification Friday after a recent ruling that they lacked evidence showing an alleged plot to fix employee pay affected all salaried workers.
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May 13, 2013
Kaplan Faces FCA Suit Over Playground Construction Wages
A qui tam complaint unsealed Friday accuses Kaplan Early Learning Co. of defrauding the government by failing to pay federally mandated employee wages on more than 200 playground construction contracts funded by Head Start programs.
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May 13, 2013
Contractors Group Slams EEOC Same-Sex Harassment Claim
A general contractors trade group on Friday urged the full Fifth Circuit to reject the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's claims that a construction company supervisor's use of gay epithets toward a straight male iron worker constituted sexual harassment.
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May 13, 2013
Texas Health Co. Loses Appeal For Workers' Comp Arbitration
Trisun Healthcare LLC can’t rely on an arbitration agreement an employee signed with one of its affiliates to avoid a lawsuit over an alleged workplace injury, a Texas appeals court held Thursday.
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May 13, 2013
Sun Capital Escapes WARN Act Claims In Bankruptcy Court
A Delaware federal bankruptcy court on Friday cleared Sun Capital Partners Inc. of class claims that the private equity firm was liable for portfolio company Jevic Transportation Inc.'s alleged failure to properly notify workers of a layoff around the time of Jevic's bankruptcy.
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May 13, 2013
Kmart Allowed To Subpoena FCA Whistleblower’s Records
An Illinois federal judge refused Monday to quash a subpoena for the employment records of a Kmart Corp. pharmacist who claims the company violated false claims and anti-kickback laws by offering discounts to Medicare and other prescription drug customers, finding the subpoena isn’t meant to harass.
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May 13, 2013
Starbucks Reaches $3M Settlement In Wage Class Action
Starbucks Corp. agreed to pay $3 million to resolve a class action filed by workers in California alleging the company denied them required meal breaks and issued inaccurate wage statements, according to documents filed in California federal court Friday.
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May 13, 2013
HHS OKs Unique Bifurcated ACA Exchange For Utah
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to Utah’s proposed model for its Affordable Care Act-mandated health insurance exchange, allowing the state to run the small business portion while leaving individual insurance under HHS oversight, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert announced Friday.
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May 13, 2013
EEOC Lays Out Principles For Judging Investigation Quality
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of Friday released draft principles to update the way it evaluates the quality of its investigations and conciliations, another step in its drive to implement a plan to make itself more efficient.
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May 13, 2013
AEX Driver Employment Status A Jury Matter, Judge Suggests
A case alleging American Eagle Express Inc. illegally denied overtime pay to drivers it misclassified as independent contractors may be headed for trial in July after a Pennsylvania federal judge expressed skepticism Monday that claims in the case were clear-cut enough for summary judgment.
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May 13, 2013
Ranbaxy Pays Record $500M To End Tainted Drug Claims
Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. will pay $350 million to settle a Maryland whistleblower False Claims Act suit over selling allegedly adulterated drugs to several government health care programs, plus an additional $150 million after pleading guilty to related felony charges, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.
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May 13, 2013
Injured Worker Prods NJ Justices To Tackle Employer Liability
New Jersey's highest court agreed Thursday to consider whether a Morris County employee who was hit by a car as she walked from a privately owned parking garage to her job is entitled to disability benefits under the state's Workers' Compensation Act.
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May 13, 2013
Citing Brinker, Calif. Appeals Court Backs Guards' Class Bid
A California appeals court on Friday said security guards accusing Boyd & Associates Inc. of wage-and-hour violations are entitled to class certification, reversing its previous ruling in the wake of the state Supreme Court’s landmark Brinker decision.
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May 13, 2013
Landmark $240M EEOC Disability Verdict To Be Cut To $1.6M
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission acknowledged in Friday court filings that the $240 million jury verdict it secured for turkey plant workers with intellectual disabilities who it claims were abused by Hill Country Farms Inc. must be reduced to about $1.6 million because of statutory damage caps.
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May 13, 2013
Fired Exec Says Research Firm Illegally Tracked Applicants
A former executive for ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services Inc. contends the pharmaceutical research company illegally fired him for objecting to its practice of tracking job applicants' religion, sexual orientation and other personal details, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Pennsylvania federal court.
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May 13, 2013
Pa. Supreme Court Takes Over 3rd Judicial Retirement Suit
Two days after it heard oral arguments over Pennsylvania's mandatory judicial retirement, the state Supreme Court announced Friday that it would take jurisdiction over the third suit pending in state courts on the matter.
Expert Analysis
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Federal Standard For Successor Liability Applies To FLSA
The Seventh Circuit ruling in Teed v. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions LLC serves as a reminder and warning to buyers who are pursuing distressed acquisition strategies for a company or its assets, that through the doctrine of successor liability, they may still be held responsible for the federal labor law claims against the seller, even if they affirmatively disclaim all liabilities in the documentation of sale, say attorneys with Haynes and Boone LLP.
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Hospitals Must Re-Evaluate Subcontractor Status
A Washington, D.C., federal court's recent decision in UPMC Braddock v. Harris confirms the concerns of many health care providers — that their contractual relationships may subject them to affirmative action obligations and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs jurisdiction, even if they have no direct relationship with the federal government, say attorneys with Duane Morris LLP.
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Limiting Collection Of Withdrawal Liability Against PE Funds
If adopted by other courts, the district of Massachusetts decision in Sun Capital Partners III LP v. New England Teamsters and Trucking Industry Pension Fund could significantly limit a multiemployer pension fund’s ability to assess and collect withdrawal liability against companies that are owned and operated by private equity funds, say Neal Schelberg and Anthony Cacace of Proskauer Rose LLP.
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Even Paid Internship Programs Come With Risk
The education community recently received a wake-up call when Hamilton College was hit with a class action involving its paid interns. The lessons arising out of the dispute can help schools create programs that are designed to minimize liability and create the best educational experience for interns, says Tamsen Leachman of Fisher & Phillips LLP.
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Employment Litigation Forecast: Greater Challenges Ahead
Looking ahead based on developments in the first quarter of 2013, social media is likely to be a continuing focal point in employment litigation, along with more wage and hour cases, a tighter focus from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and heightened whistleblower protection, says Trina Fairley-Barlow of Crowell & Moring LLP.
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Summa V. Hofstra — A Cautionary Tale For Employers
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Summa v. Hofstra University provides a clear lesson to employers: When employers learn that their employee is being harassed, they need to not only quickly stop the harassment but also ensure that the harassed employee does not face retribution for raising the issue in the first place, say attorneys with Katz Marshall & Banks LLP.
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8 Ways To Reduce Employment Litigation Costs
Employment lawsuits and charges with administrative agencies continue to rise, along with the cost associated with these actions. Can a company truly undertake measures to reduce its employment litigation spend? In my view, the answer unquestionably is yes, says Brian McDermott of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC.
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Get Ready For Increased Minimum Wages
In preparation for increasing minimum wages across the country, employers should update their payroll practices, place workplace posters concerning minimum wage appropriately and ensure that employees are correctly classified as exempt or nonexempt, say attorneys with Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP.
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OFCCP Guidelines — Scientifically Valid But Unclear
The lack of specificity in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' new compensation guidelines may be frustrating to federal contractors, but the upside may be that the OFCCP will now try to accurately model the contractor’s compensation decisions, says Audrius Girnius of Advanced Analytical Consulting Group Inc.
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Business Judgment Rules The Roost In Exec Pay Analysis
The Delaware Supreme Court’s ruling in Freedman v. Adams affirms that employers, and corporate boards, have wide latitude in making executive compensation decisions. In upholding the Delaware Chancery Court ruling, the court focused on the board’s exercise of its business judgment, say attorneys with Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.