Labor

  • March 18, 2024

    Dartmouth College Won't Bargain With Men's Basketball Team

    Dartmouth College is rejecting a bid by a Service Employees International Union local to bargain for a contract covering men's basketball players, a university spokesperson said Monday, signaling the school's plan to take to federal court its fight over whether collegiate athletes are statutory employees.

  • March 18, 2024

    9th Circ. Frees Kaiser, Union From Fired Calif. Nurse's Suit

    Kaiser Permanente and the California Nurses Association defeated a fired nurse's lawsuit Monday, with the Ninth Circuit affirming that the nonprofit health care giant had valid reasons for firing her and that the union adequately represented her in her challenge to the termination.

  • March 18, 2024

    House Committee Launches Probe Into Union 'Corruption'

    The House Education and Workforce Committee's chairwoman began an investigation into 12 unions over concerns about union officials' "fraud, embezzlement, and corruption," according to an announcement, calling for labor organizations to share documents with the committee.

  • March 18, 2024

    Minute Media Buys Rights To Publish Sports Illustrated

    Digital content business Minute Media has purchased the publishing rights for Sports Illustrated, keeping alive a longtime brand that recently obliterated its newsroom with layoffs and shut down its betting platform, according to a Monday announcement.

  • March 18, 2024

    2nd Circ. Won't Revive CUNY Profs' Union Antisemitism Suit

    The Second Circuit won't revive a suit lodged by six Jewish professors at the City University of New York claiming that a state law unlawfully requires them to associate with a union that they allege holds antisemitic views, ruling that the provision passes muster under the U.S. Constitution.

  • March 18, 2024

    USW Says Factory Assigning Double Duty Despite Arb. Award

    An Ohio insulation manufacturer is still making the union-represented staff of its Newark, Ohio, factory perform two jobs at once, the United Steelworkers have claimed in a new lawsuit against the company, seeking to enforce an arbitration award banning the business from mandating so-called double duty.

  • March 18, 2024

    ExxonMobil Info Sharing Rule 'Overbroad,' NLRB Judge Says

    ExxonMobil enforced an "unlawfully overbroad" rule governing the sharing of corporate information, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, applying a recent shift in board precedent to find that the company illegally fired a worker who posted an internal email on social media.

  • March 15, 2024

    Ex-Philly AFSCME Council Prez Wants Election Bar Reversed

    A former American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees leader who faced charges that he skirted hiring rules wants a Pennsylvania federal court to find that a hearing officer overstepped his authority when he removed him from office and banned him from running for reelection last month.

  • March 15, 2024

    NLRB Asks 2nd. Circ. To Hold Radio Co. In Contempt

    The National Labor Relations Board asked the Second Circuit to hold a radio station operator in contempt for violating a consent judgment enforcing a board decision, saying the station hasn't restored an unlawfully laid-off worker to a comparable position and has given union work to non-union workers.

  • March 15, 2024

    Starbucks Illegally Removed Union Material, NLRB Judge Says

    Starbucks unlawfully took down union material posted at a cafe in Maine and disciplined a worker who wrote "stop union busting" on a whiteboard, a National Labor Relations Board judge found while dismissing other allegations that the company violated federal labor law.

  • March 15, 2024

    DOL Says PBGC Overpayment Returns Don't Violate ERISA

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm says it won't take enforcement action against pension plans that return overpayments made by the nation's pension backstop agency during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Congress continues to probe an accidental $127 million overpayment to a Teamsters plan.

  • March 15, 2024

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Hears Schools Admin. Suit Over Firings

    The Second Circuit this week will consider whether to revive suits brought by two former Buffalo Public Schools administrators who say they were improperly fired from their positions for allegedly failing to secure a required certification. Here, Law360 explores these cases on the docket in New York.

  • March 15, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: Full 9th Circ. To Hear AB 5 Challenge Args

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for oral arguments before the full Ninth Circuit in a case by Uber, Postmates and two drivers challenging California's worker classification law. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in the state.

  • March 14, 2024

    Foul-Language Row Met With Fowl Metaphors In Court Showdown

    An attorney for Welch Foods hatched a flock of duck-related metaphors Thursday during an oral argument over whether a male ex-worker's vulgar comments to a female coworker amounted to sexual harassment, and if an arbitrator had been wrong to reinstate the ex-worker despite the facts before her.

  • March 14, 2024

    Union Ends Representation At Medieval Times After 2 Years

    The American Guild of Variety Artists has given up its role as the bargaining representative of Medieval Times workers, according to an announcement from Medieval Times Performers United, ending an organizing effort that began in California and New Jersey about two years ago.

  • March 14, 2024

    NLRB Certifies Dartmouth Men's Basketball Player Union

    Dartmouth College must bargain with its men's basketball team after the National Labor Relations Board certified the players' recent landmark vote to unionize with the Service Employees International Union on Thursday, but a legal challenge looms.

  • March 14, 2024

    Ind. Nursing Home Nurses Get OK For Teamsters Vote

    A National Labor Relations Board official gave the green light to nurses at an Indiana nursing home to vote on representation by a Teamsters local, rejecting the facility's argument that the nurses are union-ineligible supervisors.

  • March 14, 2024

    Worker Fired Over Union Activity, Not Vax, NLRB Tells DC Circ.

    The D.C. Circuit should uphold a National Labor Relations Board decision finding a real estate management firm illegally fired a union supporter, the board argued, saying evidence doesn't back the company's claim that it lawfully terminated the worker because he hadn't been vaccinated against COVID-19.

  • March 13, 2024

    DOL Slacks On Enforcing Farm Labor Protections, Groups Say

    A group of farmworkers unions and nonprofits that advocate for farmworkers' interests have sued the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., federal court, saying the agency hasn't been complying with a 1980 regulation designed to improve its enforcement of farmworkers' legal protections.

  • March 13, 2024

    NLRB Official Expands Bargaining Unit At Colo. Ski Resort

    Volunteer ski patrol workers must be included in a proposed bargaining unit at a Colorado ski resort, an NLRB official found Wednesday, siding with the employer's bid to broaden the unit in a representation election with the Communications Worker of America.

  • March 13, 2024

    FTC Bid To Block Kroger's $25B Albertsons Deal Set For Aug.

    An Oregon federal court has scheduled an August hearing on the Federal Trade Commission's challenge of Kroger's planned $24.6 billion purchase of fellow grocery store giant Albertsons, a deal also under attack by state enforcers in Washington and Colorado.

  • March 13, 2024

    'Roe v. Wade' Production Co. Ordered To Pay Actors

    A production company that worked on the 2020 film "Roe v. Wade" must pay SAG-AFTRA about $382,000 in a dispute over actors' salaries and benefits, a California federal judge ruled, confirming an arbitration award and granting the union's attorney fee request.

  • March 13, 2024

    NLRB Halts Union Election To Consider SEIU Intervention Bid

    A Service Employees International Union local won its request to pause an election in which workers would choose which of two other security officers' unions would represent them, with the National Labor Relations Board indicating it may consider shifting board precedent for union intervention in representation votes.

  • March 12, 2024

    Trader Joe's Made Illegal Threats Over Raises, NLRB GC Says

    Trader Joe's violated federal labor law by threatening workers at a Kentucky store with the elimination of raises over their potential backing for an independent union, according to National Labor Relations Board prosecutors' complaint obtained by Law360 on Tuesday.

  • March 12, 2024

    SEIU-Backed Calif. City Wage Ordinance Partially Axed

    Federal labor law doesn't preempt parts of a Service Employees International Union-backed ordinance increasing the hourly minimum wage to $25 for healthcare workers in a California city, a federal court ruled, while finding one section of the law could interfere with collective bargaining.

Expert Analysis

  • What The NIL Negotiation Rules Injunction Means For NCAA

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    A Tennessee federal court's recent preliminary injunction reverses several prominent and well-established NCAA rules on negotiations with student-athletes over name, image and likeness compensation and shows that collegiate athletics is a profoundly unsettled legal environment, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Takeaways From NLRB Advice On 'Outside' Employment

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    Rebecca Leaf at Miles & Stockbridge examines a recent memo from the National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice that said it’s unlawful for employers to restrict secondary or outside employment, and explains what companies should know about the use of certain restrictive covenants going forward.

  • Shaping Speech Policies After NLRB's BLM Protest Ruling

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    After the National Labor Relations Board decided last month that a Home Depot employee was protected by federal labor law when they wore a Black Lives Matter slogan on their apron, employers should consider four questions in order to mitigate legal risks associated with workplace political speech policies, say Louis Cannon and Cassandra Horton at Baker Donelson.

  • 2026 World Cup: Companies Face Labor Challenges And More

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    Companies sponsoring or otherwise involved with the 2026 FIFA World Cup — hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico — should be proactive in preparing to navigate many legal considerations in immigration, labor management and multijurisdictional workforces surrounding the event, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Eye On Compliance: Workplace March Madness Pools

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    With March Madness set to begin in a few weeks, employers should recognize that workplace sports betting is technically illegal, keeping federal and state gambling laws in mind when determining whether they will permit ever-popular bracket pools, says Laura Stutz at Wilson Elser.

  • There Is No NCAA Supremacy Clause, Especially For NIL

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    A recent Tennessee federal court ruling illustrates the NCAA's problematic position that its member schools should violate state law rather than its rules — and the organization's legal history with the dormant commerce clause raises a fundamental constitutional issue that will have to be resolved before attorneys can navigate NIL with confidence, says Patrick O’Donnell at HWG.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Workplace AI Risks

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools penetrate workplaces, employers should incorporate sound AI policies and procedures in their handbooks in order to mitigate liability risks, maintain control of the technology, and protect their brands, says Laura Corvo at White and Williams.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Investigation Lessons In 'Minority Report'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper discuss how themes in Steven Spielberg's Science Fiction masterpiece "Minority Report" — including prediction, prevention and the fallibility of systems — can have real-life implications in workplace investigations.

  • NCAA's Antitrust Litigation History Offers Clues For NIL Case

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    Attorneys at Perkins Coie analyze the NCAA's long history of antitrust litigation to predict how state attorney general claims against NCAA recruiting rules surrounding name, image and likeness discussions will stand up in Tennessee federal court.

  • SAG-AFTRA Contract Is A Landmark For AI And IP Interplay

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    SAG-AFTRA's recently ratified contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers introduced a framework to safeguard performers' intellectual property rights and set the stage for future discussions on how those rights interact with artificial intelligence — which should put entertainment businesses on alert for compliance, says Evynne Grover at QBE.

  • How Dartmouth Ruling Fits In NLRB Student-Athlete Playbook

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    A groundbreaking decision from a National Labor Relations Board official on Feb. 5 — finding that Dartmouth men's basketball players are employees who can unionize — marks the latest development in the board’s push to bring student-athletes within the ambit of federal labor law, and could stimulate unionization efforts in other athletic programs, say Jennifer Cluverius and Patrick Wilson at Maynard Nexsen.

  • What's At Stake In High Court NLRB Injunction Case

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    William Baker at Wigdor examines the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to hear Starbucks v. McKinney — where it will consider a long-standing circuit split over the standard for evaluating National Labor Relations Board injunction bids — and explains why the justices’ eventual decision, either way, is unlikely to be a significant blow to labor.

  • Employer Lessons From NLRB Judge's Union Bias Ruling

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    A National Labor Relations Board judge’s recent decision that a Virginia drywall contractor unlawfully transferred and fired workers who made union pay complaints illustrates valuable lessons about how employers should respond to protected labor activity and federal labor investigations, says Kenneth Jenero at Holland & Knight.