Labor

  • November 17, 2023

    Airline Workers Fight Dismissal Bids From Teamsters, United

    United Airlines workers challenged attempts from the company and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to nix their suit alleging incorrect calculations of their wage increases, telling a California federal judge that their breach of contract and fair duty of representation claims should stay in court.

  • November 17, 2023

    Colo. Hospital Can't Keep Future Raises From Union Nurses

    A Colorado hospital cannot continue withholding raises from union-represented nurses while National Labor Relations Board litigation proceeds challenging prior refusals to bump these workers' pay, a Colorado federal judge ruled, granting NLRB prosecutors' request for a cease-and-desist order.

  • November 17, 2023

    A Look At David Boies' Mark On The Sports Law Landscape

    Outgoing Boies Schiller Flexner LLP chairman David Boies may be best known for his landmark appellate work in other areas, but he also boasts a considerable legacy shaping the nation's sports and betting laws, with a client list that reads like an All-Star team.

  • November 17, 2023

    2nd Circ. Revives Workplace Safety Claim Against Amtrak

    A worker's negligence claim against Amtrak over her fall in a coach restroom should return to the district court for reconsideration, the Second Circuit ruled Friday, reviving the cleaner's allegation that the railroad company didn't ensure she had a safe workplace.

  • November 17, 2023

    NLRB Attys Want To Know How Much USC Makes From Sports

    A National Labor Relations Board judge needs to hear how much money the University of Southern California makes from its football and basketball programs to decide whether the school's athletes are workers with union-organizing rights, board prosecutors argued.

  • November 17, 2023

    Calif. Forecast: $30M Jan-Pro Wage Deal Up For Approval

    In the next two weeks, attorneys should watch for a potential signoff on a $30 million settlement in a long-running class action by cleaning workers against Jan-Pro Franchising International Inc. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • November 17, 2023

    NY Forecast: CUNY Profs Fight Union Affiliation At 2nd Circ.

    In the coming week, the Second Circuit will hear from a group of Jewish professors at the City University of New York seeking to revive their suit alleging they have been unlawfully forced to associate with a union they view as antisemitic. Here, Law360 explores this and other major labor and employment cases on the docket in New York.

  • November 16, 2023

    DC Circ. Judge Says Challenged NLRB Precedent Not Dead

    The D.C. Circuit's longest-serving judge made clear Thursday morning that he wasn't buying the argument an auto parts manufacturer was selling in hopes of overturning a National Labor Relations Board finding that the company had unlawfully withdrawn recognition of its workers' union.

  • November 16, 2023

    PBGC Finances Flush, Agency Says In Annual Report

    The once-troubled Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal government's insurer of private-sector pension plans, boasted an end-of-fiscal year surplus of more than $46 million, the agency said.

  • November 16, 2023

    Scrap Metal Co. Seeks Reversal Of NLRB Orders At 3rd Circ.

    A scrap metal company urged the Third Circuit to block enforcement of National Labor Relations Board decisions ordering the company to bargain and finding a federal labor law violation over reduction of overtime hours, pursuing its challenge to the certification of a Laborers' International Union of North America local.

  • November 16, 2023

    NLRB Judge Dings Co. For Firing COVID-Concerned Worker

    A marketing services company violated federal labor law by terminating a worker who complained about an alleged lack of COVID-19 pandemic safety measures and reached out to the National Labor Relations Board, an agency judge ruled Thursday, ordering the business to offer reinstatement.

  • November 16, 2023

    SEIU's Berner Would Bring Union Perspective To 4th Circ.

    Fourth Circuit nominee Nicole Berner's long history of advocating for labor unions will make the Service Employees International Union general counsel a rarity on the federal bench should she win confirmation.

  • November 16, 2023

    NLRB Pushes Joint Employer Rule Effective Date To Late Feb.

    The National Labor Relations Board has voted to delay the effective date of its new joint employer rule by about two months, according to a Thursday filing in a Texas federal lawsuit brought by business groups challenging the regulation.

  • November 16, 2023

    NLRB Official Approves Rerun Union Vote At Health Care Co.

    Technicians and other workers at a New York health care facility will vote again on potential representation by a Service Employees International Union local, a National Labor Relations Board official has ruled, adopting a hearing officer's finding that the employer's actions during the vote prevented a fair election.

  • November 16, 2023

    Amazon Wins Limits On DOJ Doc Sharing In Workplace Probe

    A Washington federal judge ruled Wednesday that Amazon should have the chance to object before federal prosecutors share documents regarding their workplace safety investigation with other agencies, after Amazon had claimed information was improperly shared with state prosecutors. 

  • November 16, 2023

    Starbucks Workers Walk Off Job Over Staffing, Stalled Talks

    Baristas at Starbucks stores across the United States walked off the job Thursday, according to an announcement from Workers United, calling on the coffee chain to meet the union at the bargaining table and reach a first contract that will address staffing concerns. 

  • November 16, 2023

    2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Injunction Against Amazon Over Firing

    A Second Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday of an injunction a New York federal judge issued barring Amazon from firing workers over their union activity, with two judges questioning whether there was enough evidence to justify such a broad order based on the firing of a single activist.

  • November 16, 2023

    NLRB Defends Decision Against Starbucks Over Union Pins

    The National Labor Relations Board correctly found Starbucks violated federal labor law by banning a Seattle barista from handing out pro-union pins on company property during work, board attorneys have argued, urging the D.C. Circuit to uphold the board's ruling that the ban was broad enough to be illegal.

  • November 15, 2023

    NLRB Challenges Fast-Track Bid For Joint Employer Rule Row

    A Texas federal judge should deny business groups' request to hasten their bid to stop enforcement of the NLRB's joint employer rule, the agency argued Wednesday, saying the plaintiffs haven't shown why the case should be expedited, and the board is mulling an extension of the rule's effective date.

  • November 15, 2023

    Ill. Justice Questions Possibly 'Absurd' Antitrust Law Carveout

    An Illinois Supreme Court justice on Wednesday pushed counsel for three staffing agencies that have argued the state's antitrust law doesn't apply to them to explain why their position doesn't require the court to reach an "absurd result" and allow companies to suppress wages through collusion. 

  • November 15, 2023

    Black IBEW Member Says Racism Cost Him Apprenticeship

    A former member of an apprenticeship program for union electricians sued the program and his International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local in New Jersey federal court, saying he was pushed out of the program after he reported experiences of racism on the job.

  • November 15, 2023

    RI Says Cannabis Law Did Not Compel Labor Agreement

    Rhode Island has fired back at a dispensary's lawsuit seeking to overturn part of its cannabis law that allegedly forced the company into an unfair labor contract, saying the company tries to blame the state for its missed "opportunity to effectively negotiate" with its workers' union.

  • November 15, 2023

    REI Illegally Refuses To Bargain At 8 Stores, Union Claims

    REI violated federal labor law by refusing to bargain in good faith with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and United Food and Commercial Workers at eight stores across the country, according to charges filed with the NLRB and obtained Wednesday by Law360.

  • November 15, 2023

    Union Health Care Plans File Antitrust Action Against Takeda

    A group of union health care plans have accused Takeda Pharmaceuticals and other drugmakers of engaging in a price-fixing scheme that reduced competition for a gout drug after entering into deals delaying the introduction of cheaper generics.

  • November 15, 2023

    Sysco Says It Didn't Violate CBA With Union

    Sysco urged an Arizona federal court to toss an arbitrator's conclusion that it violated the collective bargaining agreement it had with a Teamsters local, saying the decision to stop selling product to certain customers was financially driven and not a transfer of work.

Expert Analysis

  • NLRB Outburst Ruling Hampers Employer Discipline Options

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    A recent ruling from the National Labor Relations Board, which restores a worker-friendly standard on protections for profane outbursts during workplace actions, will severely limit employers' disciplinary processes, particularly when employee conduct crosses a line that would violate other federal statutes and regulations, says Michael MacHarg at Adams and Reese.

  • FLRA Ruling May Show Need For Congressional Clarification

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    With its recent decision in The Ohio Adjutant General's Department v. Federal Labor Relations Authority, the U.S. Supreme Court took a somewhat behavioral approach in determining that the guard acted as a federal agency in hiring dual-status technicians — suggesting the need for ultimate clarification from Congress, says Marick Masters at Wayne State University.

  • Cos. Shouldn't Alter Noncompete, Severance Agreements Yet

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    Two recent actions from the Federal Trade Commission and the National Labor Relations Board have sought to ban noncompete agreements and curtail severance agreements, respectively, but employers should hold off on making any changes to those forms while the agencies' actions are challenged, say attorneys at Herbert Smith.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Remote Work Policies

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    Implementing a remote work policy that clearly articulates eligibility, conduct and performance expectations for remote employees can ease employers’ concerns about workers they may not see on a daily basis, says Melissa Spence at Butler Snow.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Bias Lessons From 'Partner Track'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with CyberRisk Alliance's Ying Wong, about how Netflix's show "Partner Track" tackles conscious and unconscious bias at law firms, and offer some key observations for employers and their human resources departments on avoiding these biases.

  • NLRB GC Memos Complicate Labor Law Compliance

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    Policy memoranda from National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo outlining new interpretations of the National Labor Relations Act create compliance dilemmas for employer counsel, who must review not only established law, but also statements that may better predict how the board will decide future questions, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • NLRB Order May Mean Harsher Remedies For Labor Violations

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    The National Labor Relations Board's recent ruling against a Nebraska meat processor, ordering an expanded range of remedies for the employer's repeated labor law violations, signals the NLRB's willingness to impose harsh remedies more frequently, in the full spectrum of unfair labor practice litigation, say Eric Stuart and Zachary Zagger at Ogletree.

  • Eye On Compliance: Joint Employment

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    Madonna Herman at Wilson Elser breaks down the key job conditions that led to a recent National Labor Relations Board finding of joint employment, and explains the similar standard established under California case law — providing a guide for companies that want to minimize liability when relying on temporary and contract workers.

  • How Unions Could Stem Possible Wave Of Calif. PAGA Claims

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    Should the California Supreme Court hold in Adolph v. Uber that the nonindividual portions of Private Attorneys General Act claims survive even after individual claims go to arbitration, employers and unions could both leverage the holding in Oswald v. Murray to stifle the resurgence in representative suits, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Tips For Defending Employee Plaintiff Depositions

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    A plaintiff cannot win their employment case through a good deposition, but they can certainly lose it with a bad one, so an attorney should take steps to make sure the plaintiff does as little damage as possible to their claim, says Preston Satchell at LexisNexis.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Whistleblowing Insights From 'Dahmer'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with DS Smith's Josh Burnette about how the show "Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" provides an extreme example of the perils of ignoring repeat complaints — a lesson employers could apply in the whistleblower context.

  • Labor Trends To Watch In Warehousing And Distribution

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    Employers in the warehousing and distribution sector should prepare for major National Labor Relations Board updates this year that will likely increase their exposure to unfair labor practice charges and make it easier for workers to unionize, say Laura Pierson-Scheinberg and Lorien Schoenstedt at Jackson Lewis.

  • Musk Ruling A Lesson On Employer Statements About Unions

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    A recent Fifth Circuit decision in Tesla v. National Labor Relations Board found that Elon Musk's 2018 tweets threatened employees at the company amid a unionizing campaign, reminding employers that communicating public statements about union organizing should be rooted in facts, says Daniel Handman at Hirschfeld Kraemer.

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