Labor

  • May 30, 2025

    ​​​​​​​NLRB Memo Details Dropping Of Starbucks Subpoena Case

    Attorneys in the National Labor Relations Board's Division of Advice recommended not pursuing a case accusing Starbucks of issuing overly broad subpoenas and unlawfully questioning witnesses during an unfair labor practice prosecution due to "limited agency resources," according to a memo.

  • May 30, 2025

    NJ Panel Upholds Unemployment Benefits Claims For Strikers

    A New Jersey state appeals court on Friday supported a state employment board's conclusion that Teamsters-represented workers at a concrete manufacturing company who went on strike are eligible for unemployment benefits, finding federal labor law does not preempt the state agency's decision. 

  • May 30, 2025

    Sikorsky Aircraft Workers Can't Back Bias Claims, Court Told

    Two Black ex-employees should lose their federal racial discrimination lawsuit against Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. because one was fired for stealing time, and the other has shown "no evidence of any adverse employment action," the company said in seeking summary judgment Thursday.

  • May 30, 2025

    Justices' Stay Doesn't Change Case, Wilcox Tells DC Circ.

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling to stay an order reinstating fired National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox doesn't preclude the D.C. Circuit from finding NLRB members fit an exception to the president's firing power, Wilcox told an appeals panel.

  • May 30, 2025

    Liquor Sellers Can't Unionize Separately, NLRB Officer Says

    A union can't seek to represent liquor sales employees in St. Louis, an acting National Labor Relations Board regional director concluded, finding workers in the proposed bargaining unit have similar employment terms to those at the alcohol distributor's other facilities in Missouri.

  • May 30, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: State Justices Weigh Good-Faith Wage Args

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for California Supreme Court oral arguments regarding what an employer must show for a good faith defense in a wage case. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in the Golden State.

  • May 30, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge Weighs Jury Trial Demand In Layoffs Suit

    This week, a New York federal judge will hear arguments over whether a class of former workers at a Four Seasons hotel can withdraw their request for a jury trial in their suit claiming the hotel did not provide required notices before laying them off.

  • May 30, 2025

    3rd Circ. Preview: Tribal Immunity Limits On Deck For June

    The Third Circuit's June argument lineup will find a finance company fighting a proposed class action over allegedly predatory payday loan fees because of its tribal ties, while a plumbing company argues that it does not have to arbitrate a union grievance.

  • May 29, 2025

    Stellantis, UAW Accused Of Sex Discrimination In $1M Suit

    A Michigan woman is seeking at least $1 million in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Michigan federal court against the U.S. subsidiary of Dutch automaker Stellantis and the United Auto Workers on allegations she was replaced as a team leader by less experienced male colleagues and that the union would not represent her — both due to her gender.

  • May 29, 2025

    Teamsters Say Ex-United Tech Can't Pursue Grievance Himself

    The International Brotherhood of Teamsters asked a New York federal judge to toss a former United Airlines technician's lawsuit seeking to force arbitration of a grievance over his firing, saying federal labor law does not give individual employees the right to arbitrate grievances over their union's objection.

  • May 29, 2025

    OPM Memos Push Changes In Federal Hiring Based on 'Merit'

    The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday issued two memos outlining plans for hiring federal workers based on merit, following President Donald Trump's executive orders declaring that the federal hiring system focuses too much on anti-discrimination and not enough on employees willing to serve the executive branch.

  • May 29, 2025

    OPM Injunction Looms For DOGE Chaos, As Court Floats Deal

    A Manhattan federal judge hinted she may grant an injunction against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management related to what she called a "rushed, indeed chaotic, grant of access" to sensitive information for agents of the Department of Government Efficiency, before urging the government to hammer out a deal with the union plaintiffs.

  • May 29, 2025

    Union's AI Vader Charge Offers Reminder Of Looming Risks

    A recent National Labor Relations Board charge challenging a production company's use of artificial intelligence to voice Darth Vader in a video game underscores the many emerging risks for workers and employers lurking around the use of AI.

  • May 29, 2025

    Ore. Pot Regulator Will No Longer Require Labor Peace Pacts

    Oregon's cannabis regulator said Thursday that it would no longer enforce a voter-approved law requiring cannabis businesses to enter into labor peace agreements with their employees, following a federal judge's ruling that the law was preempted by federal policy.

  • May 29, 2025

    NYC Homeless Nonprofit Fights NLRB GC's Bargain Order Bid

    A nonprofit in New York City that operates youth homeless shelters told a federal judge to block National Labor Relations Board prosecutors' bid for an "intrusive" bargaining order, arguing the court should not consider the injunction petition based solely on evidence from the unfair labor practice proceeding.

  • May 29, 2025

    Mass. Justices Revive Atty's Suit Against 'Spiteful' Colleagues

    Massachusetts' highest court Thursday revived part of a lawsuit brought by a former appellate court staff attorney who said he was intentionally undermined by supervisors, finding that he had made a reasonable showing that two of the three original defendants had demonstrated actual malice toward him.

  • May 29, 2025

    Split 5th Circ. OKs Acting NLRB GC's Drop Of Teamsters Case

    A divided Fifth Circuit panel again blessed the National Labor Relations Board's order that supported a former acting general counsel's withdrawal of an unfair labor practice complaint against two Teamsters locals, analyzing the dispute on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • May 29, 2025

    Senate Committee Sets June Hearing For Trump's EBSA Pick

    The Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing in early June on President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, according to a news release Thursday. 

  • May 28, 2025

    Kevin Costner Sued By Stuntwoman Over Ad Hoc Rape Scene

    Kevin Costner and the producers of the American West film series "Horizon" were sued in California state court by a stunt double who alleged she had to perform an impromptu, unscripted violent rape scene without an intimacy coordinator on set and other protocols under the actors' union contract.

  • May 28, 2025

    Ore. Labor Peace Decision Gives 'Road Map' For Challenges

    An Oregon federal judge's recent decision to block a state law requiring employers in the cannabis industry to reach labor peace agreements with unions could bolster challenges to similar laws in other states as the issue continues on a path experts expect to land at the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • May 28, 2025

    Leaders Of SEIU Local Challenge Suspension Amid Audit

    Two longtime members of a Service Employees International Union affiliate who served in leadership posts accused their union of unlawfully suspending them and imposing a gag order about their discipline, telling a Michigan federal judge that they weren't given a fair hearing.

  • May 28, 2025

    IUOE Ex-Leader Pardoned In DOL Disclosure Case, Attys Say

    President Donald Trump has pardoned a former International Union of Operating Engineers president who was facing the prospect of six months in prison for accepting free sports tickets without disclosing their value to the U.S. Department of Labor, his attorneys told a Washington, D.C., federal judge Wednesday.

  • May 28, 2025

    Starbucks Pans NLRB Threat Findings In 9th Circ. Challenge

    The National Labor Relations Board "thumb[ed] its nose" at employers' speech rights by ruling that Starbucks threatened workers and using the case to reverse precedent letting employers opine that a union would come between them and workers, the company told the Ninth Circuit.

  • May 28, 2025

    Calif. Nonprofit Lawfully Fired SEIU Backer, NLRB Judge Says

    A social services nonprofit in California was within its rights to fire an employee who supported organizing efforts with a Service Employees International Union local, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, but broke the law when it told the worker union discussions must not happen in the office.

  • May 27, 2025

    1st Circ. Axes NLRB's Northeastern Police Bargaining Order

    The First Circuit quashed a National Labor Relations Board decision ordering Northeastern University in Boston to negotiate with a union representing campus police department employees, determining the board strayed from precedent when finding sergeants are not supervisors under federal labor law.

Expert Analysis

  • Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

    Author Photo

    General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2025

    Author Photo

    While companies must monitor for policy shifts under the new administration in 2025, it will also be a year to play it safe and remember the basics, such as the importance of documenting retention policies and conducting swift investigations into workplace complaints, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • NLRB Likely To Fill Vacuum After NMB Jurisdiction Ruling

    Author Photo

    The National Mediation Board's recent ruling in Swissport Cargo Services LP abandoned decades of precedent by concluding the Railway Labor Act doesn’t apply to airline service providers, likely leading the National Labor Relations Board to assert its jurisdiction instead and potentially causing more operational disruptions and labor strife, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Ring In The New Year With An Updated Employee Handbook

    Author Photo

    One of the best New Year's resolutions employers can make is to update their employee handbooks, given that a handbook can mitigate, or even prevent, costly litigation as long as it accounts for recent changes in laws, court rulings and agency decisions, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • 9 Things To Expect From Trump's Surprising DOL Pick

    Author Photo

    The unexpected nomination of Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., to lead the U.S. Department of Labor reflects a blend of pro-business and pro-labor leanings, and signals that employers should prepare for a mix of continuity and moderate adjustments in the coming years, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • Why State Captive Audience Laws Matter After NLRB Decision

    Author Photo

    As employers focus on complying with the National Labor Relations Board's new position that captive audience meetings violate federal labor law, they should also be careful not to overlook state captive audience laws that prohibit additional types of company meetings and communications, says Karla Grossenbacher at Seyfarth.

  • Pa. Ruling Highlights Challenges Of Employer Arb. Appeals

    Author Photo

    A Pennsylvania federal court's recent ruling in Welch Foods v. General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 demonstrates the inherent difficulties employers face when seeking relief from labor arbitration decisions through appeals in court — and underscores how employers are faced with often conflicting legal priorities, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • NLRB One-Two Punch Curbs Employer Anti-Organizing Tools

    Author Photo

    The National Labor Relations Board’s recent decisions in Siren Retail and Amazon, limiting employer speech about the impact of unionization and outlawing captive audience meetings, severely curtail employers' arsenal of tools to combat an organizing campaign — though this may soon change under a new administration, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • Timing Of An NLRB Power Shift Hinges On Biden Nominees

    Author Photo

    President-elect Donald Trump seems certain to shake up the National Labor Relations Board's prounion Democrat majority, but the incoming president's timing depends on whether the current Senate confirms two pending nominees to board positions, say attorneys at Fox Rothschild.

  • 5 Tips For Complying With NLRB Captive Audience Ban

    Author Photo

    The National Labor Relations Board’s recently ruled that so-called captive audience meetings violate federal labor law, representing a radical shift in precedent and creating new standards for employers to follow when holding workplace meetings where union representation will be discussed, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • Expect More State-Level Scrutiny Of Noncompetes Ahead

    Author Photo

    Despite the nationwide injunction against the Federal Trade Commission’s noncompete ban, and the incoming Republican administration, employers should anticipate that state legislatures will continue to focus on laws that limit or ban noncompetes, including those that target certain salary thresholds or industries, says Benjamin Fryer at FordHarrison.

  • NYC Hotel Licensing Law's Costs May Outweigh Its Benefits

    Author Photo

    A hotel licensing bill recently approved by New York's City Council could lead to the loss of many nonunionized hotels that cannot afford to comply, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.

  • How The Presidential Election Will Affect Workplace AI Regs

    Author Photo

    The U.S. has so far adopted a light-handed approach to regulating artificial intelligence in the labor and employment area, but the presidential election is unlikely to have as dramatic of an effect on AI regulations as it may on other labor and employment matters, say attorneys at Littler.

Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Employment Authority Labor archive.