Labor

  • August 13, 2024

    Former Va. Labor Commissioner Joins McGuireWoods

    Former Virginia labor department head Courtney M. Malveaux has joined McGuireWoods LLP, the firm announced Tuesday, with the seasoned U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration expert saying he hopes to draw on his experience to help employers going through crisis and incident responses.

  • August 13, 2024

    Goetz Fitzpatrick Adds New Partner To Roster Ahead Of Merger

    As it prepares to merge with a Northeastern law firm at the start of next year, New York-based construction and real estate firm Goetz Fitzpatrick LLP announced the addition of a name partner from another Empire State firm Sahn Ward Braff Koblenz Coschignano PLLC.

  • August 13, 2024

    Trump Remarks During Talk With Musk Were Illegal, UAW Says

    Statements former President Donald Trump made during a conversation Monday night with Tesla CEO Elon Musk about workers who go on strike violated federal labor law, according to charges the United Auto Workers filed Tuesday, which also accused Trump of unlawfully suggesting he would fire employees for striking.

  • August 12, 2024

    Supreme Court Strike Ruling Not Settled, Wash. Official Says

    A Washington state court commissioner saw "room for disagreement" on Monday over the meaning of a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing a concrete company to go ahead with a lawsuit against workers for allegedly orchestrating a strike to cause property damage, but seemed unsure whether state appellate judges should wade into the dispute.

  • August 12, 2024

    NLRB GC Defends Agency Judge's Amazon Banner Ban Order

    An administrative law judge rightly concluded that Amazon illegally barred a pro-union banner in the break room at a Staten Island, New York, warehouse, National Labor Relations Board prosecutors argued, saying board precedent doesn't support the e-commerce giant's arguments for preventing workers from putting up the sign.

  • August 12, 2024

    NLRB Official Says Justices' Ruling Doesn't Ax Injunction Bid

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to nix a two-part legal test available to National Labor Relations Board prosecutors pursuing injunctions in some circuits and standardize the use of a four-part test will not diminish prosecutors' likelihood of winning an injunction against a Michigan hospital, an NLRB official argued.

  • August 12, 2024

    NLRB Splits Over Ouster Bid For 1 Worker Unit At Metal Co.

    A decertification petition from the sole worker in a bargaining unit at an architectural metal maker should remain dismissed, a divided National Labor Relations Board panel determined, with the board's lone Republican saying the election bid was wrongly nixed in light of pending unfair labor practice claims.

  • August 12, 2024

    Ex-NLRB Atty Rejoins Ballard Spahr From Miles & Stockbridge

    A former National Labor Relations Board lawyer is returning to Ballard Spahr LLP after a stint with Miles & Stockbridge PC, the firm announced Monday.

  • August 12, 2024

    Firefighter Union President Says City Retaliated Against Him

    A High Point, North Carolina, firefighter who leads his department's union said he's faced serious retaliation from higher-ups for standing up for workers' rights and is now at risk of losing his job for his advocacy work, according to a new lawsuit in North Carolina federal court.

  • August 09, 2024

    Lifting Of Worker Suspension​​ Upheld In Hospital-Union Fight

    A healthcare union has scored a victory against an Ohio hospital that suspended one of its attendants after he tested positive for cannabis, with a federal judge ruling that an arbitration decision upending the disciplinary action was totally valid.

  • August 09, 2024

    NLRB's Stricter Work Rules Test Already Showing Effects

    Employers have had a harder time defending their workplace rules in the year since the National Labor Relations Board reworked its test for when rules unlawfully restrict workers' organizing rights, experts said, as they wait for more litigation to clarify what falls within the rule's stricter limitations.

  • August 09, 2024

    DC Circ. Says Mining Cos. Can't Appeal Retiree Health Win

    Four former subsidiaries of the now-defunct coal company Consol Energy Inc. can't challenge an arbitration award that banned unilateral changes to union-represented retirees' health benefits plan, the D.C. Circuit held Friday, saying the ex-subsidiaries weren't parties to the award and aren't injured by it.

  • August 09, 2024

    Appeals Board Says BAE Not Owed $21M Pension Cost Claim

    The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals rejected BAE Systems' $20.8 million appeal over costs related to withdrawing from a union pension plan at the end of a U.S. Air Force contract, saying the contract did not cover those costs.

  • August 09, 2024

    5th Circ. Blocks Transfer Of SpaceX NLRB Suit

    The Fifth Circuit blocked an order transferring SpaceX's first constitutional challenge to the National Labor Relations Board's powers and protections while it considers whether the district judge wrongly withheld an injunction blocking an agency prosecution.

  • August 09, 2024

    Starbucks Union Can Press Late Vote Objection, NLRB Says

    Workers United will get a chance to challenge a close representation election loss at a Washington Starbucks after the National Labor Relations Board excused the union for missing its filing deadline by a day because of an agency mistake.

  • August 09, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: Pilots Want Wage Deal Cleared For Takeoff

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for potential preliminary approval of a $16.65 million settlement in a wage and hour suit by pilots. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • August 09, 2024

    NLRB Judge OKs Deal In Starbucks Virtual Bargaining Case

    Starbucks has settled accusations that it bargained in bad faith at over 300 stores by refusing to accommodate virtual bargaining sessions, with a National Labor Relations Board judge approving a settlement in which the company and Workers United agreed to "give reasonable consideration" to each other's bargaining method preferences.

  • August 09, 2024

    Full 2nd Circ. Axes Producer's Bid To Revive Blacklisting Suit

    The Second Circuit won't take a second whack at its ruling that a stage workers union can't be held liable under antitrust laws for discouraging members from working with a Broadway producer following complaints about unpaid wages.

  • August 09, 2024

    NY Forecast: Judge Weighs Injunction In Hospital Bias Row

    This week, a New York federal judge will consider a professor's request for an injunction blocking the University of Rochester from revoking her clinical privileges while she pursues a racial bias lawsuit against the school. Here, Law360 explores this and another employment case on the docket in New York.

  • August 09, 2024

    Former K&L Gates Attorney Finds Purpose At Fairness Center

    More than a month into his role as managing attorney for the nonprofit the Fairness Center, former K&L Gates LLP partner Anthony Holtzman feels assured that he left his old firm, where he worked for nearly 20 years, to help advance a mission he believes in: representing workers in challenges against public-sector unions.

  • August 08, 2024

    Amazon Actors' Overtime Dispute Can Go Back To State Court

    A background actor can take her unpaid wages class action against Amazon Studios back to state court, a California federal judge concluded, finding federal labor law doesn't preempt the claims, which involved the payment of hourly rates that didn't fall under collective bargaining agreements with SAG-AFTRA.

  • August 08, 2024

    Employers Open Debate Over NLRB Deference Post-Loper

    The U.S. Supreme Court invited judges to more closely scrutinize decisions of the National Labor Relations Board and other federal agencies in its June decision ditching so-called Chevron deference. Employers have already begun testing the breadth of this invitation.

  • August 08, 2024

    Starbucks Says ALJ's Ruling Illegally Limits Employer Speech

    Starbucks asked the National Labor Relations Board to review an agency judge's decision finding the company committed numerous labor law violations in response to organizing at its cafes near Phoenix, saying the board's recent decision tightening scrutiny of workplace rules unconstitutionally restricts employer speech.

  • August 08, 2024

    Tribe Must Arbitrate Union Card Check Dispute, Judge Says

    A California tribe that owns a casino must go to arbitration with UNITE HERE over a spat concerning a representation process with a card check procedure, a federal district court has determined, saying the parties agreed to arbitrate disputes about interpretations of a 2017 accord.

  • August 08, 2024

    Teamsters OK To Picket By Amazon Hub At Cincinnati Airport

    The Teamsters can picket around the Amazon Air Hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, a federal judge ruled, issuing an order that stops an airport board from denying the union access to a picketing area along a public road given First Amendment considerations.

Expert Analysis

  • Eye On Compliance: An NLRB Primer For Private Employers

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    Many employers, especially those with nonunionized workforces, may not realize they are subject to federal labor law, but with a recent flurry of precedent-changing rulings from the National Labor Relations, understanding how to comply with the National Labor Relations Act may now be more important than ever, says Bruno Katz at Wilson Elser.

  • NBA Players Must Avoid Legal Fouls In CBD Deals

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    The NBA’s recently ratified collective bargaining agreement allows athletes to promote CBD brands and products, but athletes and the companies they promote must be cautious of a complex patchwork of applicable state laws and federal regulators’ approach to advertising claims, says Airina Rodrigues at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Labor Law Lessons From NLRB Judge's Bargaining Order

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    A National Labor Relations Board judge’s recent decision to issue a so-called Gissel bargaining order against IBN Construction is a reminder that a company’s unfair labor practices may not just result in traditional remedies, but could also lead to union certification, says Andrew MacDonald at Fox Rothschild.

  • PGA, LIV Tie-Up Might Foreshadow Future Of Women's Soccer

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    The pending merger between PGA Tour and LIV Golf is entirely consistent with the history of American professional sports leagues that faced upstart competitors, and is a warning about the forthcoming competition between the National Women's Soccer League and the USL Super League, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

  • NLRB's Stricter Contractor Test May Bring Organizing Risks

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    The National Labor Relations Board’s recent Atlanta Opera decision adds another layer of complexity to the legal tests for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee, and could create new risks of union organizing and unfair labor practice charges for companies, say Robert Lian and James Crowley at Akin.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Office Drug Abuse Insights From 'Industry'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Squarespace general counsel Larissa Boz about how employees in the Max TV show "Industry" abuse drugs and alcohol to cope with their high-pressure jobs, and discuss managerial and drug testing best practices for addressing suspected substance use at work.

  • A Look At 2023's Major NLRB Developments Thus Far

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    Over the last six months, the National Labor Relations Board has broadened its interpretation and enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act, including increasing penalties and efforts to prohibit restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, say Eve Klein and Elizabeth Mincer at Duane Morris.

  • What 3rd Circ. Niaspan Decision Means For Class Cert.

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    The Third Circuit's recent denial of class certification in the Niaspan antitrust case underscores its particularly stringent understanding of the implicit ascertainability requirement, which further fuels confusion in the courts, threatens uneven results and increases the risk of forum shopping, says Michael Lazaroff at Rimon Law.

  • 2 Steps To Improve Arbitrator Diversity In Employment Cases

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    There are prevalent obstacles in improving diversity among arbitrator ranks, but in the realm of employment-related disputes, there are two action items practitioners should consider to close the race and gender gap, say Todd Lyon and Carola Murguia at Fisher Phillips.

  • Cos. Should Consider Virtual Bargaining To Show Good Faith

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    Though the National Labor Relations Board recently determined that a Starbucks union's insistence on hybrid meetings was not an attempt to stall negotiations, the board’s lack of a formal decision on when virtual bargaining might be warranted should warn employers to stay flexible about how they come to the table, says Brandon Shemtob at Stevens & Lee.

  • Employers Must Beware NLRB Noncompete Stance

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    The National Labor Relations Board general counsel’s position that overly broad noncompete agreements could violate federal labor means employers should weigh the potential risks before offering such agreements, even though this issue has yet to come before the board for decision, says Samantha Buddig at Laner Muchin.

  • AI Voice Tech Legal Issues To Consider In The Film Industry

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    As studios create believable and identifiable artificial voice performances, there will be several legal pitfalls that rights-holders should evaluate in the context of rights of publicity, consumers' rights, relevant guild and union agreements, and the contractual language of performers' agreements, says Karen Robson at Pryor Cashman.

  • High Court Labor Ruling Is A Ripple, Not A Sea Change

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    Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters looks on the surface like a major win for employers’ right to sue unions for intentionally damaging company property during work stoppages, the ruling may not produce the far-reaching consequences employers hoped for, says Rob Entin at FordHarrison.

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