Wage & Hour

  • April 29, 2024

    Ga. Judge Won't Approve $37K Settlement In FLSA Suit

    A Georgia federal judge has refused to approve a settlement between a corporate office furnisher and a former employee who says he was fired after complaining about being stiffed for hundreds of hours of compensable work, finding two provisions in the deal make it impossible to approve.

  • April 29, 2024

    DOL Wants Quick Win In Pa. Care Co. Wage Suit

    The U.S. Department of Labor urged a Pennsylvania federal judge on Monday to grant it a pretrial win in its case accusing a private healthcare agency of failing to pay in-home caregivers overtime and minimum wages, saying the workers are protected by federal wage law.

  • April 29, 2024

    Anthem Seeks Early Win, Decertification In OT Suit

    Insurance company Anthem asked a Georgia federal judge to grant it a quick win in an unpaid overtime suit and to decertify a class of nurses, saying it had properly classified the nurses as overtime-exempt and that they fit multiple exemptions to federal overtime laws.

  • April 29, 2024

    Pizza Delivery Drivers' Expense Dispute Reopened

    A suit accusing a pizza company of under-reimbursing drivers that took a trip to the Sixth Circuit will be back on track in Michigan federal court after a federal judge granted the parties' bid to reopen the case.

  • April 29, 2024

    Ohio Call Center Worker Says Energy Co. Stiffed OT Wages

    Dominion Energy Ohio required its call center workers to do between 10 and 40 minutes of pre-shift work without paying them for it, according to a new proposed collective action filed in Ohio federal court.

  • April 29, 2024

    Fla. Furniture Manufacturer Pays $101K For OT Violations

    An outdoor furniture manufacturer in Florida paid nearly $101,000 in back wages, damages and fines for denying workers their overtime rates, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Monday.

  • April 26, 2024

    Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar

    In the past year, plaintiffs have won settlements and judgments for millions and billions of dollars from companies such as Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Facebook and Fox News, with many high-profile cases finally wrapping up after years of fighting. Such cases — involving over-the-top compensation packages, chemical contamination, gender discrimination and data mining — were led by attorneys whose accomplishments earned them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2024.

  • April 26, 2024

    DOL Solidifies H-2A Protections For Foreign Farmworkers

    Foreign farmworkers working in the U.S. under the H-2A temporary visa program will now have enhanced protections to advocate for better working conditions without fear of retaliation under a final U.S. Department of Labor rule unveiled Friday.

  • April 26, 2024

    AECOM, Construction Workers Settle Pay Suit In NY

    A group of construction workers told a New York federal judge Friday that they reached a settlement to end their suit claiming AECOM and one of its units paid them late and owed them overtime, saying the deal would prevent them from being left empty-handed.

  • April 26, 2024

    Ex-Mass. Trooper Handed 5 Years For No-Work OT, Tax Fraud

    A former Massachusetts state trooper convicted of stealing overtime pay, lying on his taxes and cheating to get student aid for his son was sentenced Friday by a federal judge to five years in prison for his leadership role in the sprawling overtime fraud scheme.

  • April 26, 2024

    HCA Owes OT, Break Wages, Ex-NC Hospital Worker Says

    A longtime respiratory therapist at a western North Carolina hospital accused the system's owners of manipulating employees' time sheets to remove hours they worked and automatically deducting lunch breaks workers couldn't take in a proposed collective action filed in federal court.

  • April 26, 2024

    Hospital Staffing Firm Can't Back Out Of PAGA Settlement

    An emergency services provider must follow a deal settling physicians' claims under California's Private Attorneys General Act, a state appeals panel ruled, rejecting the company's argument that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling could have forced those claims into arbitration.

  • April 26, 2024

    Flight Attendants Seek Class Status In FMLA Penalty Suit

    Former and current Southwest flight attendants have asked a California federal judge for class status in their suit claiming the airline punished workers who took family or medical leave by blocking them from improving their disciplinary records, arguing that their allegations are best resolved collectively.

  • April 26, 2024

    Trucking Firm Sues To Block Independent Contractor Rule

    A trucking company that hires owner-operators wants to stop the U.S. Department of Labor's new independent contractor rule from taking effect, saying it replaces a relatively simple test with an open-ended one that makes it unclear whether workers must be treated as employees, opening employers up to wage violations.

  • April 26, 2024

    Calif. Restaurants Pay $254K For Wage Violations

    The owner and operator of four California restaurants paid more than $254,000 in back wages, damages and fines for willfully denying 10 workers overtime and minimum wages, the U.S. Department of Labor said.

  • April 26, 2024

    Ex-BP Commodities Trader Says Co. Reneged On Bonus

    A former BP commodities trader accused the company in Texas federal court of shorting him to the tune of $6 million when it abruptly fired him in January 2022 and paid him a smaller bonus than the $11 million he expected to receive.

  • April 26, 2024

    Citizens Bank Says It Properly Factored Commissions Into OT

    A group of mortgage loan officers' claim that Citizens Bank did the math wrong when calculating their overtime can't stand, the bank said, telling a Pennsylvania federal judge that the way it considered commissions in overtime complies with state law.

  • April 26, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: Wells Fargo & Co Wants Out Of Wage Suit

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for a potential ruling on whether to dismiss Wells Fargo & Co. from a proposed wage and hour class and collective action. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • April 26, 2024

    3 Ways The FTC's Noncompete Ban Will Affect Employers

    The Federal Trade Commission's recently finalized rule imposing a near-total ban on companies making workers sign noncompete agreements marks a seismic change in the legal landscape that will spur new trends in litigation and ease the path for workers to leave jobs they don't like, experts say. Here are three ways the new rule will affect the employment law arena.

  • April 26, 2024

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Hears TD Bank Discrimination Suit

    This week, the Second Circuit will hear a former TD Bank manager's attempt to revive his suit claiming he was fired from his branch because he requested parental leave and because of his gender. Here, Law360 explores this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • April 26, 2024

    Workers Say Minn. Food Producer Broke Wage, Migrant Laws

    A canned and frozen vegetable producer and supplier broke its promise to provide migrant farmworkers with adequate housing, and it deducted excessive amounts from their paychecks for rent and failed to pay overtime wages, according to a proposed collective action in Minnesota federal court.

  • April 26, 2024

    Parking Co. Strikes $1.4M Deal To End Pay Transparency Suit

    A parking lot company has agreed to pay a class of almost 300 job seekers $1.4 million to shutter a suit claiming it shirked a Washington pay transparency law requiring that all job postings include salary and benefit information, according to state court filings.

  • April 25, 2024

    Ex-Fracking Consultant Says Oil Co. Failed To Pay OT

    A Texas oil and gas company misclassified electric fracking consultants as independent contractors to avoid paying them overtime wages even though they usually worked 70 to 80 hours per week, a former employee claimed in a proposed collective action filed in federal court.

  • April 25, 2024

    DOL Wage Trumps Local Pay Rate For FDA Contract, Board Rules

    An appeals board has denied a nonprofit's request for increased payment for janitorial services at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's headquarters following a change to the local county's minimum wage, saying the government was only required to pay the federal prevailing wage.

  • April 25, 2024

    Calif. Appellate Panel Revives Blood Tech's Wage Claims

    A phlebotomist supported well enough her claims that a Southern California hospital failed to pay her for all hours worked, a state appeals panel ruled, flipping a trial court's decision tossing her suit.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Avoiding Jurisdictional Risks From Execs' Remote Work

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    Following a California federal court's recent decision in Evans v. Cardlytics — where the case was remanded to state court because the company’s executives worked remotely in California — there are several steps employers can take to ensure they will not be exposed to unfavored jurisdictions, says Eric Fox at Quarles & Brady.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.

  • NYC Cos. Must Prepare For Increased Sick Leave Liability

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    A recent amendment to New York City's sick leave law authorizes employees for the first time to sue their employers for violations — so employers should ensure their policies and practices are compliant now to avoid the crosshairs of litigation once the law takes effect in March, says Melissa Camire at Fisher Phillips.

  • Employer Trial Tips For Fighting Worker PPE Pay Claims

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    Courts have struggled for decades to reach consensus on whether employees must be paid for time spent donning and doffing personal protective equipment, but this convoluted legal history points to practical trial strategies to help employers defeat these Fair Labor Standards Act claims, say Michael Mueller and Evangeline Paschal at Hunton.

  • 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.

  • 9 Tools To Manage PAGA Claims After Calif. High Court Ruling

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    In Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, the California Supreme Court recently dealt a blow to employers by ruling that courts cannot dismiss Private Attorneys General Act claims on manageability grounds, but defendants and courts can still use arbitration agreements, due process challenges and other methods when dealing with unmanageable claims, says Ryan Krueger at Sheppard Mullin.

  • The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2023

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    Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2023, and explain how they may affect issues related to antitrust, constitutional law, federal jurisdiction and more.

  • Where Justices Stand On Chevron Doctrine Post-Argument

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    Following recent oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four justices appear to be in favor of overturning the long-standing Chevron deference, and three justices seem ready to uphold it, which means the ultimate decision may rest on Chief Justice John Roberts' vote, say Wayne D'Angelo and Zachary Lee at Kelley Drye.

  • Calif. High Court Ruling Outlines Limits On PAGA Actions

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    While the California Supreme Court’s ruling last week in Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills held that courts cannot dismiss Private Attorneys General Act claims on manageability grounds, the opinion also details how claims can be narrowed, providing a road map for defendants facing complex actions, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.