Employment

May 01, 2024
Pa. Justices Asked To Determine If Workers' Comp Covers CBD

An attorney representing himself — and, in a way, suing himself — will get an opportunity to convince the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that CBD oil and other nonprescription medicine should be covered by workers' compensation, according to a Tuesday order from the justices.
May 01, 2024
Trump's Firm Can't Yet Withdraw After Atty-Client 'Breakdown'

A Manhattan federal judge won't yet allow the attorneys representing Donald Trump's campaign to withdraw from a pregnancy retaliation suit brought by a former campaign aide over what they called an "irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship," but on Wednesday set a conference to review the request behind closed doors.
May 01, 2024
Chamber Must Name Cos. It Reps In Noncompete Suit, FTC Says

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a Texas federal judge to limit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to representing only named members in its challenge to the agency's pending noncompetes ban, arguing the trade group can't hide behind the First Amendment to represent "millions of undisclosed members."
May 01, 2024
Ala., Fla. Trans Patients Urge 11th Circ. To Heed Bias Ruling

Attorneys representing transgender clients in Florida and Alabama have urged the Eleventh Circuit to heed a recent Fourth Circuit ruling striking down bans on state-funded coverage for gender-affirming medical care, saying the court ruled that the state policies violate federal law because their exclusions were based on gender identity and sex.
May 01, 2024
Judge Mulls New Trial For Uber Drivers' Misclassification Suit

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday seemed poised to start a second trial to determine whether drivers of Uber's high-end ride-share option are independent contractors or employees after a jury deadlocked on the issue in March.
May 01, 2024
Senate Dems Reintroduce Bill To Tax And Regulate Cannabis

Senate Democrats on Wednesday reintroduced a cannabis legalization bill that would remove the drug entirely from the ambit of the Controlled Substances Act and impose a tax-and-regulate scheme akin to what is currently in place for alcohol and tobacco.
May 01, 2024
Judge Finds Engineering Co. Had No Duty In Goya Death Case

A Texas federal judge has thrown out claims against Zachry Engineering Inc. in a suit by the family of a Goya Foods Inc. worker who died when his forklift hit a pipe and caused him to be sprayed with nearly boiling beans, saying the engineering company had no say in the height of the pipe and was not responsible for making sure it wasn't a hazard.
May 01, 2024
Weinstein On Track For Fall Trial Redo On NY Rape Charges

A New York judge said Wednesday that disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein will be retried sometime after September, following last week's decision by the state's highest court to overturn his rape conviction due to the admission of overly broad evidence at trial.
May 01, 2024
Pa. Court Upholds University Cop's Firing Over Racist Posts

A Pennsylvania appeals court scrapped the reinstatement Wednesday of a Kutztown University police officer who was fired for sharing racist and offensive posts on his personal Facebook page, ruling that the arbitrator who gave him his job back improperly ignored anti-bias laws.
May 01, 2024
Ex-Execs End Fight Over Syska Hennessy Stock Buyback Deal

A former associate vice president and a managing director at engineering firm Syska Hennessy have ended their lawsuit alleging that the company made up a story about the pair soliciting employees to get out of buying back company stock.
May 01, 2024
Senior Living Company Resolves Asylee Hiring Bias Claims

A senior living facility operator has agreed to settle allegations that it unlawfully discriminated against a worker in the U.S. on asylum by demanding that the worker present specific documents to prove that she could work, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
May 01, 2024
Oil Drilling Workers Urge High Court Not To Review PPE Suit

The Third Circuit's view that time putting on and taking off personal protective equipment becomes compensable if the gear is integral and indispensable to employees' work actually aligns with a Second Circuit's standard, oil rig workers told the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.
May 01, 2024
Fla., NY, DC Join Suit Demanding Halt To NCAA's NIL Policies

Florida, New York and the District of Columbia on Wednesday joined Tennessee and Virginia in their antitrust lawsuit challenging the NCAA's policies on name, image and likeness rights, asking that the preliminary injunction barring enforcement of its NIL rules be made permanent.
May 01, 2024
Judge Enjoins Baseball Bat Cos. In Fla. Trademark Fight

A pair of companies owned by ex-MLB player Yoenis Céspedes have won a preliminary injunction against several businesses in an intellectual property dispute in Florida federal court over baseball bats, saying the former New York Mets outfielder's companies are likely to succeed on a trademark claim.
May 01, 2024
Muslim Recruit Says Atlanta PD Fired Him For Flagging Bias

The Atlanta Police Department abruptly terminated a Muslim police officer recruit after he complained to management that fellow recruits had used profanity to mock his religion, scratched his car and stolen his uniform, a new lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court said.
May 01, 2024
Globe Life Hid Toxic Culture And Policy Fraud, Investors Say

Life insurance company Globe Life Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action alleging investors were damaged when a short-seller report revealed that the company had been ignoring rampant sexual harassment among its employees and participating in fraudulent underwriting practices.
May 01, 2024
Ohio Justices Say Workers' Comp Appeal Didn't Expire

The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed an injured Whirlpool Corp. worker to continue his appeal of an order denying him additional workers' compensation coverage, saying the state Industrial Commission's five-year limit on jurisdiction doesn't apply to his appeal in state court.
May 01, 2024
SpaceX Again Asks 5th Circ. To Step Into NLRB Challenge

SpaceX called on the Fifth Circuit Wednesday to freeze a National Labor Relations Board hearing scheduled for Thursday afternoon, saying in its second trip to the appeals court that it will suffer irreparable harm if the administrative suit proceeds before the agency it claims is unconstitutional.
May 01, 2024
UAW Local Calls Arrests Of Members At USC Protest Illegal

The University of Southern California violated federal labor law by having union members who protested in support of a ceasefire in Gaza arrested, a United Auto Workers affiliate representing graduate student workers said.
May 01, 2024
Acting Labor Sec. Defends Status, Rules At Tense Hearing

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su defended her U.S. Department of Labor role and recent agency rules at a U.S. House committee hearing on Wednesday from Republicans who accused her of serving through a "loophole" and who questioned the legality of actions under her leadership.
May 01, 2024
Fired HR Worker Hits Financial Co. With Age, Sex Bias Suit

A financial services company laid off a human resources worker after she took federal medical leave and in retaliation for her repeated complaints about pay disparities between herself and younger, male employees, according to a lawsuit filed in Colorado federal court.
May 01, 2024
Ex-Seton Hall President Fights Bid To Toss Whistleblower Suit

Seton Hall University's former president is fighting to keep his explosive whistleblower suit against the school alive, arguing that he should be allowed to pursue his claims in court despite terms in his severance agreement stating otherwise because Seton Hall already violated that agreement by slashing his salary.
May 01, 2024
Law Firm Fabiani Hit With Race, Gender Bias Suit

A Black female insurance and construction law attorney sued Fabiani Cohen & Hall LLP and its three name partners Tuesday in New York federal court, alleging she was subjected to a "despicable campaign" of harassment for more than a decade.
May 01, 2024
NC Lawmakers Seek $231M Boost For Retired Judges, Others

North Carolina legislators offered Wednesday a $231 million proposal to raise the retirement benefits for judicial and other former state workers, framing it as a cost-of-living adjustment that would become effective July 1.
May 01, 2024
Overtime Theft Scheme Earns Ex-Mass. Trooper 3 Years

The former second-in-command of a Massachusetts state police traffic safety unit was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a widespread conspiracy to steal federally funded overtime through no-work shifts.

Expert Analysis

4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.
2 Cases Highlight NJ Cannabis Employment Law Uncertainties

More than two years after its enactment, the employee protections and employer obligations in New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act remain unsettled, and two recent lawsuits draw attention to the law's enforceability and its intersection with federal law, say Ruth Rauls at Saul Ewing and David White at Seton Hall.
3 Compliance Reminders For Calif. Employers In 2024

As we enter into the new year, several recent updates to California employment law — including minimum wage and sick leave requirements — necessitate immediate compliance actions for employers, says Daniel Pyne at Hopkins & Carley.
What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
Navigating Class Actions After Papa John's Settlement Denial

A Kentucky federal court's surprising denial of preliminary approval for a $5 million settlement in the Papa John's no-poach case may prove to be an outlier but suggests a class action settlement would only be approved when a plaintiff demonstrates that a litigation class would be certified, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.
4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
Sex Harassment Arbitration Exemption: Devil Is In The Date

A Federal Arbitration Act amendment that exempts workplace sexual harassment claims from arbitration is muddled in ongoing confusion about its chronological reach — and as many such cases begin to run up against applicable statutes of limitations, the clock is ticking for claimants to bring their actions in court, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.
Compliance Refresher Amid DOL Child Labor Crackdown

In light of the Labor Department’s recent announcement of new penalty assessment procedures for child labor law violations, Erica MacDonald and Sylvia Bokyung St. Clair at Faegre Drinker discuss what employers should know about the department’s continued focus on this issue and how to bolster compliance efforts.
Antitrust Enforcement Initiatives To Watch In 2024

The U.S. Department of Justice is likely to prioritize information-sharing prosecutions in 2024, following last year's withdrawal of safe harbors, as well as labor market enforcement after trial losses forced a pullback in 2023, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2024

From technological leaps to sea changes in labor policy to literal sea changes, 2024 provides opportunities for employers to face big-picture questions that will shape their business for years to come, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.
AI In Employment Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

This year, the most popular employment law topics related to artificial intelligence in Law360's Expert Analysis section included ChatGPT, new AI legislation, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Most-Read Employment Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

This year, some of the most popular employment topics in articles written for Law360's Expert Analysis section focused on workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, new unionization rules from the National Labor Relations Board, and proposed regulations for implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.
Lessons Learned From 2023's Top FMLA Decisions

This year’s most significant Family and Medical Leave Act decisions offer lessons on the act's technical requirements, including the definition of serious health condition, compliance with notice requirements and whether it is permissible to give an employee substantial extra work upon their return from leave, says Linda Dwoskin at Dechert.