Employment

May 22, 2024
Stryker Agrees To Settle Calif. Misclassification Suit

Medical device company Stryker told a California federal court Wednesday it has agreed to settle a proposed class action accusing it of misclassifying workers as overtime-exempt and failing to pay them overtime during their mandatory training.
May 22, 2024
Steel Co. Tells Mich. Court Not To Order Worker's Rehire

A Michigan federal judge can't enforce an arbitration award requiring the rehire of a fired worker, a steel manufacturer argued Wednesday, claiming the arbitration panel went beyond the parties' collective bargaining agreement in ordering reinstatement.
May 22, 2024
NJ Panel Revives Town IT Chief's Whistleblower Suit

A New Jersey trial court wrongly granted summary judgment to the Borough of Ridgefield in a whistleblower suit claiming wrongful termination, an appeals panel ruled Wednesday, saying the lower court too readily accepted the municipality's argument that the firing was for economic reasons.
May 22, 2024
OSU Strikes Deal To Resolve Ex-Prof's Gender Bias Suit

Ohio State University reached a tentative deal Wednesday with a former marketing professor to end her lawsuit accusing the school of firing her for working with outside clients while male colleagues escaped retribution, a notice in federal court said.
May 22, 2024
DeSantis Ducks Voters' Suit Over Fla. Prosecutor Suspension

A Florida federal judge on Wednesday tossed voters' attempt to undo Gov. Ron DeSantis' suspension of elected prosecutor Monique Worrell, finding that the voters had not shown they were injured by the suspension.
May 22, 2024
SC Gov. Signs Earned Wage Access Bill Into Law

South Carolina has become the fifth state to approve a new law governing so-called earned wage access products, which provide workers with cash advances, as the Palmetto State joins Nevada, Missouri, Wisconsin and Kansas in regulating the products.
May 22, 2024
Calif. Court Rejects Arbitration Pact Stacked Against Workers

The arbitration pact an eyeglass retailer provided to a former employee was procedurally and substantively unconscionable and therefore unenforceable, a California state appeals court ruled, affirming a trial court's decision in a worker's wage and hour suit.
May 22, 2024
Chanel Stiffs Calif. Workers On Meal Breaks, OT, Court Told

Hourly employees at Chanel in California have not been paid for all their hours worked, including missed meal breaks and overtime, a former worker told a state court.
May 21, 2024
2nd Circ. Partially Backs Win For Nurses' Union Pension Plan

In a 90-page opinion, the Second Circuit on Tuesday mostly upheld a Manhattan federal judge's decision affirming an arbiter's award favoring a nurses' pension plan, agreeing that White Oak Global Advisors LLC must return "Day 1" fees totaling nearly $2 million and pay prejudgment interest said to top $22 million.
May 21, 2024
Paramount Pictures Violated Wage Laws, Crew Member Says

Paramount Pictures Corp. failed to pay crew members working on movie productions their total wages, denied them proper rest breaks and refused to reimburse them for out-of-pocket expenses, according to a proposed Private Attorneys General Act class action filed Monday in California state court.
May 21, 2024
Calif. Justices Doubt App-Based Drivers' Prop 22 Challenge

Several California Supreme Court justices pushed back Tuesday against arguments by ride-hailing drivers that the Proposition 22 ballot measure carving out certain app-based workers from a worker classification law unconstitutionally runs afoul of the Legislature's authority, with one justice saying their position could "freeze out" voter-approved initiatives.
May 21, 2024
Fla. Scientist Fights Contempt Ruling In Data Theft Suit

A Florida Everglades scientist urged a state appeals court Tuesday to reverse a contempt ruling against him over violating an injunction to preserve computer data from his prior job, saying that the order was ambiguous and that the lower court wrongly appointed opposing counsel to prosecute the violation.
May 21, 2024
Foxwoods Restaurant Servers Win Class Cert. in Wage Feud

A Connecticut state court judge has granted certification to a class of tipped workers in their wage-and-hour suit against a steakhouse at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, ruling they have plausibly shown that the restaurant failed to pay them a fair wage under state law.
May 21, 2024
Ship Engineers Take Case Against Shipbuilders To 4th Circ.

A pair of naval engineers are challenging a Virginia federal judge's decision to toss their proposed class action accusing a collection of shipbuilding military contractors of entering into secret "no-poach" agreements, asking the Fourth Circuit to take up their appeal in a new filing.
May 21, 2024
NC Agency Atty Gets More Time To Prep For Bias Trial

A North Carolina federal judge shut down the state justice department's bid to stop an attorney from calling witnesses and offering exhibits in her discrimination trial, according to a docket order that appears to give the plaintiff more time to prepare.
May 21, 2024
EEOC Guidance Over Gender Identity Can't Stand, Texas Says

The Texas attorney general requested Tuesday that a federal judge do away with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's enforcement guidance over gender identity and Title VII, arguing that the agency must be stopped from requiring employers' compliance with pronoun and bathroom accommodations.
May 21, 2024
MLB Scouts' Colo. Age Bias Suit Moved To New York

A Colorado federal judge refused to dismiss an age bias suit brought against Major League Baseball by a group of 40-and-older scouts and instead transferred the case to New York, saying he was using his discretionary authority because most defendants have no ties to his district.
May 21, 2024
NY High Court Upholds State Abortion Coverage Mandate

New York's highest court on Tuesday upheld a state law requiring employee health plans to cover medically necessary abortions, finding a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision didn't change the state court's determination that an exemption process in the law was constitutional.
May 21, 2024
OSHA Hit With Constitutional Challenge To Walkaround Rule

A dozen business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over the so-called walkaround rule in Texas federal court Tuesday, challenging the constitutionality of a two-month-old regulation that expanded workers' right to bring in outside representatives during job safety inspections.
May 21, 2024
Ex-Crypto Co. President Was Deceived And Ousted, Suit Says

A cryptocurrency entrepreneur has filed a suit in Delaware's Court of Chancery accusing a CEO of making fraudulent misrepresentations to recruit him to serve as president of his blockchain company, then unjustifiably firing him.
May 21, 2024
6th Circ. Won't Restart GM Engineer's Age Bias Suit

The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday backed General Motors' defeat of an engineer's lawsuit claiming he was harassed and transferred to less lucrative jobs because he's over 50, ruling he failed to show that a supervisor's sporadic comments created a hostile work environment.
May 21, 2024
UMich Punished Officer For Talking To Press, Jury Finds

A jury in Detroit federal court on Tuesday awarded a University of Michigan police officer $300,000 in emotional distress damages, finding the school unlawfully retaliated against him after he spoke with a journalist about its alleged mishandling of a sexual assault report.
May 21, 2024
Colo. Hotel Denies Directly Hiring H-2B Workers In Wage Suit

A Colorado luxury hotel told a federal judge that it doesn't belong in a proposed class action accusing it and its cleaning contractor of unlawfully deducting Mexican housekeeping workers' wages, saying the contractor is the workers' sole employer.
May 21, 2024
Some DOL Informers To Be Disclosed In Fishery Wage Case

A Mississippi federal judge ordered the U.S. Department of Labor to disclose the identities of migrant workers with knowledge of a fishery's alleged interference with a DOL investigation or of allegations the fishery retaliated against workers cooperating in the probe.
May 21, 2024
College QB Sues Gators' Coach For False $13.9M NIL Deal

Former prospective University of Florida Gators quarterback Jaden Rashada alleged in a federal lawsuit Tuesday that the football coach and boosters lured him to the university with false promises of a $13.85 million name, image and likeness deal that cost him a legitimate deal he had lined up at a different school.

Expert Analysis

What The NLRB Wants Employers To Know Post-Cemex

Recent guidance from the National Labor Relations Board illuminates prosecutorial goals following Cemex Construction Materials, a decision that upended decades of precedent, and includes several notable points to which employers should pay close attention, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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.