Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Employment

  • October 28, 2025

    New 9th Circuit Test For ERISA Releases Is Focus Of High Court Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The named plaintiffs in a long-running class action concerning severance benefits on Oct. 27 waived their right to respond to a U.S. Supreme Court petition in which an employer and related entities seek review of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that they argue “creates a roadmap for plaintiffs to evade” releases of Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims.

  • October 28, 2025

    Trump, Others Seek Supreme Court Stay In Battle Over Copyright Register Job

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. president has the power to remove executive officers, including the register of copyrights, the acting librarian of congress, President Donald J. Trump and others argue in an Oct. 27 U.S. Supreme Court application seeking to stay an interlocutory injunction by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • October 28, 2025

    Speedway’s $12.1M Settlement Approved In Worker’s Finger-Scan Class Case

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted final approval of a more than $12.1 million class settlement by Speedway LLC, ending a worker’s complaint accusing the company of unlawfully collecting, using, storing and disclosing workers’ biometric data.

  • October 27, 2025

    7th Circuit Says Experts Did Not Prove Causation, Affirms Summary Judgment

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for Lands’ End Inc. and Lands’ End Outfitters Inc. (together, Lands’ End) in a suit brought by airline employees who alleged that their uniforms caused symptoms such as rashes, headaches and hair loss, finding that none of the employees’ experts proved causation and that the employees also failed to abide by the warranty's terms.

  • October 23, 2025

    Disabled Veteran Loses 10th Circuit Appeal Of Judgment On ADA, USERRA Claims

    DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed that a disabled veteran whose employment contract with his government contractor employer was not renewed did not have enough evidence to prove disability discrimination and retaliation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) in affirming a District Court’s order granting summary judgment to the employer.

  • October 23, 2025

    Fla. Jury Awards Golf Legend $50M For Defamation Claims Against Nicklaus Companies

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida jury returned a $50 million verdict for professional golfer Jack Nicklaus on defamation claims against Nicklaus Companies LLC, but ruled that two of the company’s officers did not actively participate in the publication of false statements that disgraced or damaged the golfer.

  • October 23, 2025

    4th Circuit Affirms Firing Of Md. Hospital Worker Over COVID Vaccine Refusal

    RICHMOND, Va. — A Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the firing of a Maryland hospital employee over a refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine after she was denied a religious exemption, finding that the lower court was correct in granting summary judgment to the hospital as the exemption “would have jeopardized patient safety and increased the risk of disruptive outbreaks in a sensitive environment.”

  • October 23, 2025

    9th Circuit Denies Rehearing, Majority Again Upholds Make-Whole Relief For Lockout

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by Macy’s Inc. but issued an amended opinion upholding for the second time make-whole relief granted to workers locked out after a strike while adding that the specifics of that relief will come at a later stage.

  • October 23, 2025

    5th Circuit Remands Sanctions, Attorney Fees On Rehearing In Southwest Bias Case

    NEW ORLEANS — After completely vacating a contempt order that included a sanction that required Southwest Airlines Co. lawyers to attend “religious-liberty training” in a flight attendant’s case over her firing for online abortion speech, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on rehearing vacated only the portion of the order that imposed sanctions on the airline and remanded the case to the district court to issue new sanctions, along with granting the flight attendant’s motion to remand the award of appellate attorney fees.

  • October 22, 2025

    Amicus Briefs Filed By Removed MSPB Member, Others In Presidential Power Appeal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Removed Merit Systems Protection Board Member Cathy Harris filed one of nearly two dozen amicus curiae briefs in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court over the U.S. president’s control of executive officers.

  • October 22, 2025

    5th Circuit Again Denies Rehearing In Amazon, NLRB Union Election Case

    NEW ORLEANS — For the second time in less than a month, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 21 denied panel rehearing and rehearing en banc after a split panel dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction an appeal challenging the “constructive denial” of Amazon’s injunctive relief motion concerning two National Labor Relations Board proceedings to which it alleged it was being subjected in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

  • October 22, 2025

    Chicago Transit Authority Seeks JMOL, New Trial In Vaccine Refusal Firing Case

    CHICAGO — Citing errors by an Illinois federal court as well as misconduct by opposing counsel, a municipal transit authority on Oct. 21 moved for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) or, alternatively, for a new trial after a jury awarded a former transit authority employee $425,000 for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act stemming from his termination for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after being denied a religious exemption.

  • October 22, 2025

    Respondents: No Place For Constitutional Claim Over Union Dues Debit In High Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A West Coast chapter of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), the California state prison system and several state officials contend in opposition to a petition for writ of certiorari that the U.S. Supreme Court does not need to address whether an employee can bring constitutional claims against them for deducting union dues without his consent because the issue has already been addressed and shot down in a barrage of recent petitions from assenting lower court decisions.

  • October 22, 2025

    U.S. Marshal Appeals After Reconsideration Of Stay Denied In Race Bias Class Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former deputy U.S. marshal who has spent more than three decades litigating alleged racial discrimination filed a notice of appeal after a federal judge in the District of Columbia declined to reconsider a stay of the putative class case pending resolution of appeals challenging a 2023 settlement between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS).

  • October 21, 2025

    TRO Enjoining Federal Government Shutdown RIFs Expanded, Clarified

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California modified a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the federal government’s reduction in force (RIF) of thousands of federal workers during the federal government shutdown to extend the granted relief to three additional unions, clarify provisions about which the federal government expressed confusion or disagreement and order the government to make additional disclosures.

  • October 21, 2025

    High Court Denies Cert For Shriners Employees Fired Over Vaccine Refusal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Several Shriners Hospitals for Children employees who were fired for not taking the COVID-19 vaccine lost another legal battle against their former employer on Oct. 20 when the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari.

  • October 20, 2025

    Air, Space Force Members Seek U.S. Supreme Court Consideration Of Vaccine Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to decide whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) allows for reinstatement to include back pay and retirement points.

  • October 20, 2025

    High Court To Address Challenge To Worker Status In FAA Arbitration Exemption Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 20 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a national bakery products corporation asking whether workers who deliver goods locally that have traveled between states but do not transport the goods across state borders are classified in such a way that they are exempted from arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).

  • October 17, 2025

    Union’s Intervention In NLRB Unfair Labor Practice Cases Denied By 5th Circuit

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion filed by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) to intervene so it could petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review a panel majority’s ruling that three trial courts properly issued preliminary injunctions in three cases challenging the National Labor Relations Board’s constitutionality that halted unfair labor practice complaints against three employers, finding that the fact that the NLRB no longer represents the union’s interests by declining to appeal to the high court was not enough to warrant intervention.

  • October 17, 2025

    Unions Sue USCIS, DHS, ICE, State Department Over AI Social Media Surveillance

    NEW YORK — Three labor unions on Oct. 16 sued the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and their leaders in New York federal court, asserting that the defendants have “targeted” U.S.-based visa holders and permanent residents by using artificial intelligence (AI) surveillance of social media to “detect disfavored viewpoints and to take adverse immigration action based on those viewpoints” in violation of the First Amendment rights of “noncitizens lawfully present” in the United States.

  • October 17, 2025

    Change Of Plans In Former Twitter Workers’ Severance Case Sparks Intervention Bid

    SAN FRANCISCO — On Oct. 16 — just under two months after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed to postpone oral argument based on the parties’ report of an unspecified “imminent class-wide settlement agreement” in former Twitter Inc. employees’ effort to revive their putative class action for more than $500 million in severance benefits — two former employees moved to intervene as of right on the grounds that the two named plaintiffs now intend only “to proceed with individual claims on an individual basis.”

  • October 16, 2025

    Pennsylvania Federal Judge Gives Final OK To $450K Collective, Class Wage Settlement

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Oct. 15 granted final approval of a $450,000 settlement that resolves production workers’ claims that a manufacturer and seller of coffee and related products violated federal and state wage laws by failing to pay hourly workers for all hours worked, including failing to compensate for pre- and postshift work and miscalculating the regular rate of pay for overtime.

  • October 16, 2025

    TRO Enjoins Federal Government Shutdown RIFs Of Thousands Of Workers

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on Oct. 15 granted several unions’ motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the federal government’s reduction-in-force (RIF) of thousands of federal workers during the federal government shutdown, writing that if the unions’ allegation that impacted workers were chosen due to their perceived political affiliations is true, it “is the epitome of hasty, arbitrary and capricious decisionmaking.”

  • October 15, 2025

    5th Circuit Remands Attorney Fees Issue In City Manager’s Race Discrimination Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ordered a trial court to consider on remand an issue of attorney fees after partially reversing a trial court’s judgment following a jury verdict for the plaintiff in a race bias and breach of contract case brought by a fired city manager.

  • October 15, 2025

    Airline Workers Fired For Refusing COVID Shot Petition High Court Over Dismissal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. —  A group of former United Airlines employees who filed suit after they were terminated or placed on unpaid leave for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine despite seeking religious exemptions are asking the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for writ of certiorari whether a dismissed Illinois Whistleblower Act claim should have been permitted to proceed in the face of a potential violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDA) and whether their complaint should have been dismissed for “failure to exhaust administrative remedies” when “they have either obtained right-to-sue letters or are in the process of obtaining them.”