Labor

  • November 14, 2024

    NLRB Office Denied Injunction Against Valet Parking Co.

    A New York federal judge shot down a National Labor Relations Board office's request for an injunction against a Long Island hospital's valet parking contractor Thursday, saying the office failed to prove irreparable harm would occur if the contractor wasn't compelled to hire the previous contractor's union-represented staff.

  • November 14, 2024

    NLRB Members Spar Over Fresh Precedent Shifts At Panel

    Deep disagreements about employers' rights under federal labor law leaped out of the federal record and into real life Thursday as the members of the National Labor Relations Board debated two decisions restricting anti-union campaigning at the American Bar Association's annual Labor and Employment Law Conference in Manhattan.

  • November 14, 2024

    UPS Driver's Class Claims Can Stay In Court, Judge Says

    UPS can't make a driver arbitrate his sick leave and wage class claims against the company, a Colorado federal judge ruled, finding the plaintiff is part of a group of workers who are exempt under federal arbitration law because their jobs are linked to interstate commerce.

  • November 14, 2024

    NLRB's Dues Reimbursement Order Must Stand, 8th Circ. Told

    The National Labor Relations Board rightly ordered a hospital to reimburse a Service Employees International Union affiliate for dues that weren't deducted before a decertification vote was certified, the union told the Eighth Circuit, urging the court to enforce the board's decision.

  • November 14, 2024

    Teamsters Look To Ax Indiana UPS Manager's Race Bias Suit

    A UPS manager can't move forward with a discrimination lawsuit against an Indianapolis Teamsters local because the union doesn't represent or employ him, the union told an Indiana federal judge, asking him to toss the suit.

  • November 14, 2024

    MVP: Gibson Dunn's Jason Schwartz

    Jason C. Schwartz, a partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, secured rulings from the bench in a case about his client Fearless Foundation's awarding of grants to Black female entrepreneurs and in another dispute representing DraftKings as the company sought to stop a former executive from soliciting customers ahead of the Super Bowl, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Employment MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    News Org., NLRB Notch Deal Nixing Separation Pact Clauses

    A news organization and National Labor Relations Board attorneys reached a settlement requiring the nonprofit to drop allegedly unlawful confidentiality and nondisparagement provisions in its separation agreements, according to a copy of the deal docketed on the agency's website Wednesday, with board attorneys securing nationwide remedies.

  • November 13, 2024

    Highway Workers Reach Deal In Misclassification Row

    Three construction firms have agreed to settle a False Claims Act suit after the U.S. Department of Labor agreed with an electrical workers union and a whistleblower that a subcontractor misclassified employees who worked on 25 federally funded highway projects in Pennsylvania.

  • November 13, 2024

    Pipefitters Union Says Co. Erred By Using Prepiped Boxes

    A mechanical contractor violated a collective bargaining agreement when it purchased prepiped air conditioning equipment, a pipefitters' union argued in a lawsuit filed in Ohio federal court Wednesday, saying the CBA indicated that only union members should perform piping work.

  • November 13, 2024

    Texas Fights Contractor Wage Hike After 9th Circ. Ruling

    The recent Ninth Circuit decision deeming President Joe Biden's increase of federal contractors' hourly minimum wage unlawful clarified that the government's position that it could mandate the hike is absurd, the state of Texas told the Fifth Circuit in its case also challenging the wage hike.

  • November 13, 2024

    NY Suit Co. Says Union Fund Can't Bypass Trial In Debt Fight

    A Rochester, New York, suit manufacturer shouldn't have to pay $6.2 million to a union healthcare fund before standing trial on claims that it defrauded the fund and violated federal benefits law, the manufacturer told a federal judge.

  • November 13, 2024

    3 Tips For Addressing Post-Election Workplace Friction

    President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory and the policy changes it portends will leave some people exuberant and others furious. Here are three tips employers can use to minimize political friction among workers while staying on the right side of the law.

  • November 13, 2024

    NLRB Outlaws Captive Audience Meetings

    The National Labor Relations Board issued an eagerly awaited decision Wednesday curbing a go-to tactic for employers battling union drives, holding that so-called captive audience meetings violate federal labor law. 

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Duane Morris' Gerald L. Maatman Jr.

    Gerald L. Maatman Jr. of Duane Morris LLP has helped his clients fend off potentially catastrophic exposures, including a suit alleging Geico misclassified thousands of insurance agents, by utilizing defense strategies to gut the claims before courts were able to assess the merits of the case, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Employment MVPs.

  • November 12, 2024

    Hospital Illegally Nixed SEIU Recognition, NLRB Tells 8th Circ.

    The Eighth Circuit must uphold a National Labor Relations Board decision finding a Missouri hospital illegally withdrew a Service Employees International Union affiliate's recognition, the board argued, saying board precedent makes companies wait to pull recognition until the results of an ouster vote are certified.

  • November 12, 2024

    6th Circ. Must Revive Pension Data Suit, Kellogg Retirees Say

    A group of married Kellogg retirees asked the Sixth Circuit to revive claims that they received less value for their money than single retirees when collecting pensions, saying Kellogg uses outdated data when converting pensions from single-life annuity form.

  • November 12, 2024

    NLRB Constitutionality Arguments Meet Skeptical 2nd Circ.

    The Second Circuit was skeptical Tuesday of a nursing home's arguments that a National Labor Relations Board case against it should be blocked because of constitutional issues with the agency's judges, with an appellate panel questioning whether the company showed it is harmed by the alleged defects.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trader Joe's Shut Out Union From Benefits, NLRB Judge Says

    Trader Joe's unlawfully excluded unionized workers in Massachusetts and Minnesota from an improved retirement benefit that was given to nonunion stores, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, finding the company committed multiple unfair labor practices to snuff out union organizing.

  • November 12, 2024

    2nd Circ. Rules Against Blue Man Group School In Union Row

    The Second Circuit enforced a National Labor Relations Board order Tuesday that held a now-defunct school started by the Blue Man Group's founders responsible for a labor law violation, upholding the board's decision that the Blue School unlawfully snubbed a United Auto Workers local before closing.

  • November 12, 2024

    Dock Co. Fired Worker Over Wage Talk, NLRB Judge Says

    A Missouri dock-building company violated federal labor law when it fired a worker who had discussed wages with his coworkers, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, rejecting the owner's testimony that he fired the worker for poor attendance as inconsistent and illogical.

  • November 12, 2024

    Justices Deny Nurse's Challenge To Labor Preemption

    The U.S. Supreme Court turned away a California nurse's challenge to a state court decision rejecting an unfair firing suit Tuesday, declining to take another pass at what sort of labor-related suits plaintiffs may bring in court.

  • November 12, 2024

    MVP: deRubertis Law's David M. deRubertis

    Worker-side lawyer David deRubertis, who runs his own firm, says he has helped workers win $526 million in damages from their employers in the past two years alone, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Employment MVPs.

  • November 08, 2024

    Old Standard Changes Worker Outburst Case, Co. Tells NLRB

    A rubber manufacturer told the National Labor Relations Board it must dismiss allegations that it unlawfully disciplined a worker who argued with a manager, saying the standard the Fifth Circuit ordered the board to apply on remand fundamentally alters how the board should analyze the case.

  • November 08, 2024

    Navy Contractor's Reprimand Was Illegal, Split NLRB Says

    A U.S. Navy contractor illegally barred a worker from sending emails to colleagues about workplace matters without approval, a divided National Labor Relations Board panel determined Friday, but found the company lawfully fired the employee for passing along scheduling concerns to its client.

  • November 08, 2024

    Gov't Union Continues Organizing Push For DOJ Attys

    Attorneys in the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights and environment divisions are stepping up their efforts to organize with the National Treasury Employees Union, the union confirmed Friday, as federal workers brace for coming changes under President-elect Donald Trump's new administration.

Expert Analysis

  • Musk Ruling A Lesson On Employer Statements About Unions

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    A recent Fifth Circuit decision in Tesla v. National Labor Relations Board found that Elon Musk's 2018 tweets threatened employees at the company amid a unionizing campaign, reminding employers that communicating public statements about union organizing should be rooted in facts, says Daniel Handman at Hirschfeld Kraemer.

  • Cannabis Labor Peace Laws Lay Fertile Ground For Unions

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    State legislatures are increasingly passing cannabis laws that encourage or even mandate labor peace agreements as a condition for licensure, and though open questions remain about the constitutionality of such statutes, unionization efforts are unlikely to slow down, says Peter Murphy at Saul Ewing.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Attendance Policies

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    Employee attendance problems are among the most common reasons for disciplinary action and discharge, which is why a clear policy neatly laid out in an employee handbook is necessary to articulate expectations for workers and support an employer's position should any attendance-related disputes arise, says Kara Shea at Butler Snow.

  • Religious Institution Unionization Risks Post-NLRB Decision

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    A recent National Labor Relations Board decision granted Saint Leo University religious exemption from the National Labor Relations Act, potentially setting a new standard for other religious educational institutions, which must identify unionization risks and create plans to address them, say Terry Potter and Quinn Stigers at Husch Blackwell.

  • Prepare Now To Comply With NJ Temp Worker Law

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    New Jersey temporary staffing firms and their clients must prepare now for the time-consuming compliance requirements created by the controversial new Temporary Laborers' Bill of Rights, or face steep penalties when the law's strict wage, benefit and record-keeping rules go live in May and August, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Protecting Workplace Privacy In The New Age Of Social Media

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    The rise of platforms like TikTok and BeReal, that incentivize users to share workplace content, merits reminding employers that their social media policies should protect both company and employee private information, while accounting for enforceability issues, say Christina Wabiszewski and Kimberly Henrickson at Foley & Lardner.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Quiet Quitting Insights From 'Seinfeld'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Paradies Lagardere's Rebecca Silk about George Costanza's "quiet quitting" tendencies in "Seinfeld" and how such employees raise thorny productivity-monitoring issues for employers.

  • Garmon Defense Finds New Relevance As NLRB Stays Active

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    With a more muscular National Labor Relations Board at work, employers should recall that they have access to a powerful yet underutilized defense to state law employment and tort claims established under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, say Alex Meier and Cary Reid Burke at Seyfarth.

  • Eye On Compliance: Cross-State Noncompete Agreements

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent proposal to limit the application of worker noncompete agreements is a timely reminder for prudent employers to reexamine their current policies and practices around such covenants — especially businesses with operational footprints spanning more than one state, says Jeremy Stephenson at Wilson Elser.

  • Conducting Employee Investigations That Hold Up In Court

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    A recent Maryland federal court decision, which held that Elite Protective Services failed to provide a worker under internal investigation with protections required by his collective bargaining agreement, highlights important steps employers should take to ensure the conclusions of internal reviews will withstand judicial scrutiny, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Memo Shows NLRB Intends To Protect Race Talk At Work

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    A newly released memo from the National Labor Relations Board advising that discussions of racism at work count as protected concerted activity should alert employers that worker retaliation claims may now face serious scrutiny not only from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but also the NLRB, says Mark Fijman at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Cannabis Co. Considerations For Handling A Union Campaign

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    As employees in Connecticut and across the country increasingly unionize, cannabis employers must understand the meaning of neutrality and the provisions of labor peace agreements to steer clear of possible unfair labor charges, say attorneys at Shipman & Goodwin.

  • Handling Severance Pact Language After NLRB Decision

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    Following the National Labor Relations Board’s recent ruling that severance agreements with broad confidentiality or nondisparagement provisions violate federal labor law, employers may want to consider whether such terms must be stripped from agreements altogether, or if there may be a middle-ground approach, says Daniel Pasternak at Squire Patton.

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