Labor
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January 27, 2025
Purdue Nears Ch. 11 Deal, Yellow Corp. Fends Off WARN Suit
From a looming settlement in the Purdue bankruptcy to a pair of retailers overcoming objections to their Chapter 11 plans, here are some of the biggest bankruptcy news from the past week.
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January 27, 2025
Property Co. Wants DC Circ. To Rehear Union Bias Firing Case
A commercial property management firm asked the D.C. Circuit to reconsider its enforcement of an NLRB order finding the company illegally fired a worker for his union support and not his vaccination status, challenging how the appeals court tied alleged knowledge of union activities to the company's decision.
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January 27, 2025
Legal Aid Attys Fight To Keep Suit Over Union Palestine Vote
The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys infringed on three members' rights by moving to expel them for trying to stop the union from voting on a controversial pro-Palestine resolution, the attorneys said, asking a New York federal judge to preserve claims that the union violated labor and anti-discrimination laws.
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January 27, 2025
6th Circ. Says Union Can't Save Cook For Missing The Boat
The Sixth Circuit upheld a win for the nation's oldest maritime union Monday, finding that the organization had no ability to defend a cook who was fired by a steamship company after she missed her boat.
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January 27, 2025
NLRB Official Approves Union Election At Transit Co.
A transportation services provider in Arizona hasn't shown that some of its workers are supervisors unable to unionize under federal labor law, a National Labor Relations Board regional director determined, saying these workers don't use independent judgment when it comes to work assignments or discipline.
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January 27, 2025
Employment Group Of The Year: Gibson Dunn
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP scored significant employer-side wins this year, including a Texas federal court's decision to nationally invalidate a federal rule banning noncompetes and defeating misclassification claims against Uber in Massachusetts, once again earning the firm a spot among the 2024 Law360 Employment Groups of the Year.
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January 27, 2025
NLRB Judge Says Parking Co. Snubbed Union, Workers
A parking contractor unlawfully snubbed a United Food & Commercial Workers affiliate and refused to hire 35 union employees upon taking over valet services at a Long Island, New York, hospital, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, deeming the contractor a successor to the previous contractor.
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January 24, 2025
SEIU Local Escapes Gov't Worker's Dues Signature Claims
An SEIU affiliate is off the hook for allegations from a government employee that the union forged her signature on a membership agreement authorizing dues deductions, an Oregon federal judge ruled Friday, finding the outcome of a related state employment board proceeding precludes her claims in court.
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January 24, 2025
Pac-12 OKs Athlete Group's Bid To Drop Classification Case
A group that advocates for college athletes to be paid can drop its claim that these players are National Labor Relations Act-protected employees, the Pac-12 Conference said, consenting to the group's request to withdraw a case being heard by a National Labor Relations Board judge.
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January 24, 2025
Steelworkers Botched Firing Probe, Worker Tells 6th Circ.
The ex-fire chief of a Michigan paper plant urged the Sixth Circuit to revive his suit claiming the United Steelworkers unfairly refused to challenge his 2021 firing, arguing his rep blindly accepted the company's explanation for canning him even though he gave reasons to doubt it.
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January 24, 2025
Calif. Forecast: $3.6M Freight Co. Wage Deal Could Get OK'd
In the next week, attorneys should watch for the potential final approval of a $3.6 million settlement in a wage and hour class action against a freight carrier. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.
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January 24, 2025
Employment Group Of The Year: Shegerian & Associates
Shegerian & Associates won two jury trials for an oncologist in her gender discrimination lawsuit and secured a $14 million award for a bank manager who was fired for taking leave to care for her critically ill husband, earning the firm a place among the 2024 Law360 Employment Groups of the Year.
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January 24, 2025
NLRB Official OKs Union Vote For Brooklyn Nurse Educators
A group of nurse educators can vote on whether they want to join an existing bargaining unit at a Brooklyn hospital, a National Labor Relations Board regional director concluded, rejecting the employer's claims that the educators are statutory supervisors and the parties' labor contract prevents the election.
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January 24, 2025
NY Forecast: Judge Hears YouGov's Bid To Toss Bias Suit
This week, a New York federal judge will consider YouGov's bid to toss a former executive's lawsuit claiming she was discriminated against because of her gender and ultimately forced to resign after she complained about her treatment.
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January 23, 2025
Hiring Freeze, Ending Telework Would Devastate USPTO
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office would be uniquely harmed if forced to follow the Trump administration's return to office mandate, given its nearly 30-year history of telework that has led to 96% of its employees being permanently remote.
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January 23, 2025
Retired Pittsburgh Cops Overpaid For Healthcare, Panel Rules
Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court has ruled that the city of Pittsburgh overcharged retired police officers for healthcare benefits, rejecting the city's argument to overturn an arbitrator's award in favor of the local Fraternal Order of Police lodge as too expansive.
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January 23, 2025
Yellow Corp. Says It Acted In Good Faith With WARN Notices
Defunct trucking company Yellow Corp. told a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Thursday that its last delivery was made the day before it laid off 22,000 union workers, making it a "liquidating fiduciary" that would not be liable for inadequate mass-layoff notices under the WARN Act.
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January 23, 2025
NLRB Urges Toss Of Restaurant Group's Constitutional Clash
An Arizona federal judge must nix a restaurant group's constitutional claims against the National Labor Relations Board, the agency argued, saying the company hasn't shown how removal protections for board members and administrative law judges brought about harm.
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January 23, 2025
11th Circ. Upholds Win For UPS, Union In Worker's Bias Suit
UPS and a Teamsters local defeated a fired employee's race discrimination and Americans with Disabilities Act suit Thursday before the Eleventh Circuit, with the appellate court upholding a victory by the company and union before a Florida federal judge.
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January 23, 2025
Employment Group Of The Year: Paul Hastings
Paul Hastings LLP represents major companies like Nike and Google, and handled overlapping discrimination government investigations against video game company Activision Blizzard, ultimately notching settlements that closed the book on both probes, earning the firm a spot among the 2024 Law360 Employment Groups of the Year.
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January 23, 2025
United Airlines Ex-Tech Sues To Get Grievance Arbitrated
A fired United Airlines technician asked a New York federal judge to compel arbitration of a grievance he filed in June over his termination, saying he has a right to have the grievance arbitrated under the Railway Labor Act.
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January 23, 2025
Calif. Appeals Court Backs Apprentice Work Regulations
A California appeals court refused to reinstate a challenge from several employer associations seeking to strike down new regulations governing how apprentices can spend their time working, saying the California Apprenticeship Council was in the clear to promulgate the new rules.
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January 22, 2025
NLRB Judge OKs Amazon's Firing Of North Las Vegas Worker
Amazon's 2021 firing of a worker at a North Las Vegas fulfillment center did not violate the National Labor Relations Act, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting board prosecutors' argument that the worker's firing was linked to her complaints about working conditions.
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January 22, 2025
Starbucks Union's Contract Hopes Dim After Peace Fractures
Starbucks Workers United's hopes of reaching favorable contracts with the coffee giant have diminished amid a breakdown in once-promising negotiations and the reignition of the bitter legal battle that clouded the campaign's first two years.
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January 22, 2025
GAO Says Army Corps Reasonably Rejected Contractor's Bid
The Government Accountability Office has rejected a Georgia-based construction contractor's challenge to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' denial of its building repair contract proposal, saying the agency reasonably deemed the contractor's project labor agreement to be insufficient.
DC Circ. Skirts Google's Employer Status In NLRB Dispute
The D.C. Circuit appeared unlikely Monday to decide whether the National Labor Relations Board correctly tagged Google as the joint employer of quality assurance contractors, with a panel seeming skeptical that it can weigh in a year after Google ended its deal with the workers' direct employer.
NLRB Wins Injunction Against AAA For Contract Proposal
The AAA motor club unit spanning some Western states can't implement a contract proposal to cut workers' commissions on renewed insurance policies, a California federal judge ruled, while denying the National Labor Relations Board's requests for a bargaining order and reinstatement of a fired union supporter.
Unions To Face Hurdles Organizing Under Trump NLRB
President Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely usher in a more difficult organizing climate for labor unions, and experts said the coming changes could particularly complicate organizing in academia and industries with many low-wage workers.
Expert Analysis
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8 Lessons Yellow Corp. Layoffs Can Teach Distressed Cos.
A Delaware bankruptcy court’s recent decision, examining trucking company Yellow Corp.’s abrupt termination of roughly 25,500 employees, offers financially distressed businesses a road map for navigating layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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10 Key Worker-Friendly California Employment Law Updates
New employment laws in California expand employee rights, transparency and enforcement mechanisms, and failing to educate department managers on these changes could put employers at risk, says Melanie Ronen at Stradley Ronon.
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7 Employment Contracts Issues Facing DOL Scrutiny
A growing trend of U.S. Department of Labor enforcement against employment practices that limit workers' rights and avoid legal responsibility shines a light on seven unique contractual provisions that violate federal labor laws, and face agressive litigation from the labor solicitor, says Thomas Starks at Freeman Mathis.
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How Trump Presidency May Influence NLRB's Next Phase
Attorneys at Paul Hastings discuss how last year’s key National Labor Relations Board developments may progress once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, including the wave of lawsuits challenging the board’s constitutionality and two landmark board decisions that upset decades of precedent.
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How Trump Admin May Approach AI In The Workplace
Key indicators suggest that the incoming Trump administration will adopt a deregulatory approach to artificial intelligence, allowing states to fill the void, so it is critical that employers pay close attention to developing legal authority concerning AI tools, say attorneys at Littler.
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Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs
General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.
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Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2025
While companies must monitor for policy shifts under the new administration in 2025, it will also be a year to play it safe and remember the basics, such as the importance of documenting retention policies and conducting swift investigations into workplace complaints, say attorneys at Lawrence & Bundy.
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NLRB Likely To Fill Vacuum After NMB Jurisdiction Ruling
The National Mediation Board's recent ruling in Swissport Cargo Services LP abandoned decades of precedent by concluding the Railway Labor Act doesn’t apply to airline service providers, likely leading the National Labor Relations Board to assert its jurisdiction instead and potentially causing more operational disruptions and labor strife, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Ring In The New Year With An Updated Employee Handbook
One of the best New Year's resolutions employers can make is to update their employee handbooks, given that a handbook can mitigate, or even prevent, costly litigation as long as it accounts for recent changes in laws, court rulings and agency decisions, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.
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9 Things To Expect From Trump's Surprising DOL Pick
The unexpected nomination of Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., to lead the U.S. Department of Labor reflects a blend of pro-business and pro-labor leanings, and signals that employers should prepare for a mix of continuity and moderate adjustments in the coming years, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.
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Why State Captive Audience Laws Matter After NLRB Decision
As employers focus on complying with the National Labor Relations Board's new position that captive audience meetings violate federal labor law, they should also be careful not to overlook state captive audience laws that prohibit additional types of company meetings and communications, says Karla Grossenbacher at Seyfarth.
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Pa. Ruling Highlights Challenges Of Employer Arb. Appeals
A Pennsylvania federal court's recent ruling in Welch Foods v. General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 demonstrates the inherent difficulties employers face when seeking relief from labor arbitration decisions through appeals in court — and underscores how employers are faced with often conflicting legal priorities, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.
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NLRB One-Two Punch Curbs Employer Anti-Organizing Tools
The National Labor Relations Board’s recent decisions in Siren Retail and Amazon, limiting employer speech about the impact of unionization and outlawing captive audience meetings, severely curtail employers' arsenal of tools to combat an organizing campaign — though this may soon change under a new administration, say attorneys at Benesch.