Labor

  • July 01, 2024

    'Unsecured' Ballot Box Justifies Nixing Vote, Co. Tells DC Circ.

    A building management services company fought the certification of an International Union of Operating Engineers local at the D.C. Circuit on Monday, claiming a National Labor Relations Board agent left the ballot box "unsecured and unattended" during a representation election.

  • July 01, 2024

    ACLU, NLRB Prosecutors Clash Over Outspoken Atty's Firing

    National Labor Relations Board prosecutors and the American Civil Liberties Union filed dueling briefs in a board challenge to an ex-policy attorney's firing, with prosecutors claiming she was fired for speaking out about bad bosses and the group claiming she relentlessly smeared Black supervisors.

  • July 01, 2024

    Amazon Tells NLRB Its Union Banner Ban Should Pass Muster

    The National Labor Relations Board should find that Amazon lawfully barred a pro-union banner in the breakroom at a Staten Island, New York, facility, the e-commerce giant argued, disputing an agency judge's conclusions of federal labor law violations and credibility findings for union salts.

  • July 01, 2024

    DOL's Overtime Rule Survives Texas Marketer's Injunction Bid

    A Texas federal judge refused Monday to grant a marketing company's request to block a U.S. Department of Labor rule that raises the salary thresholds for claiming overtime-exemption under federal law, saying the firm failed to show it will be harmed by the new standards.

  • July 01, 2024

    Starbucks Can't Bar 'Union Strong' On Cup, NLRB Judge Says

    Starbucks violated federal labor law by enforcing a rule that barred workers from putting messages like "union strong" on customers' cups during a "sip-in" action, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, saying the policy could dissuade a reasonable worker from participating in union activities.

  • July 01, 2024

    Supreme Court Widens Window To Challenge Federal Regs

    Legal challenges to federal regulations can be brought outside the normal statute of limitations if someone isn't adversely affected until after the six-year window of time to file suit, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.

  • June 28, 2024

    Chevron's End Is Just The Start For Energized Agency Foes

    By knocking down a powerful precedent that has towered over administrative law for 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court's right wing Friday gave a crowning achievement to anti-agency attorneys. But for those attorneys, the achievement is merely a means to an end, and experts expect a litigation blitzkrieg to materialize quickly in the aftermath.

  • June 28, 2024

    In Chevron Case, Justices Trade One Unknown For Another

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule a decades-old judicial deference doctrine may cause the "eternal fog of uncertainty" surrounding federal agency actions to dissipate and level the playing field in challenges of government policies, but lawyers warn it raises new questions over what rules courts must follow and how judges will implement them.

  • June 28, 2024

    Texas Justices Back Union Leave Clause's Constitutionality

    A clause in a firefighters union's collective bargaining agreement that permits taking paid leave for negotiations does not violate the Lone Star state's constitution, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday while reversing an award of attorney fees and sanctions against some of the plaintiffs.

  • June 28, 2024

    NLRB Retains Unclear Deference After Chevron Reversal

    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion Friday ending its practice of deferring to agencies' legal interpretations cuts back on but doesn't curb the deference courts have historically given the National Labor Relations Board, though just how much the courts will second-guess the board's policy choices remains to be seen.

  • June 28, 2024

    High Court's SEC Decision Has Limited NLRB Impact, For Now

    A U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's reliance on in-house courts spares the National Labor Relations Board's similar administrative system for now, but leaves the door open to future challenges to how the board operates, experts said. 

  • June 28, 2024

    Co. Cites High Court's SEC Ruling To Fight Labor Board Case

    Claims that an oil pipeline operator wrongfully fired an employee should go before a jury, not the National Labor Relations Board, the company argued in a new lawsuit in Texas federal court, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's rebuke of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house court.

  • June 28, 2024

    NLRB Seeks Custody Order Over Biz Owner's Noncompliance

    U.S. Marshals should take the owner of a construction company into custody for his noncompliance with court orders over subpoenas, the National Labor Relations Board told a Delaware federal judge, calling for more stringent measures and thousands of dollars in fines.

  • June 28, 2024

    Tesla Laid Off 14K Workers Without Notice, WARN Suit Says

    Tesla Inc. laid off approximately 14,000 employees without giving them a fair warning required under both federal and California law, a former parts advisor alleges in a putative class action seeking back pay and penalties on the automotive company.

  • June 28, 2024

    Union Asks NLRB To Call For Compensation After Co.'s Stunt

    An Illinois sprinkler installer that faked its shutdown to avoid working with employees' new union should have to pay workers for the lost opportunity to bargain, the union told the National Labor Relations Board, urging it to impose stronger remedies after ruling in the union's favor.

  • June 28, 2024

    Supreme Court Strikes Down Chevron Deference

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned a decades-old precedent that instructed judges about when they could defer to federal agencies' interpretations of law in rulemaking, depriving courts of a commonly used analytic tool and leaving lots of questions about what comes next.

  • June 27, 2024

    Uber, Lyft Cut $175M Deal To End Mass. Worker Status Fight

    Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. on Thursday agreed to pay a combined $175 million and provide drivers with a suite of benefits to settle an employee classification lawsuit brought by the state of Massachusetts.

  • June 27, 2024

    Starbucks Workers' Suspsension Is Unlawful, NLRB GC Says

    Starbucks violated federal labor law when it suspended employees who presented demands for a raise to their manager at a South Carolina cafe, National Labor Relations Board prosecutors told an agency judge, but the coffee chain claims the manager "was targeted by partners in a workplace violence event."

  • June 27, 2024

    Restored Outburst Shield On Display In NLRB Decision

    The National Labor Relations Board's first application of a restored standard shielding workers from punishment when they mouth off to bosses during workplace protests demonstrates the strength of the so-called loss-of-protection standards, particularly in the hands of worker-friendly decision-makers, experts say.

  • June 27, 2024

    Union Says DC Circ.'s LMRDA Ruling Sets Bad Precedent

    A D.C. Circuit panel's holding that the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act could compel a letter carriers union to publish a union officer candidate's advertisement in its magazine sets a dangerous precedent, the union argued Thursday, urging the full D.C. Circuit to undo the panel's ruling.

  • June 27, 2024

    DOL Says It Put Salary Levels In OT Carveout Since 1938

    The U.S. Department of Labor told a Texas federal court it included a minimum salary aspect in executive, administrative or professional rules since the Fair Labor Standards Act's inception, arguing a marketing firm doesn't have the basis to halt a final overtime rule.

  • June 27, 2024

    In-House Staff At 1199SEIU Secures Certification For 1st Union

    Workers have formed a staff union at 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, with the National Labor Relations Board certifying the bargaining unit after a campaign that included unfair labor practice claims accusing the union employer of illegally firing an organizer.

  • June 27, 2024

    No Sentencing Delay For Ex-Union Head Ahead Of Retrial Date

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has rejected former International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 business manager John Dougherty's request to postpone his sentencing for his bribery and embezzlement convictions ahead of the government possibly retrying him on extortion charges following an April mistrial.

  • June 27, 2024

    Painting Co. Bound By CBA Pre-Ratification, AFL-CIO Says

    The National Labor Relations Board correctly ordered a Cincinnati painting contractor to comply with a union contract despite its claims it had withdrawn from the employer association involved before union members ratified the pact, the AFL-CIO argued, urging the agency to stick by its decision after an appeal.

  • June 26, 2024

    Telecom Co.'s Severance Pacts Are Illegal, NLRB Judge Says

    A retail telecommunications company violated federal labor law by having severance agreements with overly broad provisions that bar employees from making negative comments about the business or discussing the accords, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • A Look At Global Employee Disconnect Laws For US Counsel

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    As countries worldwide adopt employee right to disconnect laws, U.S. in-house counsel at corporations with a global workforce must develop a comprehensive understanding of the laws' legal and cultural implications, ensuring their companies can safeguard employee welfare while maintaining legal compliance, say Emma Corcoran and Ute Krudewagen at DLA Piper.

  • Employers Beware Of NLRB Changes On Bad Faith Bargaining

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    Recent National Labor Relations Board decisions show a trend of the agency imposing harsher remedies on employers for bad faith bargaining over union contracts, a position upheld in the Ninth Circuit's recent NLRB v. Grill Concepts Services decision, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • What A Post-Chevron Landscape Could Mean For Labor Law

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Chevron deference expected by the end of June, it’s not too soon to consider how National Labor Relations Act interpretations could be affected if federal courts no longer defer to administrative agencies’ statutory interpretation and regulatory actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Eye On Compliance: Employee Social Media Privacy In NY

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    A New York law that recently took effect restricts employers' ability to access the personal social media accounts of employees and job applicants, signifying an increasing awareness of the need to balance employers' interests with worker privacy and free speech rights, says Madjeen Garcon-Bonneau at Wilson Elser.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • What The NIL Negotiation Rules Injunction Means For NCAA

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    A Tennessee federal court's recent preliminary injunction reverses several prominent and well-established NCAA rules on negotiations with student-athletes over name, image and likeness compensation and shows that collegiate athletics is a profoundly unsettled legal environment, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Takeaways From NLRB Advice On 'Outside' Employment

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    Rebecca Leaf at Miles & Stockbridge examines a recent memo from the National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice that said it’s unlawful for employers to restrict secondary or outside employment, and explains what companies should know about the use of certain restrictive covenants going forward.

  • Shaping Speech Policies After NLRB's BLM Protest Ruling

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    After the National Labor Relations Board decided last month that a Home Depot employee was protected by federal labor law when they wore a Black Lives Matter slogan on their apron, employers should consider four questions in order to mitigate legal risks associated with workplace political speech policies, say Louis Cannon and Cassandra Horton at Baker Donelson.

  • 2026 World Cup: Companies Face Labor Challenges And More

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    Companies sponsoring or otherwise involved with the 2026 FIFA World Cup — hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico — should be proactive in preparing to navigate many legal considerations in immigration, labor management and multijurisdictional workforces surrounding the event, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Eye On Compliance: Workplace March Madness Pools

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    With March Madness set to begin in a few weeks, employers should recognize that workplace sports betting is technically illegal, keeping federal and state gambling laws in mind when determining whether they will permit ever-popular bracket pools, says Laura Stutz at Wilson Elser.

  • There Is No NCAA Supremacy Clause, Especially For NIL

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    A recent Tennessee federal court ruling illustrates the NCAA's problematic position that its member schools should violate state law rather than its rules — and the organization's legal history with the dormant commerce clause raises a fundamental constitutional issue that will have to be resolved before attorneys can navigate NIL with confidence, says Patrick O’Donnell at HWG.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Workplace AI Risks

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools penetrate workplaces, employers should incorporate sound AI policies and procedures in their handbooks in order to mitigate liability risks, maintain control of the technology, and protect their brands, says Laura Corvo at White and Williams.

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