Executive Summary: The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that a whistleblower under the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) is not required to prove the employer acted with retaliatory intent to prevail on a whistleblower claim....more
2/12/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Murray v UBS Securities LLC ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
UBS ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
Executive Summary: The Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) has recently proposed a potentially costly rule requiring repair stations located outside the United States to implement programs for drug and alcohol testing of...more
12/15/2023
/ Aviation Industry ,
Drug Testing ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
NPRM ,
Operation & Maintenance ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform
Executive Summary: Recently, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) issued a press release detailing an increase in labor activity this year. Compared to this time last year, the Board has seen an...more
Executive Summary: On April 11, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo (“Abruzzo”) filed a brief in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, petitioning the Board to...more
4/19/2022
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Good Faith ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Secret Ballot ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
Executive Summary: In September 2020, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden promised organized labor that, if elected, he would be the “strongest labor president you’ve ever had.” ...more
7/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Rights ,
Federal Funding ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infrastructure ,
Job Creation ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
Transportation Corridor ,
Unions
Executive Summary:
On March 30, 2021, Governor Ralph Northam signed into law the Virginia Overtime Wage Act (VOWA), creating new wage and hour requirements for Virginia employers. Set to take effect July 1, 2021, the...more
While the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Bernstein v. Virgin America, Inc., et al., ___ F.3d ____, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 5197 (9th Cir. Feb. 23, 2021), gave some wins to the airlines, air carriers employing...more
3/15/2021
/ Airline Employees ,
Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Class Action ,
Delta Airlines ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Non-Residents ,
Over-Time ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
United Airlines ,
Wage and Hour
On January 13, 2021, the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board (VSHCB) approved a measure implementing permanent workplace safety measures in response to COVID-19....more
Executive Summary: On July 22, 2020, in a response to an increase in reported coronavirus cases in the area, the District of Columbia expanded mask requirements in a Mayoral Order that takes immediate effect....more
Executive Summary: On July 21, 2020, in a unanimous decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) modified the standard for determining whether employees have been lawfully disciplined or discharged...more
Executive Summary: In what Virginia Governor Ralph Northam described as a response to an “absence of federal guidelines,” Virginia became the first state in the U.S. to establish and implement emergency workplace safety...more
7/17/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Notice Requirements ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Distancing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety
Executive Summary: The Virginia General Assembly took a number of employee-favorable actions in its 2020 Session and its Reconvened Session in April 2020, which will require employers to revise their employment policies and...more
In an effort to stem the tide of increasing COVID-19 cases in the District of Columbia, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Tuesday March 24, 2020, that she is ordering all non-essential business within the city to close their...more
Summary: On March 23, 2020, the Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order Fifty-Three, which orders the closure of certain non-essential businesses, bans all gatherings of more than 10 people, and closes all K-12...more
On March 12, 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO 20003) that provides interim health guidance for Air Carriers and Crew Members regarding COVID-19. ...more
On October 11, 2019, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled that Washington state’s paid sick leave law does not violate the Constitution or federal preemption law, thereby...more
10/18/2019
/ AFL-CIO ,
Airline Deregulation Act ,
Airline Employees ,
Aviation Industry ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Dormant Commerce Clause ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Regulations ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Preemption ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
On September 10, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Opinion Letter, FMLA2019-3-A, reinforcing the DOL’s position set out in an earlier opinion letter that “an employer is...more
In a 3-1 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) reversed long-held Board precedent regarding when unionized employers may unilaterally change a term or condition of employment without violating the...more
9/13/2019
/ Bargaining Units ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unilateral Modification ,
Unions
The United States Supreme Court recently denied petitions to consider two U.S. Court of Appeals decisions adversely affecting the airline industry. On June 24, 2019, the Justices declined to review a Seventh Circuit ruling...more
As previously reported, the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) setting forth a proposal to amend its rules regarding the decertification of labor unions under the Railway Labor...more
On January 31, 2019, the National Mediation Board (NMB) published a proposed rule and request for comments to amend its regulations to provide for decertification of labor unions. The NMB’s stated goal is to provide a “more...more
On October 1, 2018, a new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) policy went into effect that allows commercial pilots who are first-time violators of certain drug and alcohol testing provisions the opportunity for prompt...more
As of July 1, 2018, the City of Chicago, as owner and operator of Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport (the “Airports”), will require that certain users of the Airports enter into a...more
The Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a flurry of announcements to close out 2017. In addition to recapping several previous publications, the FAA released a new Advisory...more
On November 13, 2017, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that it is amending its drug-testing program to require testing for synthetic opioids. The new DOT regulations now harmonize with the Department of Health...more