President Trump officially selected Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the empty seat on the Supreme Court bench, filling the vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Assuming she is confirmed by the Senate, Judge...more
9/28/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Collective Actions ,
Confirmation Proceedings ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Court Litigation ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Immigrants ,
Judicial Appointments ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Violence Policies ,
Trump Administration
Nearly half of all COVID-19-related workplace lawsuits that have been initiated between employees and employers were filed in the past month, according to data collected by the Fisher Phillips COVID-19 Employment Litigation...more
7/6/2020
/ Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Paid Leave ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Great news for gig economy businesses from an Illinois federal court: a judge recently ruled that Grubhub’s delivery drivers were not operating in “interstate commerce,” and therefore were not excluded from the company’s...more
4/16/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Transportation Industry
When the news broke yesterday that Uber had agreed to pay a group of drivers $20 million to settle a long-running misclassification claim, you could be forgiven for thinking that the deal sounded like a massive blow to the...more
The first-ever national misclassification case brought against Uber has now been put to bed. A federal court judge in North Carolina yesterday gave her blessing on a $1.3 million settlement wrapping up the litigation, handing...more
1/4/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Class Action ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Uber ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
Sure, the monetary portion of the settlement—$10 million to a class of approximately 400 Uber software engineers and over $2.6M in attorneys’ fees—is pretty eye-opening. But perhaps the more significant part of the settlement...more
11/16/2018
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Race Discrimination ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Software Developers ,
Uber
The Supreme Court term that wrapped up in June was one of the most exciting sessions for workplace law in recent memory, with several blockbuster decisions impacting a wide range of labor and employment law issues. From...more
10/5/2018
/ Age Discrimination ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Gender Identity ,
Independent Contractors ,
Public Sector ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour
On the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year in Epic Systems Corporation v. Lewis, which held that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) does not bar class or collective action waivers in arbitration...more
10/3/2018
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Back Pay ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Compel ,
NLRA ,
Savings Clause ,
Wage and Hour
It was just a matter of time. After the Supreme Court cleared the way for businesses to use class waivers with their employees and contractors with the Epic Systems ruling this past May, many observers expected that the...more
9/26/2018
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
Ridesharing ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
9/17/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Background Checks ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Collective Action Waivers ,
Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Failed Legislation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Baker ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) ,
Licenses ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OFCCP ,
Opinion Letter ,
Opioid ,
Over-Time ,
Pay Gap ,
Pending Legislation ,
Portable Benefits ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Ridesharing ,
Right to Work ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Union Dues ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Injury
When the Supreme Court decided this May that businesses were permitted to enter into class waiver agreements with employees and contractors, forcing them into individual arbitration proceedings over workplace disputes rather...more
You remember the game-changing, earth-shattering, monumental decision from the California Supreme Court a few months ago that fundamentally changes the test to determine whether your workers are independent contractors or...more
7/20/2018
/ ABC Test ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Retroactive Application ,
Wage and Hour
The ink on the Dynamex court decision is barely dry, but plaintiffs’ attorneys are not wasting any time in taking advantage of the new misclassification standard established for California businesses. In a pair of lawsuits...more
5/11/2018
/ ABC Test ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has lowered the bar when it comes to the type of evidence plaintiffs need to present in order to have their claims certified as a class action. The federal appeals court panel ruled that...more
In another victory for gig economy companies reliant upon the independent contractor business model, a Pennsylvania federal court ruled on April 11th that a collection of UberBLACK drivers were properly classified as...more
4/13/2018
/ Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Ridesharing ,
Right to Control ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
We knew we hadn’t heard the end of this case, but yesterday it’s official: the worker who lost what is believed to be the nation’s first-ever gig economy misclassification trial last month has filed an appeal with the 9th...more
In what is believed to be the first time in our nation’s history that a trial court has reached a judicial merits determination in a gig economy misclassification case, a federal judge in California ruled in favor of the...more
2/9/2018
/ Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employees ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Right to Control
The first few days of 2018 might not be going to plan for those gig economy businesses hoping that the new year might bring some relief in the seemingly never-ending misclassification struggle. As we sit on pins and needles...more
The parties in the Grubhub misclassification case are back in court on Monday, October 30, delivering their final closing arguments to the judge. We’ve written about the trial extensively. To sum it up, though: a former...more
10/27/2017
/ Class Action ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Mobile Apps ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Payment Systems ,
Right to Control ,
Skilled Laborers ,
Supervision ,
Unconscionable Contracts
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently placed a temporary halt on the ongoing misclassification litigation against Uber, pointing out that it would make sense to wait for a key Supreme Court decision before proceeding...more
10/10/2017
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employment Litigation ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Oral Argument ,
Ridesharing ,
Uber
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. The law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, and September 2017 was no different. In order to make sure that you stay on top of the latest...more
10/7/2017
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
DACA ,
Dear Colleague Letter ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Equal Pay ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
First Amendment ,
Gig Economy ,
Google ,
GrubHub ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Janus v AFSCME ,
Misclassification ,
Obama Administration ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Public Sector Unions ,
Rescission ,
SCOTUS ,
Secretary of Labor ,
Sexual Assault ,
Shop Fee Arrangements ,
Title IX ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
White-Collar Exemptions
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017. August was no...more
9/9/2017
/ Affirmative Action ,
Appeals ,
Audio Recording ,
Class Action ,
Classification ,
College Admissions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gig Economy ,
Green Cards ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Hurricane Harvey ,
Identity Theft ,
Independent Contractors ,
NLRB ,
On-Demand Services ,
Online Platforms ,
Over-Time ,
Pay Data ,
Popular ,
Standing ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions ,
Vetting ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wellness Programs
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017. July was no different,...more
8/2/2017
/ Ashley Madison ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Electronic Records ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Form I-9 ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Joint Employers ,
Local Ordinance ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Misclassification ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Disability Leave Law ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
San Francisco ,
Settlement ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Uber ,
Updated Forms
A federal court judge in North Carolina last week granted permission to a group of Uber drivers challenging the company’s classification structure to band together and proceed with a class action lawsuit against the...more
7/19/2017
/ Class Action ,
Conditional Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour
Gig employers returning from the Fourth of July holiday were in for a rude awakening when they learned about the fireworks that just went down in a California federal court. Right before the holiday weekend, Judge Jacqueline...more