Litigation and COVID-19: How to Protect Your Business in This Time of Crisis
On April 18, 2024, a jury in Seattle, Washington, determined that a not-for-profit hospital system employer would be required to pay nearly $100 million for time clock rounding and meal period violations, raising concerns for...more
Earlier this week, the California Court of Appeal reached a decision that may ease employers’ worries when presented with a wage and hour lawsuit. California’s plaintiff-friendly laws provide avenues for plaintiffs to...more
In an announcement that expands the criteria for entry into the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Severe Violator Enforcement Program, OSHA has signaled that it is making enforcement a priority and that...more
On April 19, 2022, a California Appeals Court reversed and remanded a trial court’s grant of summary judgment in an employer’s favor, concluding there was a triable issue of material fact regarding whether a defendant had...more
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that governs employment-related background checks. Most lawsuits asserting federal claims proceed in federal court. The FCRA is atypical in that FCRA claims can proceed...more
Every employer understands the importance of actively ensuring employee safety and compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) standards, but a recent federal appeals court decision provides additional...more
On September 27, 2021, Governor Newsom signed SB 606, which creates two new categories of Cal/OSHA violations: “enterprise-wide” violations and “egregious” violations. The new law expands Cal/OSHA’s citation authority and...more
Federal labor officials just finalized a rule that broadens their ability to assess monetary fines against those business that commit wage and hour violations with regards to tip payments, a development several months in the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Whiteside v. Hover-Davis, Inc., the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of an FLSA claim because the plaintiff failed to allege facts sufficient to invoke the three-year limitations period for willful...more
The federal appeals court that has jurisdiction over New York employers recently issued a decision holding that a plaintiff must plausibly allege “willfulness” to secure the benefit of the longer three-year limitations period...more
Everybody knows that the statute of limitations for claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is two years, unless the claim is for a willful FLSA violation, in which case the statute of limitations is three years....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently became the seventh federal appellate court to hold that the standard for “willful” violations under the Family and Medical Leave Act is whether the...more
In Olson v. U.S., the Ninth Circuit upheld a district court’s ruling that found an employer’s failure to alert an employee of her FMLA rights was not willful. Let’s talk about the case and what it means for employers. ...more
The statute of limitations for bringing claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act is two years from the last alleged illegal act. However, this period is increased to three years in the event of a willful FMLA violation...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) issued its first citation against an employer for violating Washington’s Safe Start Order....more
NC-OSHA is a solid state-OSHA plan. They believe that their approach best reflect the needs of their citizens and challenged the Obama era Fed-OSHA when they felt that Fed demands were punitive and counterproductive. The...more
If the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) fines an employer for unlawfully firing workers who tried to unionize, can the employer discharge the fine in bankruptcy, or will the exception to discharge found in Bankruptcy...more
Indiana GOP lawmaker and Chamber of Commerce join forces to support a bill to require a penalty for workplace fatalities of $100,000 per employee killed. House Bill 1341, authored by GOP lawmaker Martin Carbaugh, was filed on...more
On January 25, 2019, in a closely watched case, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff need not allege or demonstrate actual harm to have standing to pursue a claim under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy...more
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently had the opportunity to remind employers not to ignore training employees on safety. Martin Mechanical Contractors, Inc. v. Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor, No. 17-12643...more
Employers found to have committed repeat or willful violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards are subject to citation penalties of 10 times those for ordinary violations, and in some cases...more
A recent decision by the Eleventh Circuit held that the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) was justified in assessing a “willful” safety violation–the agency’s most serious citation–against an HVAC...more
The FCRA is not a classic employment law, but regulates the procurement and use of background checks by employers. Before procuring a background check from a consumer reporting agency (CRA), the employer must disclose its...more
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employers pay time-and-a-half overtime to all non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek. Employers who fail to pay overtime may be liable for both the...more
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes requirements for minimum wages and overtime pay. The FLSA’s requirements can be complex, and employers can face significant liability for unpaid wages and liquidated...more