The U.S. Supreme Court (“the Court”) today re-emphasized the “ministerial exception” to discrimination laws. The “ministerial exception” is a court-created doctrine that prevents the U.S. courts from becoming entangled in the...more
7/9/2020
/ Age Discrimination ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dismissals ,
Employment Discrimination ,
First Amendment ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Ministerial Exception ,
Ministerial Function ,
Our Lady of Guadalupe School v Morrissey-Berru ,
Religious Schools ,
Religious Workers ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
St James School v Biel ,
Teachers
The Supreme Court’s decision today on “Auer” deference leaves life in the legal trenches untouched. See Kisor v. Wilkie, No. 18-15 (S.Ct. June 26, 2019) Under Kisor, when a regulatory agency issues a rule that is really,...more
6/27/2019
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Auer Deference ,
Kisor v Wilkie ,
Reasonable Interpretations ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Stare Decisis ,
Vacated ,
Veterans' Benefits
The Supreme Court has agreed to resolve the simmering dispute between the NLRB and (essentially all) employers over class action waivers. The NLRB has maintained in a number of cases that employers may not enforce arbitration...more
1/17/2017
/ Certiorari ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Ernst & Young ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Murphy Oil USA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
SCOTUS
The Supreme Court says federal agencies may reverse their legal interpretations, without giving notice to the public of a proposed change and considering comments on the proposal. Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association, No....more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Fifth Third Bancorp et al. v. Dudenhoeffer, No. 12-751 (U.S. June 25, 2014), that no special presumption of prudence applies to the decision by ESOP fiduciaries to buy and hold stock of the...more
Prepare for DOL whistleblower litigation. The Supreme Court has ruled on the scope of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act whistleblower provision. According to SCOTUS, SOX allows any employee to bring a whistleblower complaint, so long...more
In a much-anticipated case the U.S. Supreme Court reached a decidedly unremarkable conclusion on June 10, 2013. The gist of the U.S. Supreme Court's new decision on class action arbitration agreements is old hat - courts may...more
The Supreme Court staked out a definition for "supervisor" in the context of Title VII. Vance v. Ball State Univ., No. 11-556 (June 24, 2013). Whether a person is a "supervisor" determines whether the employer can be held...more
Also on June 24, 2013, the Supreme Court addressed the standard courts should apply to determine whether an employer violates Title VII's anti-retaliation provision. Because of a statutory amendment in 1991, courts apply a...more