A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently issued a decision in Kuklenski v. Medtronic USA, Inc., No. 24-1310 (8th Cir. Apr. 9, 2025), finding that the definition of “employee” in...more
4/15/2025
/ Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
State Labor Laws ,
Telecommuting
Departing from a pattern of recent federal district court decisions, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the government’s application for stay pending appeal of a nationwide preliminary injunction against...more
Last week brought further developments related to the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail what it views as illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives....more
3/13/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Education ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Protection ,
Executive Orders ,
First Amendment ,
Race Discrimination ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sex Discrimination ,
State Attorneys General ,
Stays ,
Trump Administration
Reverberations from the Trump administration’s recent executive order (EO) denouncing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices intensified Friday when a federal judge in Baltimore issued a nationwide preliminary...more
2/25/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Opportunities ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Race Discrimination ,
Sex Discrimination ,
State Attorneys General ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
On September 6, 2023, Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox was appointed to the NLRB by former President Joe Biden. Her five-year term was scheduled to end in 2028.
...more
2/7/2025
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Employee Rights ,
Executive Orders ,
Labor Relations ,
Malfeasance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Removal For-Cause ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Termination ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions
Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has been making changes to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) almost every day....more
2/5/2025
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Biden Administration ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions
Two weeks after his inauguration, President Donald Trump continues to make unprecedented moves to impact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)....more
2/4/2025
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Executive Orders ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions
In a two-sentence memo, the White House rescinded the spending freeze announced with great fanfare just two days prior and which we previously reported on here. The broad scope of the directive suspended all federal financial...more
In the ongoing battle over labor policy, the Trump administration has signaled plans to abandon or at least revise its defense of two Biden-Era lawsuits and their underlying initiatives. ...more
1/29/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender Identity ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
LGBTQ ,
Title VII ,
Trump Administration
One week after his inauguration, President Donald Trump has taken additional moves to impact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)....more
On Monday, January 27, 2025, the acting head of the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) issued a memo ordering the pause of all federal financial assistance “that may be implicated” by any of President Trump’s recent...more
1/29/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Medicare ,
Nonprofits ,
OMB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Social Security ,
Trump Administration
As anticipated, immediately upon his inauguration, President Trump took swift action in the labor and employment arena. His initial appointments and Executive Orders left no doubt that his administration will make an abrupt...more
1/27/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRB ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Trump Administration
On December 12, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule updating its personal protective equipment (PPE) standard for construction workers. The new rule explicitly requires that...more
12/17/2024
/ Construction Project ,
Construction Workers ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
On Tuesday, December 10, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision that will make it more difficult for a unionized employer to make unilateral changes to working conditions. The decision, Endurance...more
On October 7, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) top prosecutor issued a memo to NLRB regional offices, solidifying the hard line her office will take on noncompete and “stay-or-pay” agreements and calling for...more
Pennsylvania’s new Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act limits the use of certain restrictive covenants between employers and health care workers and imposes heightened patient notice obligations on applicable...more
In a unanimous decision, on May 15, 2024, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the state’s amendments (Chapter 212) to the Wage Payment Law (WPL) and the Wage and Hour Law (WHL) apply prospectively, and therefore plaintiffs...more
As we previously reported, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to issue a final rule (the “Rule”) that would prevent most employers from enforcing noncompete agreements against workers, with only limited exceptions for...more
5/20/2024
/ Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to issue a final rule that would prevent most employers from enforcing noncompete agreements against workers, with only limited exceptions for existing noncompetes with senior...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants
On Monday, February 5, a Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a ruling that Dartmouth College basketball players are employees of the school, allowing them to vote on unionizing. The NLRB’s...more
2/8/2024
/ Educational Institutions ,
Employee Definition ,
Employees ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Student Athletes ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
On January 9, 2024, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule that provides revised guidance on whether a worker is properly classified as an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
1/10/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Rules ,
NLRA ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Rules ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
On August 8, 2023, the U. S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule revamping its procedures for determining prevailing wages under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (collectively, DBRA). This is the first time in...more
By December 31, 2023, health plans and insurers must submit an attestation of compliance with the “anti-gag rules” of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA). The rules apply to all agreements entered into on or...more
Last week, amid its headline-generating decisions on affirmative action, religious accommodations in the workplace, and LGBTQ rights, the Supreme Court of the United States also issued its decision in Mallory v. Norfolk...more
On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a unanimous opinion, authored by Justice Alito, in Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General, 600 U.S. ___ (2023), in which it “clarified” decades-old...more
7/3/2023
/ Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS