Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") equips the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB" or “Board”) with a powerful tool to address supposed unfair labor practices during the pendency of a Board unfair...more
6/14/2024
/ Federal Labor Laws ,
Media ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Starbucks ,
Starbucks Corp. v McKinney ,
Termination ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) grants employees the right to unionize, engage in activities to advance their common interests, and abstain from these activities. From time to time, employers establish...more
Title VII requires an employer to reasonably accommodate an employee's religious beliefs and practices unless doing so would cause an "undue hardship." SCOTUS delimited the boundaries of "undue hardship" in this context some...more
6/30/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
The False Claims Act ("FCA") imposes liability on anyone who "knowingly" makes a false claim to the Federal Government. This includes making false claims for reimbursement from the government under federal programs. As part...more
6/8/2023
/ Drug Pricing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Employees ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Qui Tam ,
SCOTUS ,
US ex rel Thomas Proctor v Safeway Inc ,
US ex rel Tracy Schutte et al v SuperValu Inc et al ,
Whistleblowers
Several courts have held that an employer violates the ADA simply by refusing to provide a reasonable accommodation regardless of whether the refusal adversely affects the employee. Put another way, these courts hold that the...more
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a decision that is highly critical of the NLRB, yet its end result promises significant mischief when it comes to employment litigation. International Brotherhood of...more
On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had entered into consent decrees with three companies, requiring them to completely scrap their long-standing non-compete agreements with their employees. The FTC...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a blockbuster school prayer decision Monday in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. The case involved a public high school football coach who was fired for praying on the field after each game,...more
In the public and private sectors, employers regularly include “paid union release time” within their bargaining agreements. With this practice, an employer pays certain employees their regular wages to perform services...more
Today Amazon won a major victory in a union organizing campaign involving one of its Alabama facilities. Pundits have talked up this campaign for months and months, many suggesting that it would serve as a bellwether for a...more
Thursday the EEOC took the extraordinary step of limiting its own jurisdiction. Section 707 of Title VII empowers the EEOC to bring “pattern and practice” lawsuits to challenge an employer’s “resistance” to the rights...more
This week the NLRB issued a blockbuster decision addressing employees’ abusive and foul language in the workplace. General Motors LLC, 369 NLRB No. 127 (2020). In the past, the Board has given many employees a free pass when...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an employer may use after-acquired evidence to demonstrate that an employee is not qualified and therefore is not entitled to ADA protection. Anthony v. TRAX International...more
Today the U.S. Supreme Court raised the bar on a wide-ranging Civil War Era statute that prohibits discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts. Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African-American Owned...more
In a case with a truly byzantine court history, Texas v. EEOC, Texas has once again prevailed in striking down the EEOC’s “guidance” on employer use of arrest and conviction records.
Way back in 2012, the EEOC issued...more
Over thirty-five years ago, the NLRB held that an employer may not prohibit a union organizer’s access to an employer’s privately owned, but publicly accessible areas, such as an employer’s public restaurant or cafeteria,...more
The EEOC settled a lawsuit challenging its issuance of some 54 “Right to Sue” notices involving BNSF Railway. Law 360 reports that the case settled when the EEOC agreed to set aside the Right to Sue notices.
BNSF sued the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that a plaintiff’s failure to properly perfect an EEOC charge is a “prudential” defense to a Title VII claim, which may be waived by the employer’s failure to promptly raise the defense in...more
6/5/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Amended Complaints ,
Appeals ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Forfeiture ,
Fort Bend County Texas v Davis ,
Jurisdictional Requirements ,
Mandatory Claim-Processing Rules ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Title VII ,
Waiver Rule ,
Wrongful Termination
Plaintiffs’ attorneys in Texas have come up with a not-so-clever, but potentially effective way to circumvent mandatory arbitration agreements. In Adcock v. Five Star Rentals/Sales, Inc., (Fourth Court of Appeals, Texas,...more
In yet another pro-arbitration, employer-friendly decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning that an individual cannot pursue claims in arbitration on behalf of a class unless the arbitration clause involved clearly...more
4/25/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Arbitration ,
Consent ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Motion to Compel ,
Preemption ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS
“So, two guys walk into a bathroom…” No, seriously, this case is about two co-workers who walked into a bathroom. While in the bathroom, Employee A complained to Employee B that a former client had been dropped back in his...more
Scherer Design Group (“SDG”) sued several of its former employees for starting a competing business (while still employed), stealing trade secrets, and stealing clients. The trial court entered an injunction against the...more
This morning the Supreme Court sent a blockbuster case back to the Ninth Circuit to be reconsidered because the judge who actually wrote the Ninth Circuit’s majority decision had passed away before it issued. The plaintiff...more
Good news from the EEOC for a change! The EEOC announced that it is delaying the deadline to submit EEO-1 data until May 31, 2019. The agency blames “a partial lapse in appropriations” for its need to extend the deadline,...more
Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a large national trucking company in its attempt to enforce an arbitration agreement against one of its independent contractor truck-drivers. New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira, No....more
1/17/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motion to Compel ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Reaffirmation ,
SCOTUS