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
A delivery driver for gig economy company DoorDash has been ordered by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to take his misclassification case to a private arbitrator instead of court pursuant to a valid arbitration agreement he...more
4/30/2018
/ American Arbitration Association ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Class Certification ,
Collective Actions ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
In a landmark decision that will accelerate the growing pay equity movement, especially for employers on the west coast, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today became the latest federal court of appeals to rule that employers...more
At the forefront of mind of every gig economy company is the troublesome question of whether its workers are properly classified as independent contractors. Just search our blog for cases involving “misclassification” and...more
3/23/2018
/ 1099s ,
ABC Test ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Right to Control ,
W-2
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
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument today over a proposal that would permit ride-sharing drivers who work for companies such as Uber and Lyft to organize and form unions. Given what could be at stake—the potential...more
2/7/2018
/ Appeals ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Local Ordinance ,
Lyft ,
Oral Argument ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Ridesharing ,
State Action Doctrine ,
Uber ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
A state appellate court in Pennsylvania issued a ruling yesterday that should further aid the growth of the gig economy in the state, and if its reasoning is followed by courts in other states, could offer another helping...more
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. November was no...more
12/7/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Attorney General ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Electronic Filing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Failed Legislation ,
Fair Workweek ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Fines ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Harassment ,
Independent Contractors ,
IRS ,
Joint Employers ,
LGBTQ ,
Marijuana ,
Misclassification ,
Paid Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Salary/Wage History ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tax Penalties ,
Title VII ,
Uber ,
UK ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting
While misclassification battles over the status of gig economy workers rage here in the United States, we are by no means the only country grappling with these thorny 21st-century legal issues. On Novemeber 10th, in fact, an...more
11/13/2017
/ Appeals ,
Employee Benefits ,
Gig Economy ,
Holiday Pay ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Misclassification ,
Ridesharing ,
Uber ,
UK ,
UK Employment Appeal Tribunal
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. October was no...more
11/3/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Training ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Brown ,
GrubHub ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Rules ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Parental Leave ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restraining Orders ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
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
If you are the kind of person who gets excited by hot-button legal topics and monumental court decisions, this is the Supreme Court term for you. The SCOTUS kicked off their 2017-2018 term several days ago by hearing...more
10/7/2017
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Car Dealerships ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
First Amendment ,
Freedom of Religion ,
LGBTQ ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Public Accommodation ,
Public Sector Unions ,
Retaliation ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Service Advisors ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Shop Fee Arrangements ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Title VII ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Whistleblowers
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
Chalk this round up to the unions. In a pair of decisions issued last week, a Seattle federal judge ruled that Seattle’s January 2016 Ordinance that seeks to allow for-hire drivers to form unions and collectively bargain with...more
8/30/2017
/ Appeals ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DPPA ,
Drivers ,
First Amendment ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Local Ordinance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Ridesharing ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
Here’s some advice you probably didn’t think you needed, employers: you should avoid, at all costs, giving or threatening to give your employees the biblical Mark of the Beast. And if they think you are doing so, you should...more
6/15/2017
/ Appeals ,
Biometric Information ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Economic Damages ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Forced Retirement ,
Jury Trial ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship
In a 10-3 decision, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the nationwide injunction that had blocked President Trump’s second executive order banning certain travel into the country from taking effect. The Court...more
5/27/2017
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Establishment Clause ,
Executive Orders ,
Freedom of Religion ,
I-193 Visa Waiver ,
Immigration Reform ,
Muslims ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Popular ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration
A federal appellate court recently ruled that an employee’s request for 12 months of additional medical leave was not reasonable, and thereby upheld the dismissal of her Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuit against...more
5/26/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disability Leave ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Extensions ,
Interactive Process ,
Medical Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation
In a ruling that could leave employers fuming and possibly cursing, a federal appellate court ruled that an employee who used a public Facebook page to curse out not just his boss, but also his boss’s mother and entire...more
4/25/2017
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Facebook ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Obscenity ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Reaffirmation ,
Social Media ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Elections ,
Unions
Groundbreaking Decision Could Lead Other Federal Courts To Follow Suit -
This week, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals became the first federal court of appeals in the nation to rule that sexual orientation claims are...more
4/7/2017
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Split of Authority ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
The Texas Supreme Court recently blurred the distinctions between harassment and assault claims as they apply to employer liability under the state’s antidiscrimination statute. In considering whether a plaintiff is required...more
3/4/2017
/ Appeals ,
Commission on Human Rights ,
Damage Caps ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exclusive Remedy ,
Exhaustion Doctrine ,
Preemption ,
Reversal ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Law Tort Claims ,
TX Supreme Court ,
Vicarious Liability
Federal Appeals Court Rejects Government Bid To Reinstate Travel Ban -
After hearing an emergency oral argument late Tuesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower federal court judge and late today upheld...more
2/10/2017
/ Appeals ,
Article II ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
En Banc Review ,
Executive Orders ,
Fifth Amendment ,
First Amendment ,
Immigration and Nationality Act ,
Travel Ban ,
TRO ,
Trump Administration
In a pair of sure-to-be controversial decisions, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals created a new and troubling standard to determine whether individuals should be considered “joint employees” of multiple entities. The new...more
In a disappointing but perhaps unsurprising decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals once again ruled that service advisors employed by automobile dealerships do not qualify for the Section 13(b)(10)(A) overtime exemption...more
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a disabled worker forced to leave her position because of her physical impairment must compete for vacant jobs when seeking reassignment, handing a victory to her former employer....more