California Employment News: Overview of the Fast Food Minimum Wage Increase AB122
#WorkforceWednesday: The Union-Friendly Biden NLRB, California's FAST Act, and Pay Transparency in California - Employment Law This Week®
Refusing to rubber-stamp a proposed $5 million anti-poaching class action settlement, a federal court in Kentucky has directed the plaintiff to provide additional information to allow proper consideration of the factors...more
In June of 2022, McDonald’s obtained a judgment on the pleadings, ending antitrust litigation challenging the legality of the no-hire restraints it previously included in its franchise agreements. More than a year later, the...more
In Deslandes v. McDonald’s USA LLC, issued August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the dismissal of antitrust claims that challenged no-poach clauses in franchise agreements....more
An important federal appeals court has clarified a key principle of antitrust law in a way that potentially makes it more difficult for an employer to win a motion to dismiss, and thereby avoid expensive discovery, with...more
The recent growth of litigation involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has focused on firefighting foam, cosmetics cases, and industrial sites using and disposing of PFAS-containing materials. Now, emboldened by...more
On June 16, 2020, several employees at a McDonald’s franchise in Oakland, California filed a lawsuit against their employer, in a matter entitled Hernandez v. VES McDonald’s (No. RG20064825, Superior Court of California,...more
Home speaker maker Sonos has sued Google, accusing the company of “infringing on five of its patents, including technology that lets wireless speakers connect and synchronize with one another.” Sonos had originally partnered...more
On Thursday, December 12, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) ordered an administrative law judge to approve a settlement previously reached between McDonald’s, its franchisees, and workers. Although...more
In an important wage-and-hour decision for franchisors, Salazar, et al. v. the McDonald’s Corp., et al., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that employees of one of the hamburger giant’s California-based franchisees...more
On January 11, 2019, the Cancellation Division of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (“EUIPO”) rendered a surprising decision that revoked in its entirety the McDonald’s Company’s BIG MAC trademark registration,...more
Over the last 18 months, no-poach provisions in franchise agreements have drawn considerable attention from academics, state attorneys general, politicians, and the class action plaintiffs’ bar. Originally published in...more
The Journal is breaking news this morning that American Express has been raising forex prices on customers for years “without notifying customers in a bid to boost revenue and employee commissions”....more
On July 17, 2018, a National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) rejected a proposed settlement that would have concluded the closely-watched consolidated unfair labor practice case against...more
European antitrust authorities have delivered a stinging rebuke to Google in the form of a $5.1 billion penalty over its Android operating system practices. The sum displaces last year’s $2.7 billion fine, also against...more
The new General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“Labor Board”), Peter Robb, continues to reshape the agency with his vision. Consistent with his January 2018 promise to consider “settlements of any kind that...more
On March 19, 2018, McDonald’s reached a proposed settlement with the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) to resolve the outstanding litigation concerning alleged labor law violations by McDonald’s franchisees. ...more
Old-school retailer Lord & Taylor has reached a deal with WeWork to sell its landmark New York flagship store for $850 million. L&T will continue on with a greatly decreased department store footprint in the space, but the...more
Store-branded credit cards are still big business, but as the Times tells us, their contribution to companies’ bottom lines are masking bigger troubles at retailers around the US....more
Last week, the Subway restaurant chain entered into a landmark partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) aimed at improving Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) compliance among the chain's 27,000 franchisees. The DOL...more
The Office of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued 13 complaints, on December 19, 2014, against McDonald’s franchisees and their franchisor, McDonald’s USA, LLC (McDonald’s USA), involving...more
The National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) General Counsel’s Office has again signaled its commitment to expanding the scope of the current test for joint employment. In a move that could have implications for a broad...more
In This Issue: - Marriott Fined $600,000 For Wi-Fi Jamming - Franchisor Liability for Franchisee Employment Decisions: The NLRB’s General Counsel Addresses the Move to Expand the Joint-Employer Standard, and...more
In July 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) took the unexpected step of authorizing complaints against McDonald's USA, LLC and some of its franchisees for the franchisees' responses to employee protests. The Board...more
On August 28, 2014, the Supreme Court of California, in Patterson v. Domino's Pizza, LLC, decided whether a franchisor was entitled to summary judgment on the plaintiff's claims that the franchisor was vicariously liable for...more
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) General Counsel’s July 31 announcement that he will name McDonald’s U.S.A. LLC as a joint employer in dozens of unfair labor practice cases filed on behalf of employees of...more