Insights on Labor, Employment & OSHA

Should you choose federal litigation or arbitration? In arbitration, parties to a dispute agree to submit the dispute for a decision to a neutral third party who is not a public official. Advantages include limited discovery while disadvantages include narrower grounds for appeal.

On December 30, 2014, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R), signed Public Law 414 into law, which excludes college athletes from the definition of “public employees” who are entitled to collectively bargain in Michigan.

On December 15, 2014, a divided National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) published its controversial Final Rule on Representation-Case Procedures (the Rule).

In order to prevent employee theft, some employers — particularly in the retail arena — require their employees to undergo security screenings before leaving the employer’s facilities.

in a radical departure from settled National Labor Relations Board (the Board or NLRB) precedent, a sharply divided NLRB ruled in a 3-2 decision that a policy limiting the use of an employee’s work email to work-only purposes violated the National Labor Relations Act (the Act or NLRA).

The Chicago City Council, by a vote of 44-5, approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to boost Chicago’s minimum wage to $13 per hour by mid-2019.

On November 25, 2014, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the controversial “Retail Workers Bill of Rights.”

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a decision of the Administrative Review Board of the Department of Labor, which had determined that a company’s disclosure of the identity of an SEC whistleblower.

The D.C. Court of Appeals, the District of Columbia’s highest court, recently vacated and remanded a trial court’s decision granting judgment as a matter of law to the District after the trial court concluded that the Plaintiff had failed to present a prima facie case of retaliation.

In January 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) decided arbitration clauses in employment contracts that require individual arbitration, rather than class-wide or collective actions, violate Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (the NLRA or Act).

A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) administrative law judge (ALJ) found that two employees of a nonprofit youth center engaged in concerted activity when they discussed their workplace concerns via Facebook.

In this episode of Fashion Counsel, Partner Anthony Lupo talks with Labor & Employment Practice Leader Michael Stevens about how fashion companies should handle unpaid internships in a litigious environment.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a lower court’s conclusion that a doctor in a service corporation was actually an employer, and thus could not bring a claim under federal discrimination statutes based upon her termination.

In the City’s motion for summary judgment, it argued that Stragapede was not disabled under the ADA and that the City did not consider him to be disabled.

On October 1, 2014, at the President’s directive, the Department of Labor promulgated the final rule raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers.

Court Holds That Document Reviewers “Practiced Law” for Purposes of the FLSA

Following a trend, including a recent amendment in New York City reported here, on September 10, 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed legislation into law that will require most California employers to provide up to three paid sick days per year for employees.

The California Supreme Court has become the most recent legal body to weigh in on the issue of franchisor liability for franchisee employment actions.

Two major department stores — Macy’s and Barneys — recently settled racial profiling investigations lodged against them by the New York State Attorney General.

On August 11, 2014, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) signed “ban the box” legislation, making New Jersey the 13th state to adopt such a law.

Washington, DC

In a landmark ruling for college athletes, US District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) cannot stop players from selling the rights to their names, images, and likenesses to the schools that they attend.

On July 29, 2014, the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board), Richard Griffin, authorized NLRB Regional Directors to file unfair labor practice complaints against McDonald’s as an alleged “joint employer” alongside its local franchisees.

A 2014 bill protects NY unpaid interns from discrimination based on age, race, creed, color, origin, orientation, or military/domestic violence victim status.

On July 21, 2014, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order (the Order) prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity by federal contractors and agencies.