union picket signs

HHS Says It Cut Union Ties, Unbeknownst To The Unions

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it's joined the list of federal agencies to cut ties with the unions representing its workers, although those unions said Friday they haven't been informed of any such rebuke.

Symbol of law and justice with California State Flag

Calif. Justices Say Wage Law Ignorance Prompts Damages

California employers need to show they took reasonable steps to comply with minimum wage laws to support a good faith defense against liquidated damages, the California Supreme Court ruled, flipping a state appellate court decision.

9th Circ. Weighs Religious Bias Suit In LGBTQ+ Post Firings

An attorney for two Christian flight attendants who say they were illegally fired by Alaska Airlines and abandoned by their labor union for opposing the airline's support for LGBTQ+ rights urged the Ninth Circuit Friday to revive their case, saying it is clear from the record that they were fired for their religious beliefs. 

Expert Analysis

Calif. Arbitration Fee Ruling Gives Employers Slight Leeway

Graham Lambert and Rochelle Calderon

The California Supreme Court's decision in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County offers a narrow life... (more story)

Mitigating Employer Liability Risk Under Sex Assault Rule

Ashley Lynam, Jacob Sand and Tamara Adams

The American Law Institute's newly approved rule expands vicarious liability to employers for certain sexual assau... (more story)

3rd Circ. FMLA Suit Revival Offers Notice Rule Lessons

Fiona Ong and Leah Shepherd

In Walker v. SEPTA, the Third Circuit reinstated a former Philadelphia bus driver's Family and Medical Leave Act l... (more story)

Labor More

VA Details Shift Of Millions In Funds After Ending Union Pacts

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Friday that the agency is redirecting nearly $45 million in funds after its ax of collective bargaining agreements earlier this month, claiming taxpayer dollar... (more story)

Boeing Fights Disability Bias Suit Over Ratification Bonus

A Washington state court should toss allegations that Boeing violated anti-discrimination law by excluding workers on long-term disability leave from a $12,000 contract ratification bonus, the aerospace giant ... (more story)

A green and orange rail car on the tracks in the background has the letters BNSF on the side. A police officer and rail worker walk past the rail car in the foreground.
BNSF Says Job Dispute With Teamsters Belongs In Arbitration

An arbitrator should resolve a Teamsters unit's dispute with BNSF Railway over work assignments before an Illinois federal judge gets involved, the railway said, asking the judge to toss the union's lawsuit so... (more story)

White Worker Fights Verizon's Dispute Of Judge's Bias Report

Verizon's challenge to a federal magistrate judge's report about a fired white employee's race bias allegation incorrectly characterizes the court's analysis, the worker argued, defending the judge's recommend... (more story)

Calif. Forecast: X Wants WARN Act Trial Away From Jury

In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for a hearing on whether a trial in a WARN Act suit against X Corp. Inc. will be by jury or by court. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employm... (more story)

NY Forecast: Judge Weighs Police Officer's Retaliation Suit

This week, a New York federal judge will consider competing motions for wins before trial in a suit brought by a former police officer for a New York town who claims it has violated a settlement agreement and ... (more story)

John Deere Dinged For Withholding Emails From UAW Local

John Deere violated federal labor law by withholding emails about a worker's discipline from a United Auto Workers local, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Thursday, saying the company can't deny th... (more story)

Discrimination More

Housing Supervisor Rebuts Ex-Employee's Retaliation Claim

A former supervisor at the public housing authority in Charlotte, North Carolina, facing accusations of retaliation and creating a hostile work environment told jurors Friday that she never singled out a coord... (more story)

Trump Admin To Appeal Susman Godfrey Exec Order Ruling

The Trump administration announced Friday its intention to appeal a June ruling that struck down as unconstitutional an executive order targeting Susman Godfrey LLP, after the court said the order was issued i... (more story)

Book bearing the title "Americans with Disabilities Act" standing beside a judicial gavel and before stacks of other books
Worker Not Qualified For ADA Protection, 5th Circ. Says

The Fifth Circuit declined Friday to revive an ex-worker's disability bias suit claiming a building products manufacturer wouldn't give her sedentary work to accommodate her diabetes-related complications befo... (more story)

EEOC Seeks To Pry Loose Info In Native American Bias Probe

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Friday that it asked a New Mexico federal judge to enforce subpoenas seeking testimony from school administrators in a workplace investigation into Native ... (more story)

Ex-Calif. Judge Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Court Staffer

A former California Superior Court judge has been charged with sexually assaulting a court employee and seeking to cover up that purported incident and another alleged assault, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

Pa. Court Revives Fired County Worker's Whistleblower Claim

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday sent back a dispute to a lower court over a fired county employee's whistleblower allegation tied to her reporting that a union representative secretly taped meetings, ... (more story)

6th Circ. Reinstates Fired USPS Worker's Medical Leave Suit

The Sixth Circuit on Thursday told a lower court to reassess a fired USPS employee's medical leave suit alleging the agency illegally faulted him for sickle cell anemia-related absences, saying the trial judge... (more story)

Wage & Hour More

Shopify, Sales Workers End Commission, OT Suit

A California federal judge agreed to conclude a suit accusing e-commerce company Shopify of a slew of California Labor Code violations, including misclassifying sales employees as overtime-exempt and having an... (more story)

American Airlines Knocks Out Class Cert. In Military Leave Suit

A Pennsylvania federal judge has granted American Airlines' bid to revoke class certification in a suit alleging the airline unlawfully denied pilots pay and profit-sharing credit for time spent on military le... (more story)

Facade of restaurant in red and white letters on a yellow background, with a palm tree next to the building
Golden Corral Restaurant Workers See Wage Suit Trimmed

A Virginia federal judge handed down a mixed ruling in a suit accusing several Golden Corral franchises and their owner of cheating restaurant employees out of wages, narrowing their claims under federal law a... (more story)

Minor Leaguers Ask Justices To Kill MLB Antitrust Exemption

Former players accusing Major League Baseball and its teams of colluding to pay minor leaguers "poverty level" wages are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case and overturn baseball's century-old ex... (more story)

Steakhouse Again Asks To Decertify Class In Conn. Wage Suit

A Connecticut state court's findings that a steakhouse at the Foxwoods Resort Casino was not liable for untipped work should have dismantled a class of tipped servers claiming unpaid wages, the steakhouse argued.

Guards Say DHS Contractor Can't Escape Wage Suit

Employees of a contractor providing security at a U.S. Department of Homeland Security campus told a D.C. federal judge the company can't use a union agreement to escape allegations it's violating the district... (more story)

Sales Exec Can't Recover Incentives Post-Resignation

A software developer does not owe a former employee $60,000 in incentives she accused it of failing to pay her after she resigned, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled, finding the amount was not considered par... (more story)