Labor

  • May 30, 2025

    Liquor Sellers Can't Unionize Separately, NLRB Officer Says

    A union can't seek to represent liquor sales employees in St. Louis, an acting National Labor Relations Board regional director concluded, finding workers in the proposed bargaining unit have similar employment terms to those at the alcohol distributor's other facilities in Missouri.

  • May 30, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: State Justices Weigh Good-Faith Wage Args

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for California Supreme Court oral arguments regarding what an employer must show for a good faith defense in a wage case. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in the Golden State.

  • May 30, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge Weighs Jury Trial Demand In Layoffs Suit

    This week, a New York federal judge will hear arguments over whether a class of former workers at a Four Seasons hotel can withdraw their request for a jury trial in their suit claiming the hotel did not provide required notices before laying them off.

  • May 30, 2025

    3rd Circ. Preview: Tribal Immunity Limits On Deck For June

    The Third Circuit's June argument lineup will find a finance company fighting a proposed class action over allegedly predatory payday loan fees because of its tribal ties, while a plumbing company argues that it does not have to arbitrate a union grievance.

  • May 29, 2025

    Stellantis, UAW Accused Of Sex Discrimination In $1M Suit

    A Michigan woman is seeking at least $1 million in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Michigan federal court against the U.S. subsidiary of Dutch automaker Stellantis and the United Auto Workers on allegations she was replaced as a team leader by less experienced male colleagues and that the union would not represent her — both due to her gender.

  • May 29, 2025

    Teamsters Say Ex-United Tech Can't Pursue Grievance Himself

    The International Brotherhood of Teamsters asked a New York federal judge to toss a former United Airlines technician's lawsuit seeking to force arbitration of a grievance over his firing, saying federal labor law does not give individual employees the right to arbitrate grievances over their union's objection.

  • May 29, 2025

    OPM Memos Push Changes In Federal Hiring Based on 'Merit'

    The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday issued two memos outlining plans for hiring federal workers based on merit, following President Donald Trump's executive orders declaring that the federal hiring system focuses too much on anti-discrimination and not enough on employees willing to serve the executive branch.

  • May 29, 2025

    OPM Injunction Looms For DOGE Chaos, As Court Floats Deal

    A Manhattan federal judge hinted she may grant an injunction against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management related to what she called a "rushed, indeed chaotic, grant of access" to sensitive information for agents of the Department of Government Efficiency, before urging the government to hammer out a deal with the union plaintiffs.

  • May 29, 2025

    Union's AI Vader Charge Offers Reminder Of Looming Risks

    A recent National Labor Relations Board charge challenging a production company's use of artificial intelligence to voice Darth Vader in a video game underscores the many emerging risks for workers and employers lurking around the use of AI.

  • May 29, 2025

    Ore. Pot Regulator Will No Longer Require Labor Peace Pacts

    Oregon's cannabis regulator said Thursday that it would no longer enforce a voter-approved law requiring cannabis businesses to enter into labor peace agreements with their employees, following a federal judge's ruling that the law was preempted by federal policy.

  • May 29, 2025

    NYC Homeless Nonprofit Fights NLRB GC's Bargain Order Bid

    A nonprofit in New York City that operates youth homeless shelters told a federal judge to block National Labor Relations Board prosecutors' bid for an "intrusive" bargaining order, arguing the court should not consider the injunction petition based solely on evidence from the unfair labor practice proceeding.

  • May 29, 2025

    Mass. Justices Revive Atty's Suit Against 'Spiteful' Colleagues

    Massachusetts' highest court Thursday revived part of a lawsuit brought by a former appellate court staff attorney who said he was intentionally undermined by supervisors, finding that he had made a reasonable showing that two of the three original defendants had demonstrated actual malice toward him.

  • May 29, 2025

    Split 5th Circ. OKs Acting NLRB GC's Drop Of Teamsters Case

    A divided Fifth Circuit panel again blessed the National Labor Relations Board's order that supported a former acting general counsel's withdrawal of an unfair labor practice complaint against two Teamsters locals, analyzing the dispute on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • May 29, 2025

    Senate Committee Sets June Hearing For Trump's EBSA Pick

    The Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing in early June on President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, according to a news release Thursday. 

  • May 28, 2025

    Kevin Costner Sued By Stuntwoman Over Ad Hoc Rape Scene

    Kevin Costner and the producers of the American West film series "Horizon" were sued in California state court by a stunt double who alleged she had to perform an impromptu, unscripted violent rape scene without an intimacy coordinator on set and other protocols under the actors' union contract.

  • May 28, 2025

    Ore. Labor Peace Decision Gives 'Road Map' For Challenges

    An Oregon federal judge's recent decision to block a state law requiring employers in the cannabis industry to reach labor peace agreements with unions could bolster challenges to similar laws in other states as the issue continues on a path experts expect to land at the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • May 28, 2025

    Leaders Of SEIU Local Challenge Suspension Amid Audit

    Two longtime members of a Service Employees International Union affiliate who served in leadership posts accused their union of unlawfully suspending them and imposing a gag order about their discipline, telling a Michigan federal judge that they weren't given a fair hearing.

  • May 28, 2025

    IUOE Ex-Leader Pardoned In DOL Disclosure Case, Attys Say

    President Donald Trump has pardoned a former International Union of Operating Engineers president who was facing the prospect of six months in prison for accepting free sports tickets without disclosing their value to the U.S. Department of Labor, his attorneys told a Washington, D.C., federal judge Wednesday.

  • May 28, 2025

    Starbucks Pans NLRB Threat Findings In 9th Circ. Challenge

    The National Labor Relations Board "thumb[ed] its nose" at employers' speech rights by ruling that Starbucks threatened workers and using the case to reverse precedent letting employers opine that a union would come between them and workers, the company told the Ninth Circuit.

  • May 28, 2025

    Calif. Nonprofit Lawfully Fired SEIU Backer, NLRB Judge Says

    A social services nonprofit in California was within its rights to fire an employee who supported organizing efforts with a Service Employees International Union local, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, but broke the law when it told the worker union discussions must not happen in the office.

  • May 27, 2025

    1st Circ. Axes NLRB's Northeastern Police Bargaining Order

    The First Circuit quashed a National Labor Relations Board decision ordering Northeastern University in Boston to negotiate with a union representing campus police department employees, determining the board strayed from precedent when finding sergeants are not supervisors under federal labor law.

  • May 27, 2025

    Judge Raises Eyebrow At DHS Move To Scrap TSA Union Deal

    A Washington federal judge seemed troubled by the government's February move to rip up a union deal covering Transportation Security Administration workers, but didn't tip her hand at a hearing Tuesday as to whether she thinks the American Federation of Government Employees deserves an injunction.

  • May 27, 2025

    Judge Says Kaiser, UFCW Staffing Fight Belongs In Arbitration

    A United Food and Commercial Workers local and a Colorado healthcare group affiliated with Kaiser Permanente must resolve their understaffing dispute in arbitration, a Colorado federal judge ruled Tuesday, saying the evidence presented at a six-day bench trial revealed that the fight is arbitrable.

  • May 27, 2025

    Stellantis, UAW Agree To Drop Dispute Over Colo. Strike Vote

    Stellantis and a United Auto Workers affiliate representing the company's Denver parts distribution center have agreed to drop their dispute over a December strike authorization vote, according to a joint stipulation for dismissal filed by the parties in Colorado federal court.

  • May 27, 2025

    Conn. Firefighters Say Age Bias Taints Retirement Program

    Connecticut's municipal employee pension system unlawfully barred a group of firefighters with over two decades of service from participating in a deferred retirement program because they're under 55 years old, the workers and their union claimed in a federal lawsuit.

Expert Analysis

  • A Focused Statement Can Ease Employment Mediation

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    Given the widespread use of mediation in employment cases, attorneys should take steps to craft mediation statements that efficiently assist the mediator by focusing on key issues, strengths and weaknesses of a claim, which can flag key disputes and barriers to a settlement, says Darren Rumack at Klein & Cardali.

  • 3 Areas Of Focus In Congressional Crosshairs This Year

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    Companies must prepare for Congress to build on its 2023 oversight priorities this year, continuing its vigorous inquiries into Chinese company-related investments, workplace safety and labor relations issues, and generative artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Insights On Noncompetes From 'The Office'

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    Troutman Pepper’s Tracey Diamond, Evan Gibbs, Constance Brewster and Jim Earle compare scenarios from “The Office” to the complex world of noncompetes and associated tax issues, as employers are becoming increasingly hesitant to look to noncompete provisions amid a potential federal ban.

  • 5 NLRA Changes To Make Nonunion Employers Wary In 2024

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    As the National Labor Relations Board continues pushing an aggressive pro-union agenda and a slate of strict workplace rules, nonunion employers should study significant labor law changes from 2023 to understand why National Labor Relations Act compliance will be so crucial to protecting themselves in the new year, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • NLRA Expansion May Come With Risks For Workers

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    The last few years have seen a rapid expansion of the National Labor Relations Act to increase labor law coverage in as many ways and to as many areas as possible, but this could potentially weaken rather than strengthen support for unions and worker rights in the U.S., says Daniel Johns at Cozen O’Connor.

  • What The NLRB Wants Employers To Know Post-Cemex

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    Recent guidance from the National Labor Relations Board illuminates prosecutorial goals following Cemex Construction Materials, a decision that upended decades of precedent, and includes several notable points to which employers should pay close attention, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2024

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    From technological leaps to sea changes in labor policy to literal sea changes, 2024 provides opportunities for employers to face big-picture questions that will shape their business for years to come, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • Cos. Should Be On Guard After Boom In Unfair Labor Claims

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    The National Labor Relations Board's recent expansion of protected activity and imposition of case-by-case policies led to a historic boom in unfair labor practice charges in 2023, so companies should prepare for labor complaints to increase in 2024 by conducting risk assessments and implementing compliance plans, say Daniel Schudroff and Lorien Schoenstedt at Jackson Lewis.

  • 3 Developments That Will Affect Hospitality Companies In 2024

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    As the hospitality industry continues its post-pandemic recovery, it faces both challenges and opportunities to thrive in 2024, including navigating new labor rules, developing branded residential living spaces and cautiously embracing artificial intelligence, says Lauren Stewart at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Top 10 Whistleblowing And Retaliation Events Of 2023

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and federal and state courts made 2023 another groundbreaking year for whistleblower litigation and retaliation developments, including the SEC’s massive whistleblower awards, which are likely to continue into 2024 and further incentivize individuals to submit tips, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Starbucks Raise Ruling Highlights Labor Law Catch-22

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    A National Labor Relations Board judge recently ruled that Starbucks violated federal labor law when it gave raises to nonunion employees only, demonstrating that conflicts present in workforces with both union and nonunion employees can put employers in no-win situations if they don't consider how their actions will be interpreted, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Del. Ruling Shows Tension Between 363 Sale And Labor Law

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    The Delaware federal court's ruling in the Braeburn Alloy Steel case highlights the often overlooked collision between an unstayed order authorizing an asset sale free and clear of successor liability under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code and federal labor law imposing successor liability on the buyer, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • How AI Executive Order Aims To Compete For Foreign Talent

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    Immigration provisions within the Biden administration's executive order on artificial intelligence take a strategic approach to promoting the U.S. as a destination for AI and STEM talent by streamlining visa processing, enhancing educational and exchange programs, and improving current visa programs and pathways to permanent residency, says Eric Bord at Morgan Lewis.

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