Labor

  • May 19, 2025

    Employers Expect NLRB GC Memo To Ease Settlement Talks

    Acting National Labor Relations Board general counsel William Cowen has loosened requirements for board officials to approve settlements of unfair labor practice allegations, reversing course from his predecessor's approach in a memo that experts said will likely ease deal negotiations.

  • May 19, 2025

    Symphony Tells 11th Circ. NLRB's Impasse Order Can't Stand

    The Eleventh Circuit must not defer to the National Labor Relations Board's credibility conclusions in finding that a Florida symphony wasn't at an impasse when it implemented a final bargaining offer, the symphony contended, saying the board wrongly disregarded an agency judge's determinations about the facts.

  • May 19, 2025

    NLRB Attys Drop Push For Change In Disclosure Standard

    National Labor Relations Board prosecutors no longer have a Trump-era ruling on employers' disclosure responsibilities in their crosshairs, telling the board Monday that they're no longer seeking reconsideration of its 2019 decision in Arlington Metals Corp.

  • May 19, 2025

    Feds Say Unions' Downsizing Suit Should Be Tossed

    The Trump administration urged a federal judge in D.C. to toss a lawsuit challenging three federal downsizing initiatives, arguing that the claims brought by labor unions representing federal employees belong before the agency charged with adjudicating such disputes.

  • May 19, 2025

    Taxpayer Data Increasingly At Risk From DOGE, Court Told

    A group of unions and advocacy organizations trying to block the White House's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing confidential taxpayer data told a D.C. federal court they fear the data is already being shared with federal agencies beyond the IRS.

  • May 19, 2025

    Electric, Nuclear Valve Co. Escape Pension Dispute

    A federally owned electric company and a contractor were not required to make pension fund contributions to a plumbers and steamfitters union because the contracted valve work was an exempt specialty contract, a Tennessee federal judge ruled in a lawsuit Monday.

  • May 19, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Family's Win In Suit Over Denied Benefits

    The Ninth Circuit declined to upend a guild member's win in his lawsuit challenging his healthcare plan's decision to deny coverage for his son's mental health treatments, but said a lower court was wrong to award the family additional damages on their breach of fiduciary duty claim.

  • May 19, 2025

    Split DC Circ. Pauses Halt On Trump's Union Rights Order

    A divided D.C. Circuit panel greenlighted President Donald Trump's request to pause a lower court decision that blocked the implementation of an executive order aimed at ending collective bargaining rights for federal employees, concluding the injunction ruling "ties the government's hands."

  • May 16, 2025

    DC Circ. Judges Skeptical Of Blockade On CFPB Mass Layoffs

    A D.C. Circuit panel majority Friday sounded inclined to lift lower court restrictions on what the Trump administration contends is its lawful push to "radically downsize" the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, potentially clearing the way for mass layoffs of its staff.

  • May 16, 2025

    NJ Transit Calls Unions' Refusal To Cross Picket Line Unlawful

    NJ Transit has hit two unions with lawsuits in New Jersey federal court over a rail strike that began Friday, accusing a Teamsters unit and the American Train Dispatchers Association of violating the Railway Labor Act by refusing to cross another Teamsters unit's picket line.

  • May 16, 2025

    Trump Calls On Justices To Stay Block Of Gov't Restructuring

    President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to pause a California federal judge's order temporarily halting agencies from implementing an executive order to plan reorganizations and reductions in force, claiming the lower court's decision has caused confusion and wasted taxpayer dollars.

  • May 16, 2025

    Network Owed Union More After IRS Alert, NLRB Judge Says

    A Chicagoland medical center network that serves the Hispanic community failed to sufficiently loop in its workers' union after the IRS identified potential issues with four workers' Social Security numbers, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, holding the employer responsible for a labor law violation.

  • May 16, 2025

    NLRB Acting GC Narrows Remedy Asks In Settlement Talks

    National Labor Relations Board acting general counsel William Cowen instructed regional officials on Friday to exercise more discretion over the remedies they pursue when seeking to settle cases, walking back instructions from his predecessor to seek maximum remedies in settlements.

  • May 16, 2025

    DC Circ. Probes Agency Power In Labor Firings Appeal

    A D.C. Circuit panel grappled Friday with the extent of the president's power to fire federal officials with the U.S. Supreme Court's views in flux, with two judges straining to pin the government's attorney down on what divides agencies Congress can insulate and those it can't.

  • May 16, 2025

    Trump Immigration Policy May Hinder Labor Law Enforcement

    The Trump administration's immigration policies could lead to changes in how the National Labor Relations Board investigates and prosecutes cases that involve immigrant workers, and could make it less likely that those workers participate in agency proceedings, experts said.

  • May 16, 2025

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Hears Court Interpreters Bias Case

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider an appeal of a federal judge's decision dismissing a discrimination lawsuit brought by New York court interpreters who claim they are systematically paid less than a federal benchmark because they are foreign born.  Here, Law360 looks at this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • May 16, 2025

    Co. Can't Threaten To Ax Raises Over IBEW, NLRB Judge Says

    A dishwasher equipment company violated federal labor law by threatening the elimination of a promised wage hike if workers unionized with an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled while dismissing allegations about flyer language and a threat end to profit sharing.

  • May 16, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: State Justices To Hear Arbitration Fee Dispute

    In the coming two weeks, attorneys should keep an eye out for oral arguments at the California Supreme Court regarding whether federal law preempts state statutes involving arbitration fees. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in the Golden State.

  • May 15, 2025

    Colo. Chief Sacked Firefighters Behind Union Drive, Suit Says

    Two former captains and a statewide union sued a Southwest Colorado fire district and its chief Thursday for allegedly stopping a union campaign in its tracks by retaliating against organizers, claiming the chief fired the captains after they organized a vote showing nearly three-quarters of workers backed unionization.

  • May 15, 2025

    Unions, Groups Seek Injunction To Block Gov't Restructuring

    A California federal judge must greenlight a nationwide injunction to stop multiple federal agencies from moving ahead with implementing reorganization and mass termination plans linked to an executive order, a coalition of unions and groups argued, making their request on the heels of a temporary restraining order.

  • May 15, 2025

    Kroger Worker Fights NLRA Preemption Of State Claim

    A grocery worker suing Kroger and Albertsons over an alleged no-poach agreement is pushing back on the companies' claim the litigation is preempted by federal labor law, telling the Colorado federal judge hearing the case that antitrust laws have not been displaced by labor law, especially in labor market collusion.

  • May 15, 2025

    NLRB Judge Upholds Miami Beach Hotel's Guest Contact Rule

    A Miami Beach hotel didn't violate federal labor law by banning workers from contacting hotel guests about workplace grievances, a National Labor Relations Board judge has ruled, holding that the ban is justified and does not explicitly restrict union activity.

  • May 15, 2025

    Lines Drawn As DC Circ. Takes Up Trump's Labor Firings

    The writing may be on the wall for two fired labor officials' defenses of orders restoring them to work as they make their cases Friday to three D.C. Circuit judges who have already weighed in on their joint test of the president's power to remove executive appointees.

  • May 15, 2025

    Farmworkers' Union Challenges H-2A Prevailing Wage Regs

    A farmworkers' union said that the U.S. Department of Labor's 2022 H-2A prevailing wage regulations cannot stand and could leave farmworkers without prevailing wage protections, urging a Washington federal court to grant the union a partial win.

  • May 15, 2025

    Teamsters Ask DC Circ. To Back NLRB's Bargaining Order

    A Teamsters local asked the D.C. Circuit to enforce a National Labor Relations Board decision concluding a waste transportation company illegally refused to bargain about its decision to place monitoring cameras in trucks, arguing the unilateral installation is unlawful under differing standards from the NLRB and court. 

Expert Analysis

  • 2026 World Cup: Companies Face Labor Challenges And More

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    Companies sponsoring or otherwise involved with the 2026 FIFA World Cup — hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico — should be proactive in preparing to navigate many legal considerations in immigration, labor management and multijurisdictional workforces surrounding the event, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Eye On Compliance: Workplace March Madness Pools

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    With March Madness set to begin in a few weeks, employers should recognize that workplace sports betting is technically illegal, keeping federal and state gambling laws in mind when determining whether they will permit ever-popular bracket pools, says Laura Stutz at Wilson Elser.

  • There Is No NCAA Supremacy Clause, Especially For NIL

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    A recent Tennessee federal court ruling illustrates the NCAA's problematic position that its member schools should violate state law rather than its rules — and the organization's legal history with the dormant commerce clause raises a fundamental constitutional issue that will have to be resolved before attorneys can navigate NIL with confidence, says Patrick O’Donnell at HWG.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Workplace AI Risks

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools penetrate workplaces, employers should incorporate sound AI policies and procedures in their handbooks in order to mitigate liability risks, maintain control of the technology, and protect their brands, says Laura Corvo at White and Williams.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Investigation Lessons In 'Minority Report'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper discuss how themes in Steven Spielberg's Science Fiction masterpiece "Minority Report" — including prediction, prevention and the fallibility of systems — can have real-life implications in workplace investigations.

  • NCAA's Antitrust Litigation History Offers Clues For NIL Case

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    Attorneys at Perkins Coie analyze the NCAA's long history of antitrust litigation to predict how state attorney general claims against NCAA recruiting rules surrounding name, image and likeness discussions will stand up in Tennessee federal court.

  • SAG-AFTRA Contract Is A Landmark For AI And IP Interplay

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    SAG-AFTRA's recently ratified contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers introduced a framework to safeguard performers' intellectual property rights and set the stage for future discussions on how those rights interact with artificial intelligence — which should put entertainment businesses on alert for compliance, says Evynne Grover at QBE.

  • How Dartmouth Ruling Fits In NLRB Student-Athlete Playbook

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    A groundbreaking decision from a National Labor Relations Board official on Feb. 5 — finding that Dartmouth men's basketball players are employees who can unionize — marks the latest development in the board’s push to bring student-athletes within the ambit of federal labor law, and could stimulate unionization efforts in other athletic programs, say Jennifer Cluverius and Patrick Wilson at Maynard Nexsen.

  • What's At Stake In High Court NLRB Injunction Case

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    William Baker at Wigdor examines the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to hear Starbucks v. McKinney — where it will consider a long-standing circuit split over the standard for evaluating National Labor Relations Board injunction bids — and explains why the justices’ eventual decision, either way, is unlikely to be a significant blow to labor.

  • Employer Lessons From NLRB Judge's Union Bias Ruling

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    A National Labor Relations Board judge’s recent decision that a Virginia drywall contractor unlawfully transferred and fired workers who made union pay complaints illustrates valuable lessons about how employers should respond to protected labor activity and federal labor investigations, says Kenneth Jenero at Holland & Knight.

  • Workplace Speech Policies Limit Legal And PR Risks

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    As workers increasingly speak out on controversies like the 2024 elections and the Israel-Hamas war, companies should implement practical workplace expression policies and plans to protect their brands and mitigate the risk of violating federal and state anti-discrimination and free speech laws, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Where Justices Stand On Chevron Doctrine Post-Argument

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    Following recent oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four justices appear to be in favor of overturning the long-standing Chevron deference, and three justices seem ready to uphold it, which means the ultimate decision may rest on Chief Justice John Roberts' vote, say Wayne D'Angelo and Zachary Lee at Kelley Drye.

  • Trends That Will Shape The Construction Industry In 2024

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    Though the outlook for the construction industry is mixed, it is clear that 2024 will bring evolving changes aimed at building projects more safely and efficiently under difficult circumstances, and stakeholders would be wise to prepare for the challenges and opportunities these trends will bring, say Josephine Bahn and Jeffery Mullen at Cozen O'Connor.

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