Labor

  • April 17, 2025

    Minn. Gig Driver Union Bills Raise Employee Status Concerns

    Labor advocates in Minnesota are pushing to give ride-hailing drivers in the state collective bargaining rights in bills modeled after a successful ballot measure in Massachusetts, despite lingering concerns from some advocates that such proposals do not do enough to address the core issue of drivers' employment status.

  • April 17, 2025

    Tenet Asks Court To Enforce Dead Arbitrator's $546K Award

    Tenet Healthcare Corp. has asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge to require the Service Employees International Union to follow an arbitrator's final order to pay $546,000 after making derogatory statements, despite the arbitrator dying before ruling on the union's post-judgment reconsideration motion.

  • April 17, 2025

    AFL-CIO, Unions Can Pursue Some DOGE Access Claims

    The AFL-CIO, unions and advocacy groups may pursue allegations that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency lacks the power to access data from the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled while tossing some claims under federal administrative and privacy law.

  • April 17, 2025

    Starbucks Dodged Union On Dress Code, NLRB Judge Says

    Starbucks violated federal labor law by punishing workers for wearing union T-shirts at a store in Jacksonville, Florida, without negotiating with their union first, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, finding the discipline wasn't in line with the company's typical dress code policy enforcement.

  • April 17, 2025

    Littler Hires 5th DC Labor Atty From Akin In 4 Months

    Littler Mendelson PC has hired another member of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP's Washington, D.C., labor team, the fifth attorney from that group to move in the past four months, who helped represent the Pac-12 college football conference alongside several former colleagues he's now rejoining.

  • April 17, 2025

    NYC Strikes Deal To End Housing Workers' OT Suit

    New York City struck a deal to resolve a housing development worker's collective action accusing it of running afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act by stiffing city employees on overtime wages, a federal court filing said.

  • April 16, 2025

    Unions Want 'Unlawful' Mediation Service Layoffs Blocked

    A coalition of unions on Wednesday asked a New York federal judge to order the Trump administration to immediately stop dismantling the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service while the unions challenge the layoffs at the agency in court, calling them "unlawful and unconstitutional."

  • April 16, 2025

    Southwest Moves Union's Sick Leave Fight To Federal Court

    Southwest Airlines has moved a union lawsuit challenging its sick leave settlement with the state of Colorado to federal court, after the union amended its complaint to add a proposed class of flight attendants also challenging the deal.

  • April 16, 2025

    NLRB Prosecutors Pull Several More Challenges To Case Law

    National Labor Relations Board prosecutors are no longer looking to overturn four employer-friendly rulings that they'd sought to ax under President Joe Biden-era general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, the prosecutors told the board Wednesday in a case that pits the agency against Starbucks.

  • April 16, 2025

    Union Denied More Time In Feds' Bid To Bless CBA Rebuke

    A Kentucky federal judge has refused to delay an approaching hearing on the U.S. Department of the Treasury's bid to nullify its workers' union contracts, despite a union's assertion that it's been given little time to prepare for a consequential case and that it has yet to be served.

  • April 16, 2025

    Orgs. Sue DOL Over Termination Of Int'l Labor Rights Projects

    Three nonprofits have filed suit in D.C. federal court to have the U.S. Department of Labor reinstate cooperative agreements aimed at supporting workers' rights programs abroad, claiming that the department, at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency, terminated the agreements based on "policy disagreement."

  • April 16, 2025

    Coalition Offers Free Legal Aid To Fired Federal Workers

    A coalition of organizations, including unions like the AFL-CIO and nonprofits like the nonpartisan legal volunteering network We the Action, has teamed up to connect the thousands of federal employees fired under the Trump Administration with free legal support, calling on lawyers across the U.S. to join their efforts.

  • April 16, 2025

    Starbucks Seeks Ax Of Board Ruling On Union Decert. Votes

    The National Labor Relations Board should rethink legal precedent that allows board officials to refuse to schedule union decertification elections at workplaces that stand accused of certain labor law violations, Starbucks told the board, asking it to overrule a 2022 decision.

  • April 16, 2025

    Pa. Judge Cuts Atty Fees To $950K In ERISA Deal Final OK

    A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that counsel representing two union elevator industry workers should be awarded $950,000 in legal fees, down from the attorneys' initial request of $1.7 million for settling a nearly 30,000-member class action over the management of a union 401(k) plan.

  • April 16, 2025

    Starbucks Wants 2nd Circ. To Reverse NLRB On 1-Pin Rule

    The Second Circuit must reverse a National Labor Relations Board decision finding that barring employees at a Manhattan Starbucks from wearing more than one union pin is illegal, the coffee giant argued, saying the board ignored a 2012 ruling from the same appeals court upholding the policy.

  • April 15, 2025

    Whistleblower Says DOGE's NLRB Probe Exposed Data

    An employee with the National Labor Relations Board sent a whistleblower disclosure to members of Congress on Monday alleging that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency harvested Americans' sensitive information and likely exposed the data to foreign adversaries.

  • April 15, 2025

    7th Circ. Judge Skeptical Amazon Violated Labor Law

    A Seventh Circuit judge on Tuesday pushed a National Labor Relations Board attorney to address why it was a violation of federal labor law for Amazon to tell employees that it can make exceptions to a policy limiting their off-duty access to a Kentucky facility at any time, "when the legal right exists whether the workers are told or not."

  • April 15, 2025

    Fired NLRB, MSPB Members Tell Justices Not To Rush Ruling

    A pair of fired independent regulators implored the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to reject President Donald Trump's bid to keep them unemployed while they challenge his authority to fire them without cause, arguing his new attack on a century-old precedent doesn't qualify as an emergency that the high court must address.

  • April 15, 2025

    Fla. Rail Operator Can't Dodge Bargaining Suit, Union Argues

    A Florida high-speed rail operator is "going through the motions" at the bargaining table while waiting for a court to oust its workers' newly installed union, the union argued Tuesday, saying the employer should have to face a federal lawsuit claiming it is bargaining in bad faith.

  • April 15, 2025

    Tape Maker Illegally Fired Worker For Posts, NLRB Judge Says

    An adhesive tape manufacturer violated federal labor law by firing a worker for putting up postings on union bulletin boards at a Michigan facility, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, while also considering the lawfulness of work rules on remand from the board.

  • April 15, 2025

    Journalists, Unions Fight VOA Shutdown In DC Federal Court

    A coalition of journalists, unions and a reporter advocacy group asked a D.C. federal judge not to disturb a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from dismantling the agency that oversees Voice of America, arguing the district court has jurisdiction to weigh in on the case.

  • April 15, 2025

    Pot Shop Challenges NY Cannabis Labor Peace Law

    A New York cannabis company on Monday launched a federal lawsuit challenging a provision of the state's marijuana legalization law that requires licensed businesses to maintain labor peace agreements with their workers, saying it is preempted by federal law.

  • April 15, 2025

    Strike Nurses Sue Staffing Co. Over Wage, Break Pay

    A group of workers hired by a provider of temporary staff nurses to work at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California during a 2023 strike have filed a lawsuit against the staffing company, alleging it refused to pay for training time and meal breaks.

  • April 15, 2025

    Unions Claim Cuts To FMCS Under Trump Order Are Illegal

    A coalition of unions has hit the Trump administration with a federal lawsuit accusing it of dismantling the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, alleging President Donald Trump took an ax to the labor-management dispute resolution agency in violation of Congress' will.

  • April 14, 2025

    Union Asks DC Circ. To Affirm NLRB's Info Request Ruling

    An electrical workers union told a Montana internet provider why it needed information about a potential diversion of bargaining unit work, the union told the D.C. Circuit, asking the court to uphold the National Labor Relations Board's finding that the company violated labor law by denying the request.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Steps To Employer Petitions For Union Elections

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Since the National Labor Relations Board shifted the burden of requesting formal union elections onto employers in its Cemex decision last year — and raised the stakes for employer missteps during the process — companies should be prepared to correctly file representation management election petitions and respond to union demands for recognition, says Adam Keating at Duane Morris.

  • Focus On Political Stances May Weaken Labor Unions

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    Recent lawsujits and a bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives call attention to the practice of labor unions taking political stances with which their members disagree — an issue that may weaken unions, and that employers should stay abreast of, given its implications for labor organizing campaigns, workplace morale and collective bargaining, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • NLRB Ruling Highlights Rare Union Deauthorization Process

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    A recent National Labor Relations Board decision about a guard company's union authorization revocation presents a ripe opportunity for employees to review the particulars of this uncommon process, and employer compliance is critical as well, say Megann McManus and Trecia Moore at Husch Blackwell.

  • Latest 'Nuclear Verdict' Underscores Jury-Trial Employer Risk

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    A Los Angeles Superior Court jury's recent $900 million verdict in a high-profile sexual assault and harassment case illustrates the increase in so-called nuclear verdicts in employment cases, and the need for employers to explore alternative methods of resolving disputes, say Anthony Oncidi and Morgan Peterson at Proskauer.

  • After Chevron: What Loper Bright Portends For The NLRB

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court has a long history of deferring to the National Labor Relations Board's readings of federal labor law, the court's Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision forces courts to take a harder look at the judgment of an agency — and the NLRB will not be immune from such greater scrutiny, says Irving Geslewitz at Much Shelist.

  • What's Next After NLRB Ruling On Overbroad Noncompetes

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    If the National Labor Relations Board's recent ruling on noncompete provisions and its extension of Section 7 rights to limit noncompetes is adopted, this interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act will have to survive scrutiny by the courts without the deference previously afforded under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent overturning of Chevron, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Justices' Starbucks Ruling May Limit NLRB Injunction Wins

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Starbucks v. McKinney, adopting a more stringent test for National Labor Relations Board Section 10(j) injunctions, may lessen the frequency with which employers must defend against injunctions alongside parallel unfair labor practice charges, say David Pryzbylski and Colleen Schade at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • A Way Forward For The US Steel-Nippon Deal And Union Jobs

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    Parties involved in Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel should trust the Pennsylvania federal court overseeing a key environmental settlement to supervise a way of including future union jobs and cleaner air for the city of Pittsburgh as part of a transparent business marriage, says retired judge Susan Braden.

  • Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State

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    Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.

  • After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • Eye On Compliance: A Brief History Of Joint Employer Rules

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    It's important to examine the journey of the joint employer rule, because if the National Labor Relations Board's Fifth Circuit appeal is successful and the 2023 version is made law, virtually every employer who contracts for labor likely could be deemed a joint employer, say Bruno Katz and Robert Curtis at Wilson Elser.

  • Top 5 Issues For Employers To Audit Midyear

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    Six months into 2024, developments from federal courts and regulatory agencies should prompt employers to reflect on their progress regarding artificial intelligence, noncompetes, diversity initiatives, religious accommodation and more, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.

  • Crafting An Effective Workplace AI Policy After DOL Guidance

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    Employers should take proactive steps to minimize their liability risk after the U.S. Department of Labor released artificial intelligence guidance principles on May 16, reflecting the reality that companies must begin putting into place policies that will dictate their expectations for how employees will use AI, say David Disler and Courtnie Bolden at ​​​​​​​Porzio Bromberg.

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