Labor

  • June 17, 2025

    General Motors Says Precedent 'Eviscerates' EEOC Bias Suit

    General Motors urged an Indiana federal judge Tuesday to toss a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming it discriminated against older workers by reducing disability benefits if they also received Social Security, arguing the policy says nothing about age, allowing it to stand under high court precedent.

  • June 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Class Cert. In Suit Over Diabetes Drug Risk

    The Ninth Circuit refused to disband a class of third-party payors who claim Takeda Pharmaceutical and Eli Lilly & Co. hid their anti-diabetes drug's bladder cancer risks, finding no issue with a lower court's analysis of expert evidence showing prescriptions fell after the risks were disclosed.

  • June 17, 2025

    Teamsters Local Defends Handling Of Bakery Driver's Firing

    A Teamsters local has urged an Ohio federal judge to toss a lawsuit filed by a former driver for a Midwest regional bakery, saying the worker can't back up his claim that the union failed to fight hard enough for his reinstatement.

  • June 17, 2025

    5th Circ. Must Nix NLRB's Rerun Vote Order, Starbucks Says

    Federal labor law is not a "get-out-of-jail-free card" for union activists who violate an employer's policies, Starbucks argued to the Fifth Circuit, saying the National Labor Relations Board lacked evidence of anti-union bias when concluding the coffee chain illegally fired a barista in California.

  • June 16, 2025

    Petroleum Co. Owes $21M In Withdrawal Liability, Fund Says

    Petroleum company Sieveking Inc. was hit Monday with a $21 million withdrawal liability suit in Illinois federal court by a pension fund that says the company should be paying off its balance while it asks an arbitrator to weigh in.

  • June 16, 2025

    WaPo Cleared Of Illegal Firing Claim Over Reporter's Tweets

    The Washington Post lawfully fired a reporter who spoke up about a co-worker's retweet that she found sexist, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Monday, finding the journalist's remarks on social media disparaged the newspaper and did not link to a labor dispute.

  • June 16, 2025

    Unions Can't Sue Over Canceled Columbia Funds, Judge Says

    A New York federal judge on Monday dismissed two unions' challenge to the Trump administration's decision ending $400 million in funding to Columbia University, saying the unions cannot sue over funding that was never theirs.

  • June 16, 2025

    NLRB Official Tosses Union Vote Petition At Tenn. Honky-Tonk

    A group of security guards can't unionize at a bar and live music venue in Nashville, Tennessee, a National Labor Relations Board regional director concluded, finding some workers in the proposed bargaining unit are statutory supervisors.

  • June 16, 2025

    AFL-CIO, Unions Seek Early Win To Block Slash Of FMCS

    A group of unions and the AFL-CIO urged a New York federal judge to find the Trump administration's staffing cuts and shuttering of field offices at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service are unlawful, arguing the government did not have an explanation for slashing the agency's services.

  • June 13, 2025

    State Dept. Layoffs Still Violate Injunction, Judge Says

    A California federal judge said Friday that planned staff reductions at the State Department would violate her injunction blocking President Donald Trump's executive order directing layoffs at federal agencies, saying she's not persuaded by the government's assertion that the department's reorganization was underway before the order.

  • June 13, 2025

    DC Circ. Knocks NLRB For 'Irrational' Impasse Analysis

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday rejected the National Labor Relations Board's conclusions that a quarry operator unlawfully threatened to stop contributions to a pension fund for unionized workers, finding the board's "legal analysis is irrational" about whether the parties were at an impasse.

  • June 13, 2025

    Trump Can't Pause Reinstating FLRA Chair Pending Appeal

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Friday rejected the Trump administration's request to pause an order requiring the Democratic chair of the Federal Labor Relations Authority's reinstatement, finding the government's request is belated and that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling doesn't necessarily support the stay.

  • June 13, 2025

    4th Circ. Affirms Toss Of Contractor's ULP Suit Against Union

    The Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a Maryland mechanical contractor's lawsuit against a Sheet Metal Air Rail & Transportation Workers local on Friday, ruling that the union's alleged smear campaign against the company didn't rise to the level of an unfair labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act.

  • June 13, 2025

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Weighs FedEx Driver's Bias Suit

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider a former FedEx employee's attempt to revive his lawsuit claiming he was fired in retaliation for complaining about rampant harassment that management at the company did nothing to address. Here, Law360 looks at this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • June 13, 2025

    Vox Media Workers Secure Tentative Deal After Strike Vote

    Vox Media and the Writers Guild of America East notched a tentative three-year labor contract covering around 250 workers, the union announced Friday, coming to an agreement after a majority of the bargaining unit voted to authorize a strike.

  • June 13, 2025

    Groups Tell 8th Circ. Minn. Misclassification Law Harms Them

    Trade groups urged the Eighth Circuit to overturn an order declining to block a Minnesota law from taking effect that slaps steep fines on companies that misclassify construction workers as independent contractors, saying they have standing to sue because their members will be harmed by the statute.

  • June 13, 2025

    Workers At Immigration Agency Contractor OK For Union Vote

    The employees of a Lee's Summit, Missouri, office that helps U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services process benefit applications can vote on union representation, a National Labor Relations Board official said, rejecting the employer's argument that the union should also include employees of its Overland Park, Kansas, office.

  • June 13, 2025

    White House Stands By Biden-Era Construction Labor Rule

    The Trump administration clarified that federal agencies should still use project labor agreements on large federal construction projects, weeks after a court vacated two agencies' directives that purported to eliminate this requirement.

  • June 13, 2025

    Oregon Takes Cannabis Labor Peace Row To 9th Circ.

    Oregon officials will appeal a federal judge's order barring enforcement of a voter-approved law that required licensed cannabis businesses to enter into labor peace pacts with their workers.

  • June 13, 2025

    Colo. Appeals Upholds State Board Rules On Teacher Reviews

    A state appeals court sided with the Colorado State Board of Education in a challenge brought by an educators union against the board's new teacher performance evaluation system and the appeal process for those evaluations, precedentially ruling that the board acted within its delegated authority.

  • June 13, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Court Weighs Blocking Trump Bargaining EO

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for a potential ruling in an attempt by six unions to temporarily block President Donald Trump's executive order that would prohibit collective bargaining agreements at certain federal agencies. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Labor Secretary Perez, Now At Mayer Brown, Looks Back

    After joining Mayer Brown last month, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez talked with Law360 Pulse about his latest career move, his efforts to help expand and enforce hate crime laws, and his work for President Joe Biden to promote the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

  • June 12, 2025

    Ex-UPS Workers Urge 9th Circ. To Revive State Law Claims

    An attorney for some former United Parcel Service workers urged a Ninth Circuit panel Thursday to undo a decision barring them from proceeding with some state employment claims because the workers memorialized them on union grievance forms, telling the panel the claims aren't preempted by federal law.

  • June 12, 2025

    6th Circ. Skeptical Of Auto Co.'s NLRB Constitutionality Suit

    A Sixth Circuit panel appeared unlikely Thursday to back an auto parts manufacturer's request to block a National Labor Relations Board prosecution because of alleged constitutional defects in the agency's structure, as the judges probed whether an agency judge's decision against the company and the board's lack of a quorum affect the dispute.

  • June 12, 2025

    Calif. Toyota Dealership Challenges NLRB's Constitutionality

    A Toyota dealership in Northern California has become the latest employer to seek an injunction blocking a National Labor Relations Board case, telling a California federal judge that the board lacks the constitutionally sound structure necessary to hear allegations that the dealership flouted federal labor law.

Expert Analysis

  • The Risks Of Employee Political Discourse On Social Media

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    As election season enters its final stretch and employees increasingly engage in political speech on social media, employers should beware the liability risks and consider policies that negotiate the line between employees' rights and the limits on those rights, say Bradford Kelley and James McGehee at Littler.

  • Proposed Law Would Harm NYC Hospitality Industry

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    A recently proposed New York City Law that would update hotel licensing and staff coverage requirements could give the city commissioner and unions undue control over the city's hospitality industry, and harm smaller hotels that cannot afford full-time employees, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.

  • US Labor And Employment Law Holds Some Harsh Trade-Offs

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    U.S. labor and employment laws have evolved into a product of exposure-capping compromise, which merits discussion in a presidential election year when the dialogue has focused on purported protections of middle-class workers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Immigration Insights From 'The Proposal'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with their colleague Robert Lee about how immigration challenges highlighted in the romantic comedy "The Proposal" — beyond a few farcical plot contrivances — relate to real-world visa processes and employer compliance.

  • Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute

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    In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.

  • Preparing For The NLRB's New Union Recognition Final Rule

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    The National Labor Relations Board's impending new final rule on union recognition puts the employer at a particular disadvantage in a decertification election, and best practices include conducting workplace assessments to identify and proactively address employee issues, say Louis Cannon and Gerald Bradner at Baker Donelson.

  • The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • 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.

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