Labor

  • March 26, 2026

    Starbucks Dress Code Not Unlawful, NLRB Judge Says

    Starbucks did not violate federal labor law by maintaining and enforcing a dress code that banned its employees from wearing clothing with logos, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, finding that the company has shown "special circumstances" to justify the rule.

  • March 26, 2026

    NLRB Greenlights Hearing In Big Starbucks Bargaining Case

    Long-percolating National Labor Relations Board litigation accusing Starbucks of snubbing Workers United at hundreds of cafes is slated to move forward after a two-year delay, with the board lifting the stay in the consolidated case and telling the agency's Tampa regional director to schedule an in-person hearing.

  • March 25, 2026

    School Bus Co. Expands Strike Litigation Against Teamsters

    School bus operator First Student Inc. sued the Teamsters on Wednesday over their threat to go on strike in two more federal courts, expanding its strike litigation beyond Massachusetts and into Connecticut and New York.

  • March 25, 2026

    Colo. Builder Says Agency's Labor Investigation Is 'Flawed'

    The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment relied on a flawed investigation initiated by a union affiliate and surpassed its authority in finding a Colorado construction company responsible for $1.05 million in labor violations, the construction company alleged in state court.

  • March 25, 2026

    NLRB Won't Disturb UPS' Win In Union Expansion Case

    The National Labor Relations Board has tossed a Teamsters local's request for a second chance at expanding a New York-based bargaining unit of UPS drivers and package handlers, preserving a board official's decision that the unit can't absorb maintenance and repair employees at this time.

  • March 25, 2026

    NLRB Backs Block On WinCo Union Decertification Petition

    The National Labor Relations Board has declined to review an order blocking a petition to decertify a Teamsters local as the representative for employees at supermarket chain WinCo Foods, according to an order filed by the board.

  • March 25, 2026

    VA Says Court Can't Enforce Reinstated Bargaining Contract

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs told a Rhode Island federal court it hasn't violated a preliminary injunction reinstating its bargaining contract with over 300,000 employees, arguing the court can't remedy the union's claims of subsequent contract breaches.

  • March 25, 2026

    Fired MSPB Member Urges Justices To Review Case

    Former Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a D.C. Circuit decision upholding her firing from the agency, arguing that the decision "muddled" the differences between the board and other federal agencies.

  • March 24, 2026

    NLRB Urges Judge To Declare Members, Judges Fireable

    The National Labor Relations Board has moved to surrender its members' and judges' job protections, urging a Texas federal judge to strike language restricting their removals so the agency can restart a blocked suit accusing a pipeline company of retaliating against a worker.

  • March 24, 2026

    Teamsters Local Urges 7th Circ. To Permit Casino Picket

    An Indiana city must allow a Teamsters local to resume picketing in front of a casino because the site is located on public property, the union told the Seventh Circuit, urging the court to reverse a lower court decision. 

  • March 24, 2026

    Judge Allows Some Claims Against DOGE To Proceed

    A D.C. federal judge ruled that four nonprofit groups can continue to pursue their claims that Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency violated the Constitution's appointments clause and acted outside their legal authority while dismissing other Administrative Procedure Act and separation of powers claims.

  • March 24, 2026

    NLRB OKs Teamsters Vote For Kansas City Car Haulers

    Drivers at a vehicle transportation company's Kansas City, Missouri, location can vote on union representation next month, a National Labor Relations Board official held Tuesday, rejecting the company's request to include workers at other locations in the potential bargaining unit.

  • March 24, 2026

    Union Fails To Shut Down Suit Over Retirement Plan Roster

    A carpenters union and its retirement plan manager failed in an early bid to defeat a class action claiming they violated federal benefits law by investing retirement plan assets in risky funds that lost more than $250 million, with a Washington federal judge saying the Ninth Circuit already determined that the workers have a viable claim.

  • March 24, 2026

    Union Fund Asks High Court To Preserve 2nd Circ. Win

    The U.S. Supreme Court shouldn't disturb a union pension fund's win in a multimillion-dollar dispute with the federal agency that bails out struggling pension funds, the fund's trustees have argued, asking the justices to reject the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.'s petition for review of a Second Circuit ruling.

  • March 24, 2026

    School Bus Co. Says Teamsters' Strike Threat Violates CBA

    A threatened strike by a Teamsters local representing bus drivers in two Massachusetts public school districts would violate the terms of their collective bargaining agreement, a school transportation company claimed, asking a federal court Tuesday to stop the drivers from going through with the work stoppage.

  • March 24, 2026

    Calif. Oil Co. To Pay $9M To End Standby Shift Dispute

    An oil company agreed to pay $9 million to settle 750 workers' claims alleging they were not compensated for their 12-hour standby shifts, the employees told a California federal court, seeking the final approval for the deal.

  • March 23, 2026

    New Wash. Laws Create NLRB Stand-In, Ban Noncompetes

    Wash. Gov. Bob Ferguson signed employment bills on Monday establishing a fallback framework for the state to oversee certain private-sector labor disputes in the case that the National Labor Relations Board's jurisdiction is scaled back by the federal government and expanding the state's restrictions on noncompete provisions to an outright ban.

  • March 23, 2026

    Teamsters Unit Urges NLRB To Keep Joint Employer Ruling

    The National Labor Relations Board shouldn't revise a recent order finding that Browning-Ferris must bargain with a staffing agency's employees, a Teamsters unit argued, rebuffing the waste management company's argument that the board needs to clarify what terms the company has individual and shared control over.

  • March 23, 2026

    Union Accuses VA Of Violating Contract Injunction

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hasn't confirmed that its employees are eligible for benefits and protections under a union contract even though a Rhode Island federal judge ordered the agency to resume complying with the contract, an American Federation of Government Employees local claims.

  • March 23, 2026

    3rd Circ. Sides With Nuclear Plant Co. In Union Benefits Fight

    The Third Circuit on Monday sided with a nuclear power company in a dispute with an electrical workers union over contributions to employee healthcare premiums, holding that the union couldn't force issues out of court because their disagreement was outside the scope of the collective bargaining agreement's arbitration provision.

  • March 23, 2026

    NLRB Urged To Require Union Affiliation Votes

    Plane parts maker Woodward urged the National Labor Relations Board to shift its precedent to require a vote when a union affiliates with another union, saying its current approach of probing continuity suppresses workers' due process rights.

  • March 23, 2026

    Chicago Can't Ditch Airline Group's Sick Leave Law Challenge

    An organization representing the largest U.S. airlines supported its claims that Chicago's new paid sick leave law could affect air carriers' business, an Illinois federal judge said, keeping alive the group's challenge to the law.

  • March 23, 2026

    Akin Brings On Munger Tolles Employment Ace In LA

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP announced Monday that it has brought on a former Munger Tolles & Olson LLP partner in Los Angeles to bolster its capacity to handle labor and employment matters.

  • March 23, 2026

    Ohio Factory Must Honor Work Limit, Judge Says

    An aircraft parts factory can't force its sonic department employees to monitor more than one ultrasonic testing tank at a time, an Ohio federal judge ruled, shooting down the factory's challenge to the "one operator, one tank" rule.

  • March 23, 2026

    USC Non-Tenure Faculty Aren't Managers, NLRB Official Says

    A group of non-tenure-track faculty members at the University of Southern California can vote on representation by a United Auto Workers unit, a National Labor Relations Board official ruled, finding that the workers are not considered managers under federal labor law.

Expert Analysis

  • The Implications Of E-Cigarette Cos. Taking Suits To 5th Circ.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds over the definition of an "adversely affected" person under the Tobacco Control Act, and the justices' ruling will have important and potentially wide-ranging implications for forum shopping claims, says Trillium Chang at Zuckerman Spaeder.

  • 4 Employment Law Areas Set To Change Under Trump

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    President Donald Trump's second term is expected to bring significant changes to the U.S. employment law landscape, including the potential for updated worker classification regulations, and challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion that are already taking shape, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 8 Lessons Yellow Corp. Layoffs Can Teach Distressed Cos.

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    A Delaware bankruptcy court’s recent decision, examining trucking company Yellow Corp.’s abrupt termination of roughly 25,500 employees, offers financially distressed businesses a road map for navigating layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • 10 Key Worker-Friendly California Employment Law Updates

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    New employment laws in California expand employee rights, transparency and enforcement mechanisms, and failing to educate department managers on these changes could put employers at risk, says Melanie Ronen at Stradley Ronon.

  • 7 Employment Contracts Issues Facing DOL Scrutiny

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    A growing trend of U.S. Department of Labor enforcement against employment practices that limit workers' rights and avoid legal responsibility shines a light on seven unique contractual provisions that violate federal labor laws, and face agressive litigation from the labor solicitor, says Thomas Starks at Freeman Mathis.

  • How Trump Presidency May Influence NLRB's Next Phase

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    Attorneys at Paul Hastings discuss how last year’s key National Labor Relations Board developments may progress once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, including the wave of lawsuits challenging the board’s constitutionality and two landmark board decisions that upset decades of precedent.

  • How Trump Admin May Approach AI In The Workplace

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    Key indicators suggest that the incoming Trump administration will adopt a deregulatory approach to artificial intelligence, allowing states to fill the void, so it is critical that employers pay close attention to developing legal authority concerning AI tools, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

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    General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2025

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    While companies must monitor for policy shifts under the new administration in 2025, it will also be a year to play it safe and remember the basics, such as the importance of documenting retention policies and conducting swift investigations into workplace complaints, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • NLRB Likely To Fill Vacuum After NMB Jurisdiction Ruling

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    The National Mediation Board's recent ruling in Swissport Cargo Services LP abandoned decades of precedent by concluding the Railway Labor Act doesn’t apply to airline service providers, likely leading the National Labor Relations Board to assert its jurisdiction instead and potentially causing more operational disruptions and labor strife, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Ring In The New Year With An Updated Employee Handbook

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    One of the best New Year's resolutions employers can make is to update their employee handbooks, given that a handbook can mitigate, or even prevent, costly litigation as long as it accounts for recent changes in laws, court rulings and agency decisions, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • 9 Things To Expect From Trump's Surprising DOL Pick

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    The unexpected nomination of Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., to lead the U.S. Department of Labor reflects a blend of pro-business and pro-labor leanings, and signals that employers should prepare for a mix of continuity and moderate adjustments in the coming years, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • Why State Captive Audience Laws Matter After NLRB Decision

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    As employers focus on complying with the National Labor Relations Board's new position that captive audience meetings violate federal labor law, they should also be careful not to overlook state captive audience laws that prohibit additional types of company meetings and communications, says Karla Grossenbacher at Seyfarth.

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