Labor

  • May 06, 2025

    NFLPA Says Ex-Player Has Wrong Target In Rehab Abuse Suit

    A former pro football player who claimed that he was incorrectly sent to a Texas drug treatment center that later abused and physically blocked him from leaving, should not blame the NFL Players Association for his being there, the union told a Texas federal court.

  • May 06, 2025

    Split 5th Circ. Nixes Amazon's Appeal To Halt NLRB Case

    A divided Fifth Circuit panel found Tuesday that a Texas federal judge did not "effectively deny" Amazon's bid to halt a refusal-to-bargain case at the National Labor Relations Board based on allegations that the agency is unconstitutional, tossing the e-commerce giant's appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

  • May 06, 2025

    DOD Says It Has Standing To Halt Labor Contracts

    The U.S. Department of Defense asked a court not to end its lawsuit over President Donald Trump's move to end collective bargaining with its workers, saying it cannot manage its workforce "without facing substantial legal uncertainty."

  • May 06, 2025

    Army Base Teachers' Unions Sue Trump Over Executive Order

    Unions representing schoolteachers on military bases have sued President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management over a March executive order aimed at stripping them of their bargaining rights, asking a Washington, D.C., federal judge to invalidate the directive.

  • May 06, 2025

    Technician's Bias Suit Against Union, Studios Tossed For Now

    A New York federal judge Tuesday tossed an electrical technician's suit accusing an entertainment industry union local of employing admissions and job referral practices that discriminate against Black and Latino applicants seeking work at major production studios.

  • May 06, 2025

    Bakery Driver Agrees To Drop Teamsters Benefits Fight

    A delivery driver and a Philadelphia Teamsters local will drop their dispute over whether the driver was wrongfully denied early retirement benefits, the parties announced Monday.

  • May 06, 2025

    Costco Can't Bar Harassment Probe Talk, NLRB Judge Says

    Costco unlawfully maintained overly broad rules in an investigations form and barred a North Carolina worker from talking about the outcome of her internal sexual harassment complaint, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, finding a clause allowing employment terms discussions did not shield the company from violating federal labor law.

  • May 06, 2025

    NLRB Gets OK To Gather Mediation Board's Take On SpaceX

    The Fifth Circuit gave the National Labor Relations Board the go-ahead to ask the federal labor agency that oversees union negotiations in the air transportation industry whether SpaceX falls under its purview in a step that could spell the end of the NLRB's cases against the rocket maker.

  • May 05, 2025

    Judge Backs Biden-Era Protections For H-2A Farmworkers

    A North Carolina federal judge tossed a challenge to a Biden-era regulation that enhanced the organizing rights of seasonal farmworkers with H-2A visas, saying Monday that the U.S. Department of Labor didn't act arbitrarily and capriciously when it issued the regulation.

  • May 05, 2025

    SEIU Takes NLRB Joint Employer Rule Fight To DC Circ.

    The Service Employees International Union asked the D.C. Circuit to examine the National Labor Relations Board's 2020 joint employer rule, renewing its fight against the employer-friendly board regulation that limited the criteria for finding shared liability.

  • May 05, 2025

    Groups Urge DC Circ. To Halt Noncitizen Registration Rule

    Immigrants rights groups called on the D.C. Circuit to pause the Trump administration's interim final rule requiring all noncitizens to register with the federal government or face criminal prosecution, after a lower court declined to issue a preliminary injunction.

  • May 05, 2025

    Chemical Co. Fights Teamsters' Bid To Toss Suit Over Strike

    An Illinois chemical company is fighting to preserve allegations that a Teamsters local violated federal labor law through aggressive behavior during a strike the company claims was illegal, telling an Illinois federal judge that its amended complaint is strong enough to beat the union's dismissal motion.

  • May 05, 2025

    Justices Reject Review Of NLRB's COVID-19 Bonus Pay Order

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied review of a shuttered New Jersey nursing home's challenge to the Third Circuit's enforcement of a National Labor Relations Board decision that found the employer unlawfully slashed or ended COVID-19 bonuses for unionized workers.

  • May 05, 2025

    Hotel Management Co. Exits Pension Fund Withdrawal Battle

    A company tapped to manage a hotel at the center of a $1.1 million withdrawal liability lawsuit between the City of San Jose and a UNITE HERE pension fund has reached a deal with the plan to exit the case, according to a California federal court filing.

  • May 02, 2025

    NLRB Says Amazon Can't Challenge Captive Audience Ban

    Amazon can't use an appeal of a National Labor Relations Board order to challenge the board's conclusion that so-called captive audience meetings are unlawful, prosecutors told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday, saying the conclusion isn't appealable by Amazon because it wasn't applied to Amazon.

  • May 02, 2025

    NLRB Seeks Bargain Order Against NYC Homeless Nonprofit

    The National Labor Relations Board's Manhattan office urged a New York federal judge to make a nonprofit that operates youth homeless shelters meet a Service Employees International Union affiliate at the bargaining table, claiming the nonprofit's alleged federal labor law violations have harmed workers.

  • May 02, 2025

    DC Circ. Allows Feds To Halt Funding To Int'l Media Outlets

    A D.C. Circuit panel has paused a lower court order that restored federal grant funding to international broadcasters while leaving intact other aspects of a ruling preserving the agency that oversees Voice of America.

  • May 02, 2025

    White House Says Unions Can't Block Columbia Funding Pull

    The Trump administration urged a New York federal judge to reject unions' challenge to the administration's decision to end $400 million in federal money for Columbia University, saying the unions have not shown they have a legal right to the money or that its loss will cause them or their members harm.

  • May 02, 2025

    Layoffs, Grant Cutoffs On Hold At Federal Library Agency

    Employees of the federal agency that provides grants and resources to public libraries can keep their jobs for now, with a federal judge in Washington, D.C., issuing a temporary restraining order blocking a mass layoff scheduled for May 4 from going into effect.

  • May 02, 2025

    Groups Seek Order Halting Trump's Restructuring Of Gov't

    A California district court must stop federal agencies from moving ahead with President Donald Trump's directive to reorganize and terminate government workers, unions and other groups argued, calling for a temporary restraining order based on alleged harms from the administration's "radical restructuring."

  • May 02, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Delta $12M Meal Breaks Deal Up For Approval

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for the potential preliminary approval of a $12 million deal to resolve a proposed wage and hour class action against Delta Air Lines Inc. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • May 01, 2025

    Union Says Wilcox Ruling Invalidates Amazon Injunction Bid

    Amazon's Constitution-based bid to block a National Labor Relations Board case cannot stand now that the company's argument has been rejected in Washington, D.C., federal court, a Teamsters unit told a California federal judge, pointing to the recent D.C. ruling that board members' job protections are constitutional.

  • May 01, 2025

    Acting NLRB GC Pushes For Drop Of 3 Precedent Fights

    A National Labor Relations Board attorney dropped a trio of requests to overturn board precedents about workplace rules and proof of anti-union bias, saying the move to withdraw these efforts stems from the acting general counsel's walk back of some of his predecessor's memoranda.

  • May 01, 2025

    Software Co. Fights NLRB's Order In Firing Case At DC Circ.

    A Vermont software company is fighting the National Labor Relations Board's finding that it violated federal labor law by firing four workers after a salary spreadsheet circulated at the company, telling the D.C. Circuit that it didn't fire the workers for their legally protected workplace activism but for their hostility toward the company.

  • May 01, 2025

    4th Circ. Skips To Full Review Of DOGE's SSA Access

    The Fourth Circuit has voted to initially hear as a full court the government's challenge to an order blocking a probe of the Social Security Administration and keep the block in place, with a majority differentiating a similar case it recently left to a three-member panel sans injunction.

Expert Analysis

  • Trump's 1st 100 Days Show That Employers Must Stay Nimble

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    Despite the aggressive pace of the Trump administration, employers must stay abreast of developments, including changes in equal employment opportunity law, while balancing state law considerations where employment regulations are at odds with the evolving federal laws, says Susan Sholinsky at Epstein Becker.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Classification Lessons From 'Love Is Blind'

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    The National Labor Relations Board's recent complaint alleging that cast members of the Netflix reality series "Love Is Blind" were misclassified as nonemployee participants and deprived of protections under the National Labor Relations Act offers insight for employers about how to structure independent contractor relationships, say Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter at Troutman Pepper.

  • Independent Contractor Rule Up In The Air Under New DOL

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    In several recent court challenges, the U.S. Department of Labor has indicated its intent to revoke the 2024 independent contractor rule, sending a clear signal that it will not defend the Biden-era rule on the merits in anticipation of further rulemaking, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Tracking FTC Labor Task Force's Focus On Worker Protection

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently directed its bureaus to form a joint labor task force, shifting the agency's focus toward protecting consumers in their role as workers, but case selection and resource allocation will ultimately reveal how significant labor markets will be in the FTC's agenda, say attorneys at Venable.

  • GC Nominee Likely Has Employer-Friendly NLRB Priorities

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    President Donald Trump’s nomination of Crystal Carey as general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board indicates the administration's intent to revive precedents favorable to employers, including expansion of permissible employer speech and reinstatement of procedural steps needed for employees to achieve unionization, say attorneys at Vorys.

  • A Close Look At The Rescinded Biden-Era NLRB Memos

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    National Labor Relations Board acting general counsel William Cowen's recent decision to rescind several guidance memoranda from his predecessor signals that he aims to move the board away from expanding organizing rights and to provide more room for employers to protect their operations and workforce, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • 6 Criteria Can Help Assess Executive Branch Actions

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    With new executive policy changes announced seemingly every day, several questions can help courts, policymakers and businesses determine whether such actions are proper, effective and in keeping with our democratic norms, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • 5 Key Issues For Multinational Cos. Mulling Return To Office

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    As companies increasingly revisit return-to-office mandates, multinational employers may face challenges in enforcing uniform RTO practices globally, but several key considerations and practical solutions can help avoid roadblocks, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • 7 Things Employers Should Expect From Trump's OSHA Pick

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    If President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is confirmed, workplace safety veteran David Keeling may focus on compliance and assistance, rather than enforcement, when it comes to improving worker safety, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Takeaways From 'It Ends With Us' Suits

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    Troutman’s Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter discuss how the lawsuits filed by “It Ends With Us” stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni hold major lessons about workplace harassment, retaliation and employee digital media use.

  • Issues To Watch At ABA's Antitrust Spring Meeting

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    Attorneys at Freshfields consider the future of antitrust law and competition enforcement amid agency leadership changes and other emerging developments likely to dominate discussion at the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week.

  • NLRB Firing May Need Justices' Input On Removal Power

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    President Donald Trump's unprecedented removal of National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox spurred a lawsuit that is sure to be closely watched, as it may cause the U.S. Supreme Court to reexamine a 1935 precedent that has limited the president's removal powers, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Weathering Policy Zig-Zags In Gov't Contracting Under Trump

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    To succeed amid the massive shift in federal contracting policies heralded by President Donald Trump's return to office, contractors should be prepared for increased costs and enhanced False Claims Act enforcement, and to act swiftly to avail themselves of contractual remedies, says Jacob Scott at Smith Currie.