Wage & Hour

  • July 02, 2025

    DC Tipped Minimum Wage Hike Put On Ice

    Tipped workers will not see a $2 boost in their hourly wages this week after the D.C. City Council voted to pause a scheduled minimum wage increase that could spell trouble for a ballot initiative designed to match up minimum wages for both tipped and nontipped workers.

  • July 02, 2025

    TikTok Can Arbitrate Most Sales Reps' Claims Of Unpaid OT

    A lawsuit by a group of sales representatives accusing TikTok of incorrectly classifying them as exempt from earning overtime can largely be sent to arbitration, a California federal judge ruled, saying all but one worker signed an agreement that mandates employment disputes stay out of court.

  • July 02, 2025

    The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

    After justices and oral advocates spent much of an argument pummeling a lower court's writing talents, one attorney suggested it might be time to move on — only to be told the drubbing had barely begun. Here, Law360 showcases the standout jests and wisecracks from the 2024-25 U.S. Supreme Court term.

  • July 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Limits Cracker Barrel Collective To In-State Workers

    A nationwide collective of Cracker Barrel servers in a wage and hour case is too vast, the Ninth Circuit ruled, saying members who worked for the restaurant chain outside Arizona, where the suit was launched, should not have been permitted to join.

  • July 01, 2025

    Amazon Beats Cert. Bid By 150K Flex Drivers In Tip Dispute

    A Washington federal judge refused to certify a proposed class of 150,000 Amazon Flex drivers who said Amazon pocketed their tips, ruling on Tuesday that Amazon's earlier $61.7 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission already provided relief, and litigating the case as a class action would be costly and duplicative.

  • July 01, 2025

    EEOC Wraps Up June With A Flurry Of Suits

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a spate of new cases as June ended, including suits alleging that an executive asked a worker to enter a sexual contract, a company required an applicant to take an electrocardiogram, and Walmart pushed out a worker returning from COVID-19 leave. Here, Law360 takes a look at seven lawsuits the EEOC filed Monday.

  • July 01, 2025

    The Sharpest Dissents From The Supreme Court Term

    The term's sharpest dissents often looked beyond perceived flaws in majority reasoning to raise existential concerns about the role and future of the court, with the justices accusing one another of rewarding executive branch lawlessness, harming faith in the judiciary and threatening democracy, sometimes on an emergency basis with little briefing or explanation.

  • July 01, 2025

    Justices Face Busy Summer After Nixing Universal Injunctions

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to limit nationwide injunctions was one of its biggest rulings of the term — a finding the court is likely going to be dealing with all summer. Here, Law360 takes a look at the decision, how it and other cases on the emergency docket overshadowed much of the court's other work, and what it all means for the months to come.

  • July 01, 2025

    Teamsters Unit, UPS Duel Over Reinstated Worker's Back Pay

    UPS must shell out a specified back pay amount ordered by an arbitration panel for a reinstated worker, a Teamsters local told a Pennsylvania federal court, arguing the award clearly required the company to provide a certain amount of compensation that did not factor in unemployment benefits.

  • July 01, 2025

    What Justices' Injunctions Ruling Means For Employment Law

    Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has limited universal injunctions, employers, workers and their advocates could have to turn to motions to vacate, associational standing and other pathways to relief in employment law litigation, attorneys said. Here, Law360 explores the potential impact.

  • July 01, 2025

    Amazon Escapes Worker's Military Leave Suit

    A former Amazon employee cannot show that she was fired because she requested to take military leave or because she needed to care for her son, a New York federal judge ruled, saying she can't rebut the company's argument that she was fired for violating security protocol.

  • July 01, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Rig Worker Not A Party To Arbitration Pact

    A rig worker's limited liability company — but not the worker himself — is a party to an oil and gas company's arbitration agreement, the Fourth Circuit ruled Tuesday, rejecting the firm's bid to send the former employee's wage and hour suit to arbitration.

  • July 01, 2025

    NY Equinox Trainers Score $12M In Unpaid Wages Settlement

    A New York federal court has given final approval to a $12 million settlement between upscale gym chain Equinox and its personal trainers, whose Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit accused the company of shorting them on overtime wages.

  • July 01, 2025

    DOL Rule Would Reverse Obama-Era Domestic Worker Regs

    The U.S. Department of Labor is looking to roll back Obama-era regulations that redefined domestic service workers and required they be paid minimum and overtime wages, saying returning to regulations from 1975 could help expand access to care services.

  • July 01, 2025

    Boston Globe, Former Exec Settle Ahead Of Trial Over Firing

    The Boston Globe and a former high-ranking executive have reported settling a lawsuit over his 2021 firing, days before a trial in Massachusetts state court was set to begin.

  • June 30, 2025

    DOL Plans To Nix H-2A Farmworker Organizing Protections

    The Trump administration is planning to roll back a Biden-era rule that protected seasonal farmworkers on H-2A visas from facing retaliation for workplace organizing, with the U.S. Department of Labor announcing its intent to rescind the contentious 2024 rule Monday.

  • June 30, 2025

    Ex-Geico Sales Rep. Denied Class Cert., For Now

    A Georgia federal judge on Monday shot down a former Geico call center worker's bid to certify a class of more than 1,000 sales representatives who said the insurance company hasn't paid them for pre- and post-shift work, finding their theory of the case was "not supported by the evidence."

  • June 30, 2025

    Meta, Shutterstock Can Arbitrate Ex-Worker's Pay Bias Suit

    A former Giphy engineer must arbitrate her lawsuit accusing Meta, and later Shutterstock, of paying her $2 million less than male colleagues when they took over the online GIF database, a New York federal judge ruled Monday.

  • June 30, 2025

    Consulting Firm Says Ex-Exec's Wage Suit Is In Wrong Venue

    Consulting firm Profit Drivers LLC, its sole member and its chief executive officer have asked a Connecticut federal judge to dismiss a suit brought by their onetime vice president and chief financial officer claiming he was never paid for his work, arguing they have no ties to the Constitution State.

  • June 30, 2025

    Judge Mulls Mariano's OT Exemption With A Baseball Analogy

    An Illinois federal judge considering whether to declassify collectives of grocery store managers claiming a Kroger subsidiary misclassified them as being exempt from overtime pay compared them Monday to baseball player-managers like Pete Rose and pressed the parties to address "when a player-manager is more like a player than a manager."

  • June 30, 2025

    Healthcare Co.'s $120K Wage Deal Rejected

    A healthcare company can't move forward with its $120,000 settlement that resolves a collective action accusing it of failing to pay workers overtime wages for off-the-clock work they performed, a Connecticut federal judge ruled, saying the deal forces several workers to release too broad a spectrum of claims.

  • June 30, 2025

    Wage & Hour Features Revisited: State Debates, DOL Updates

    From a look at state-level debates happening in New Jersey and California to analyses on the latest minimum wage and U.S. Department of Labor developments, catch up on Law360 Employment Authority's wage and hour coverage from June. Here's a look at features and analyses you might have missed from the past month.

  • June 30, 2025

    Perdue Can't Reduce Collective In Misclassification Suit

    Perdue Foods LLC cannot shave off seven opt-in plaintiffs in a collective action accusing it of misclassifying poultry growers as independent contractors, a Maryland federal judge ruled, saying it's too early to determine whether the workers brought their claims too late.

  • June 27, 2025

    Google Fired Worker For Taking Medical Leave, Suit Claims

    A former Google employee said she was discriminated against and fired for taking approved medical leave, according to a lawsuit filed in Washington state court.

  • June 27, 2025

    Univ. Of Tenn. Hospital Strikes Deal To End Wage Suit

    The University of Tennessee Medical Center reached a deal Friday with a collective of flight nurses and paramedics who accused the medical center of failing to pay them overtime wages and deducting time for meal breaks they didn't get to take, according to a filing in Tennessee federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • What The Minimum Wage Shift Means For Gov't Contractors

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    While President Donald Trump's recent executive order rescinding a 2021 increase to the federal contractor minimum wage is welcome relief to some federal contractors and settles continued disagreement about its legality, there remains significant uncertainty and pitfalls over contractor wage obligations, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • 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.

  • 6 Reasons Why Arbitration Offers Equitable Resolutions

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    Contrary to a recent Law360 guest article, arbitration provides numerous benefits to employees, consumers and businesses alike, ensuring fair and efficient dispute resolution without the excessive fees, costs and delays associated with traditional litigation, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • PG&E Win Boosts Employers' Defamation Defense

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    A California appeals court's recent Hearn v. PG&E ruling, reversing a $2 million verdict against PG&E related to an ex-employee’s retaliation claims, provides employers with a stronger defense against defamation claims tied to termination, but also highlights the need for fairness and diligence in internal investigations and communications, say attorneys at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • A Path Forward For Employers, Regardless Of DEI Stance

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    Whether a company views the Trump administration's executive orders ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs as a win or a loss, the change rearranges the employment hazards companies face, but not the non-DEI and nondiscriminatory economic incentive to seek the best workers, says Daniel S. Levy at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

  • Water Cooler Talk: 'Late Night' Shows DEI Is More Than Optics

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    Amid the shifting legal landscape for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Troutman's Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter chat with their firm's DEI committee chair, Nicole Edmonds, about how the 2019 film "Late Night" reflects the challenges and rewards of fostering meaningful inclusion.

  • NCAA Rulings Signal Game Change For Athlete Classification

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    A Tennessee federal court's recent decision in Pavia v. NCAA adds to a growing call to consider classifying college athletes as employees under federal law, a change that would have unexpected, potentially prohibitive costs for schools, says J.R. Webster Cucovatz at Gilson Daub.

  • 6 Laws Transforming Calif.'s Health Regulatory Framework

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    Attorneys at Hooper Lundy discuss a number of new California laws that raise pressing issues for independent physicians and small practice groups, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to wage standards for healthcare employees.

  • NCAA Name, Image, Likeness Settlement Is A $2.8B Mistake

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    While the plaintiffs in House v. NCAA might call the proposed settlement on name, image and likeness payments for college athletes a breakthrough, it's a legally dubious Band-Aid that props up a system favoring a select handful of male athletes at the expense of countless others, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

  • FLSA Ruling Shows Split Over Court Approval Of Settlements

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    A Kentucky federal court's recent ruling in Bazemore v. Papa John's highlights a growing trend of courts finding they are not required, or even authorized, to approve private settlements releasing Fair Labor Standards Act claims, underscoring a jurisdictional split and open questions that practitioners need to grapple with, say attorneys at Vedder Price.