Labor

  • April 25, 2024

    Amazon Owes DOL Info On Anti-Union Expenses, Judge Says

    A Washington federal judge has ordered Amazon to comply with a U.S. Department of Labor subpoena seeking information about how much the company spent funding executives' travel to Staten Island, New York, to oppose a union organizing drive, saying the information is relevant to a DOL investigation.

  • April 25, 2024

    Rival Amazon Union Attys Get Warning From Federal Judge

    A Brooklyn federal judge expressed displeasure Thursday with how federal litigation between rival factions inside a nascent Staten Island, New York, union representing Amazon warehouse workers has been conducted, saying it has wasted time and raising the possibility of sanctions.

  • April 25, 2024

    Airplane Fuel Co. Seeks To Ax Union Healthcare Dispute

    A company that fuels airplanes at major U.S. airports asked a New York federal judge to dismiss a $157,000 suit accusing it of underfunding a Teamsters healthcare plan, saying the plan trustees filed the suit too late and can't prove the company owes the money.

  • April 25, 2024

    NLRB Official OKs Union Vote At Blood Collection Nonprofit

    A group of workers at some of a blood collection nonprofit's locations in the Seattle area can vote on whether to unionize with a Teamsters local, a National Labor Relations Board official determined, rejecting the employer's claim that three more facilities should be included in the election.

  • April 24, 2024

    DOL Says Firm 'Repeatedly' Misclassified Highway Workers

    The U.S. Department of Labor recently determined that a subcontractor "repeatedly misclassified" employees who worked on 25 federal highway construction projects in Pennsylvania, according to a notice filed in Pennsylvania federal court Wednesday in a lawsuit against three construction firms.

  • April 24, 2024

    9th Circ. Says NLRB Can Enforce Starbucks Bargaining Order

    The Ninth Circuit said Wednesday that Starbucks must recognize its Seattle roastery workers' April 2022 vote to unionize, overruling the coffee giant's contention that ballots should have been cast in person and concluding a National Labor Relations Board manager had discretion to call the mail-in election because of COVID-19 case counts at the time.

  • April 24, 2024

    SpaceX Stalling Case's Launch To Calif., NLRB Says

    The National Labor Relations Board told a Texas federal judge it should disregard SpaceX's "last ditch" effort to keep a case challenging the employment agency's constitutionality in the Lone Star State, arguing that the rocket company is revisiting arguments the court already decided.

  • April 24, 2024

    10th Circ. Nixes Worker's Grievance Claims Against Union

    The Tenth Circuit upheld on Wednesday the dismissal of a former U.S. Postal Service employee's duty of fair representation claims against a National Association of Letter Carriers affiliate in Colorado over the resolution of his termination grievance.

  • April 24, 2024

    Solar Co. Must Pay Workers, Union Benefit Funds

    A Kalamazoo, Michigan-based solar company must follow an arbitration board's order to remit unpaid wages to two workers and unpaid contributions to a group of union benefit funds, a Michigan federal judge ruled Wednesday.

  • April 24, 2024

    Ivy League Says Unionization Could 'Threaten' College Sports

    Ivy League schools may eliminate certain varsity sports if college athletes can unionize, the Ivy League athletic conference has told the National Labor Relations Board, urging the board to reverse a precedent-setting decision that allowed Dartmouth College's men's basketball team to unionize.

  • April 24, 2024

    Airline Says Teamsters Lack Standing For Retaliation Claims

    Sun Country Airlines asked a Minnesota federal court to toss retaliation claims brought by the Teamsters on behalf of workers who were involved in an organizing drive, saying the union cannot bring allegations for employees who aren't named plaintiffs.

  • April 23, 2024

    Divisive Cost Cap Deadline Looms For Calif. Healthcare Cos.

    California healthcare attorneys are preparing for the state's first cap on healthcare spending proposed by a new state office tasked with making care affordable. Industry leaders are sharply split on the viability of a proposed 3% target, which some say may ultimately do more harm than good for a state suffering from skyrocketing healthcare costs.

  • April 23, 2024

    NLRB Defends Bargaining Order Shift At 9th Circ.

    The National Labor Relations Board urged the Ninth Circuit to uphold a decision in which it lessened the standard for issuing bargaining orders against employers who commit labor law violations in response to organizing, saying the revised approach will better deter unfair labor practices.

  • April 23, 2024

    Apple Settles Labor Fight Over COVID-19 Policy At Okla. Store

    An Apple Store in Oklahoma City has agreed to restore the sick time of workers who took off for COVID-19 since last August, pursuant to a recently announced settlement of an unfair labor practice charge filed by the workers' union.

  • April 23, 2024

    Shell Liable For Meme Poster's Back Pay, Energy Co. Says

    The successor owner of Washington state refinery argued the company isn't responsible for a back pay award to a worker fired after posting a meme, saying the previous owner, Shell, is liable for the payments in a United Steelworkers grievance and arbitration dispute.

  • April 23, 2024

    Seattle-Area Ski Instructors Greenlit For Union Vote

    A National Labor Relations Board official has cleared instructors at a ski resort in the Seattle area to vote on union representation during the next ski season.

  • April 23, 2024

    King & Spalding Adds Kirkland Employment Partner In DC

    King & Spalding LLP is boosting its global employment practice with the addition of a Kirkland & Ellis LLP partner who will be part of her new firm's Washington, D.C., office.

  • April 22, 2024

    USW Says EPA Asbestos Ban Doesn't Protect Workers Enough

    The United Steelworkers and the nonprofit Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization called on the D.C. Circuit to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent ban on the most prevalent variety of asbestos, with the union arguing the ban falls short by failing to provide certain interim protections.

  • April 22, 2024

    NLRB Says 3rd Circ. Must Back Solo Action Precedent Shift

    The National Labor Relations Board called on the Third Circuit on Monday to enforce an agency precedent shift over federal labor law protections for a single worker's actions on the job, arguing historical practice backs the board's analysis of concerted activity.

  • April 22, 2024

    Unions Can Refile Tossed ERISA Suit Against Anthem BCBS

    A Connecticut federal judge on Monday threw out a suit against insurers Elevance Health Inc., Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and many of their subsidiaries, but said the trustees of two union health plans who claimed the companies were overpaying administrative and medical costs can try again.

  • April 22, 2024

    NYC Hotel Seeks Order Ending Union's 'Indefinite' Agreements

    A Hyatt hotel near Wall Street urged a New York federal judge to find that certain agreements with "indefinite" terms between a hotel workers union and a previous operator of the hotel can't be enforced, saying those accords aren't part of labor contracts with a hotel association.

  • April 22, 2024

    Nuclear Plant Says Union Health Benefits Fight Not Arbitrable

    A Pennsylvania federal judge should dismiss a union's attempt to force a benefits fight with a nuclear power plant operator into arbitration, the operator argued Monday, saying the dispute isn't arbitrable under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

  • April 22, 2024

    Mich. Top Court Strikes Down Public Union Fee Policies

    The Michigan Supreme Court said Monday a public-sector union cannot charge nonmembers a fee to receive union support in filing a grievance, ruling that doing so violates the organization's duty to fairly represent all employees when the union is the sole representative for workers.

  • April 22, 2024

    NJ Mall Cleaning Co. Unlawfully Fired Workers, NLRB Says

    A New Jersey mall cleaning company violated federal labor law by firing two workers after they met with union organizers, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled, upholding an agency judge's decision.

  • April 22, 2024

    SpaceX Fights NLRB's Structure Again Over Agency Suit

    SpaceX mounted another challenge to the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board's structure in Texas federal court, telling the judge to stop administrative proceedings over an unfair labor practice complaint alleging the company's severance agreement is unlawful.

Expert Analysis

  • Assessing Work Rules After NLRB Handbook Ruling

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    The National Labor Relations Board's Stericycle decision last year sparked uncertainty surrounding whether historically acceptable work rules remain lawful — but employers can use a two-step analysis to assess whether to implement a given rule and how to do so in a compliant manner, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • A Look At Global Employee Disconnect Laws For US Counsel

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    As countries worldwide adopt employee right to disconnect laws, U.S. in-house counsel at corporations with a global workforce must develop a comprehensive understanding of the laws' legal and cultural implications, ensuring their companies can safeguard employee welfare while maintaining legal compliance, say Emma Corcoran and Ute Krudewagen at DLA Piper.

  • Employers Beware Of NLRB Changes On Bad Faith Bargaining

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    Recent National Labor Relations Board decisions show a trend of the agency imposing harsher remedies on employers for bad faith bargaining over union contracts, a position upheld in the Ninth Circuit's recent NLRB v. Grill Concepts Services decision, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • What A Post-Chevron Landscape Could Mean For Labor Law

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Chevron deference expected by the end of June, it’s not too soon to consider how National Labor Relations Act interpretations could be affected if federal courts no longer defer to administrative agencies’ statutory interpretation and regulatory actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Eye On Compliance: Employee Social Media Privacy In NY

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    A New York law that recently took effect restricts employers' ability to access the personal social media accounts of employees and job applicants, signifying an increasing awareness of the need to balance employers' interests with worker privacy and free speech rights, says Madjeen Garcon-Bonneau at Wilson Elser.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • What The NIL Negotiation Rules Injunction Means For NCAA

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    A Tennessee federal court's recent preliminary injunction reverses several prominent and well-established NCAA rules on negotiations with student-athletes over name, image and likeness compensation and shows that collegiate athletics is a profoundly unsettled legal environment, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Takeaways From NLRB Advice On 'Outside' Employment

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    Rebecca Leaf at Miles & Stockbridge examines a recent memo from the National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice that said it’s unlawful for employers to restrict secondary or outside employment, and explains what companies should know about the use of certain restrictive covenants going forward.

  • Shaping Speech Policies After NLRB's BLM Protest Ruling

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    After the National Labor Relations Board decided last month that a Home Depot employee was protected by federal labor law when they wore a Black Lives Matter slogan on their apron, employers should consider four questions in order to mitigate legal risks associated with workplace political speech policies, say Louis Cannon and Cassandra Horton at Baker Donelson.

  • 2026 World Cup: Companies Face Labor Challenges And More

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    Companies sponsoring or otherwise involved with the 2026 FIFA World Cup — hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico — should be proactive in preparing to navigate many legal considerations in immigration, labor management and multijurisdictional workforces surrounding the event, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Eye On Compliance: Workplace March Madness Pools

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    With March Madness set to begin in a few weeks, employers should recognize that workplace sports betting is technically illegal, keeping federal and state gambling laws in mind when determining whether they will permit ever-popular bracket pools, says Laura Stutz at Wilson Elser.

  • There Is No NCAA Supremacy Clause, Especially For NIL

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    A recent Tennessee federal court ruling illustrates the NCAA's problematic position that its member schools should violate state law rather than its rules — and the organization's legal history with the dormant commerce clause raises a fundamental constitutional issue that will have to be resolved before attorneys can navigate NIL with confidence, says Patrick O’Donnell at HWG.