Wage & Hour

  • April 18, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Court Weighs $20M Raytheon Cos. Wage Deal

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for potential initial approval of an almost $20 million class action settlement involving three Raytheon companies. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • April 18, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge Hears Hospital's Bid To Nix Race Bias Suit

    In the coming week, a New York federal judge will consider a hospital's request to toss a suit brought by a doctor who claims she was discriminated against on the basis of her race and gender and retaliated against when she complained.

  • April 18, 2025

    CFPB Mass Layoffs Blocked Again In DC Court

    A D.C. federal judge once again halted the layoffs of more than 1,000 employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, saying at an emergency hearing Friday morning that she needed a full record to determine whether the firings complied with a D.C. Circuit order from last week.

  • April 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Tosses Objections To $10.4M CVS Wage Settlement

    A pharmacist's objections to a $10.4 million settlement of a wage and hour class action affecting 24,000 CVS employees hold no weight, a Ninth Circuit panel found, ruling Thursday that a California federal judge adequately considered the merits of each objection before tossing them.

  • April 17, 2025

    Filipino Workers Say FEMA Contractor Cheated Them On Pay

    A construction company with $88 million worth of Federal Emergency Management Agency contracts recruited 17 Filipino workers, promising fair wages and free housing, but instead cheated them out of pay and housed them in unsanitary conditions, a suit filed Thursday in the Northern Mariana Islands federal court claims.

  • April 17, 2025

    5 Overtime Claims Employers Keep Facing

    As the federal rules shift around overtime exemptions, employers often get hit with claims that they misclassified workers as exempt, failed to include bonuses in overtime math and paid a flat rate even when work went beyond 40 hours a week. Here, Law360 explores common overtime claims and how to avoid them.

  • April 17, 2025

    Rental Car Cos. Misclassify Workers, Suit Says

    A staffing company and several rental car companies including Hertz incorrectly classify workers as independent contractors to save costs and avoid paying them overtime wages, according to a proposed class and collective action filed in Virginia federal court.

  • April 17, 2025

    AFL-CIO, Unions Can Pursue Some DOGE Access Claims

    The AFL-CIO, unions and advocacy groups may pursue allegations that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency lacks the power to access data from the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled while tossing some claims under federal administrative and privacy law.

  • April 17, 2025

    'Latter-Day Machiavelli' Defamed Calif. Law Firm, Court Told

    California employment law firm Lawyers for Justice PC has filed a suit in state court accusing one of its former clients of defamation in what the firm calls "a scorched-earth crusade against her former attorneys."

  • April 17, 2025

    2nd Circ. Reverses Packaging Workers' Rejected Wage Deal

    The Second Circuit gave workers another chance to win approval of their $840,000 deal with a packaging supplies manufacturer over claims of unpaid wages, saying a lower court shouldn't have considered their attorney's alleged misconduct in another case as basis for deeming his counsel inadequate in this one.

  • April 17, 2025

    Travel Tech Co. Accused Of Misclassifying Sales Workers

    A travel technology company incorrectly classifies sales employees as exempt from earning overtime wages despite their job duties not falling under any overtime exemption, a proposed class action filed in Colorado state court said.

  • April 17, 2025

    Ex-Dole Employee Can't Swap Other Worker Into PAGA Suit

    A California trial court correctly prevented a former Dole employee from substituting himself in his Private Attorneys General Act case with another worker suing the company, a state appeals court ruled, saying the two workers didn't have much in common.

  • April 17, 2025

    NYC Strikes Deal To End Housing Workers' OT Suit

    New York City struck a deal to resolve a housing development worker's collective action accusing it of running afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act by stiffing city employees on overtime wages, a federal court filing said.

  • April 16, 2025

    Southwest Moves Union's Sick Leave Fight To Federal Court

    Southwest Airlines has moved a union lawsuit challenging its sick leave settlement with the state of Colorado to federal court, after the union amended its complaint to add a proposed class of flight attendants also challenging the deal.

  • April 16, 2025

    JetBlue Hit With Meal Break, Back Pay Class Suit In Wash.

    JetBlue Airways Corp. is the target of a proposed class action in Washington state court from workers who allege the airline owes them for sick leave and breaks, as well as back pay for new hires, who had to study for mandatory orientation and job assessments.

  • April 16, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says FAA Doesn't Apply To Drivers' Distributor Pact

    The Third Circuit nixed on Wednesday a New Jersey lower court's order making a father-son delivery driver duo arbitrate their wage and hour claims against tortilla producer Gruma Corp., finding the Federal Arbitration Act does not apply to the parties' distributor contract.

  • April 16, 2025

    Orgs. Sue DOL Over Termination Of Int'l Labor Rights Projects

    Three nonprofits have filed suit in D.C. federal court to have the U.S. Department of Labor reinstate cooperative agreements aimed at supporting workers' rights programs abroad, claiming that the department, at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency, terminated the agreements based on "policy disagreement."

  • April 16, 2025

    Wash. AG Says Seattle Public Schools Shows Pregnancy Bias

    Seattle Public Schools fails to provide pregnant and nursing employees with accommodations such as flexible bathroom breaks and retaliates against workers who request pregnancy-related accommodations, the Washington state attorney general said in a new lawsuit.

  • April 16, 2025

    UnitedHealth Sanctioned For Excluding Wage Class Members

    A New Mexico federal judge slapped sanctions on UnitedHealthcare for its "dilatory and dismissive tactics" in evading care coordinators' request for a complete dossier of class members in their wage and hour settlement, saying the company should foot the bill for several months of litigation.

  • April 16, 2025

    Novel Equal Pay Laws Double-Edged Sword, Advocate Says

    Worker-side attorney Schwanda Rountree said she is optimistic about pay transparency empowering employees but wary of how other developments in equal pay-adjacent areas and return-to-work policies may inadvertently hurt workers. Here, Law360 speaks with Rountree about how pay-gap issues will evolve.

  • April 16, 2025

    Workers Ask Michigan Judge To OK Boot-Up Suit Deal

    A home healthcare company has agreed to pay about $86,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing it of not paying employees for the time they spent booting up their computers, a former insurance specialist said, asking a Michigan federal court to greenlight the deal.

  • April 16, 2025

    Pa. Law Firm Escapes Ex-Paralegal's Bias Claims, For Now

    A federal judge largely nixed a suit brought by a former paralegal for a Pennsylvania law firm who claimed she was fired for taking medical leave to treat her panic disorder, ruling her complaint was short on specifics about whether she was disabled under the law.

  • April 16, 2025

    Papa Gino's Sued For Allegedly Underpaying Delivery Drivers

    New England pizza chain Papa Gino's pays delivery drivers a lower tipped minimum wage while hindering their ability to earn gratuities, according to a proposed class action filed in Massachusetts state court.

  • April 16, 2025

    Law Firm Must Face Trial For Ex-CPO's Retaliation Claims

    A personal injury law firm can't dodge a suit from its former chief people officer accusing the firm of firing her after she raised concerns about pay bias, a Tennessee federal judge ruled, because the firm didn't back up its claim that she was fired for insubordination. 

  • April 15, 2025

    PepsiCo Sued Over Workers' Unpaid COVID Screenings

    A former machine operator is suing PepsiCo Inc. in Illinois federal court for wage theft, claiming he and others were never paid for the time they spent going through the company's mandatory COVID-19 safety processing that was conducted before each shift.

Expert Analysis

  • Acquiring A Company That Uses A Professional Employer Org.

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    With the professional employer organization industry rapidly expanding, those seeking to acquire a company that uses a PEO should understand there are several employment- and benefits-related complexities, especially in regard to retirement, health and welfare plans, say Megan Monson and Taryn Cannataro at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • What Could Lie Ahead For Prop 22 After Calif. Appellate Ruling

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    On the heels of a California appeals court’s recent decision to uphold Proposition 22 — which allows gig companies to classify workers as independent contractors — an analysis of related rulings and legislation over the past five years should provide context for the next phase of this battle, says Rex Berry at Signature Resolution.

  • 3rd Circ. Ruling Offers Tools To Manage Exempt Employees

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    The Third Circuit’s recent opinion in Higgins v. Bayada Home Health, finding the Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to deduct paid time off for missed employee productivity targets, gives companies another resource for managing exempt employee inefficiency or absenteeism, says Laura Lawless at Squire Patton.

  • Illinois Paid Leave Law May Create Obstacles For Employers

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    Illinois' Paid Leave for All Workers Act, which goes into effect next year, could create issues and potential liability for employers due to its ambiguity, so companies should review and modify existing workplace policies to prevent challenges, including understaffing, says Matt Tyrrell at Schoenberg Finkel.

  • What Employers Must Know About FLSA 'Salary Basis' Rule

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    To satisfy the salary basis requirement for administrative, executive and professional employee exemptions under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must take care not to jeopardize employees' exempt status through improper deductions, says Adriana Kosovych at Epstein Becker.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Quiet Quitting Insights From 'Seinfeld'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Paradies Lagardere's Rebecca Silk about George Costanza's "quiet quitting" tendencies in "Seinfeld" and how such employees raise thorny productivity-monitoring issues for employers.

  • How FLSA Actions Are Playing Out Amid Split On Opt-In Issue

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    Courts are currently split on whether opt-in plaintiffs in collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act who join a lawsuit filed by another employee must establish personal jurisdiction, but the resolution could come sooner than one might expect, say Matt Abee and Debbie Durban at Nelson Mullins.

  • Pros And Cons As Calif. Employers Rethink Forced Arbitration

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    As California employers reconsider mandatory arbitration pacts following favorable high-profile federal and state court rulings, they should contemplate the benefits and burdens of such agreements, and fine-tune contract language to ensure continued enforcement, say Niki Lubrano and Brian Cole at CDF Labor Law.

  • What Calif. Employers Need To Know About Wage Theft

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    With the attention of the media, as well as California's state and local governments, now focused on wage theft, more Golden State employers face a dual threat of enforcement and negative publicity, so companies should take specific steps to make sure they don't find their name in the next story, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • Eye On Compliance: Cross-State Noncompete Agreements

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent proposal to limit the application of worker noncompete agreements is a timely reminder for prudent employers to reexamine their current policies and practices around such covenants — especially businesses with operational footprints spanning more than one state, says Jeremy Stephenson at Wilson Elser.

  • A DOL Reminder That ADA Doesn't Limit FMLA Protections

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    A recent U.S. Department of Labor opinion letter and some case law make clear that the Family and Medical Leave Act fills in gaps where the Americans with Disabilities Act may not neatly apply, however the agency ignored a number of courts that have supported termination when "no overtime" restrictions effectively reduce a position to part-time, says Jeff Nowak at Littler Mendelson.

  • Pending NCAA Ruling Could Spell Change For Unpaid Interns

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    The Third Circuit's upcoming Johnson v. NCAA decision, over whether student-athletes can be considered university employees, could reverberate beyond college sports and force employers with unpaid student interns to add these workers to their payrolls, say Babak Yousefzadeh and Skyler Hicks at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How Managers Can Curb Invisible Off-The-Clock Work Claims

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    There has been a rash of recent federal lawsuits in which nonexempt employees have alleged their employers failed to pay them for off-the-clock work done without their managers' knowledge, but employers taking proactive measures to limit such work may substantially lower litigation risks, says Robert Turk at Stearns Weaver.