Wage & Hour

  • April 15, 2025

    LSU Must Face Former Attys' Retaliation Claim

    Louisiana State University cannot escape two former in-house attorneys' claim alleging their new job offers were rescinded after they raised concerns about gender equity, a federal judge ruled, rejecting the school's argument that the women forfeited their rights under federal discrimination laws.

  • April 15, 2025

    Amazon Fights Flex Drivers' Class Cert. Bid In Tip Suit

    A suit accusing Amazon of not paying tips to over 150,000 Amazon Flex drivers is "heavily fact-dependent" and should not move forward as a class, the company told a Washington federal court, adding that the lead plaintiffs already receive money for those claims.

  • April 15, 2025

    Strike Nurses Sue Staffing Co. Over Wage, Break Pay

    A group of workers hired by a provider of temporary staff nurses to work at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California during a 2023 strike have filed a lawsuit against the staffing company, alleging it refused to pay for training time and meal breaks.

  • April 15, 2025

    Dunkin' Franchise Owners In Mass. Settle Wage, OT Claims

    The owners of more than 60 Dunkin' franchises across the Bay State and a group of current and former store managers are finalizing a settlement of claims that the coffee chain flouted wage laws, according to a filing in Massachusetts federal court.

  • April 15, 2025

    4th Circ. Overturns Fee Award In Maryland Wage Dispute

    The Fourth Circuit upended an order awarding lower-than-requested fees to attorneys representing workers in an unpaid overtime lawsuit against a nail salon, ruling Tuesday that a lower court was wrong to give so much authority to Maryland hourly rate guidelines.

  • April 15, 2025

    DOJ Drops Equal Pay Suit Against Mississippi Senate

    A U.S. Department of Justice suit accusing the Mississippi state Senate of paying a Black attorney less than her white colleagues came to an end in federal court Tuesday after the government agreed to toss the case.

  • April 15, 2025

    McDonald's, Dunkin' Franchisees Resolve Child Labor Claims

    The owners of Dunkin' and McDonald's franchises in Massachusetts have reached settlements over allegations they violated the state's child labor laws, while a Subway franchise operator has been fined, according to a Tuesday press release.

  • April 15, 2025

    Hospital Co. Strikes $525K Deal To End Wage Suit

    A system of hospitals and medical facilities agreed to pay $525,000 to resolve a collective action accusing it of deducting pay from workers' paychecks for meal periods they rarely were able to take, an Arizona federal court filing said.

  • April 14, 2025

    Justice Dept. Lands 1st Wage-Fixing Jury Trial Conviction

    A Nevada federal jury on Monday convicted a nursing executive on wage-fixing charges, the first antitrust charge to succeed before a jury in a string of U.S. Department of Justice prosecutions targeting antitrust violations in labor markets.

  • April 14, 2025

    8th Circ. Backs DOL's $255K Win In Misclassification Suit

    The Eighth Circuit declined Monday to upend a nearly $255,000 verdict in favor of the U.S. Department of Labor in its lawsuit accusing a nonemergency medical transportation company of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, saying the company failed to show the scope of the trial was improper.

  • April 14, 2025

    Akerman Calls Back Labor And Employment Atty As Partner

    Management-side firm Akerman LLP added a partner to its labor and employment practice group in Chicago who is returning to the firm after seven years and called going back "a homecoming."

  • April 14, 2025

    Musk's X Sued Over Wash. Worker Severance Pay, Bonuses

    About 150 former Twitter workers in Washington have sued X Corp., saying that since Elon Musk took over and slashed its workforce, the social media platform has illegally refused to engage in arbitration over claims from laid-off workers who say they have been stiffed on promised severance pay and bonuses.

  • April 14, 2025

    DC Medical Drivers Get Partial Win In Wage Suit

    A class of drivers alleging a medical transportation services company didn't pay full wages succeeded on its claim that the firm is a general contractor to other companies that directly employed the drivers, but failed to show the firm was the workers' joint employer, a D.C. federal judge ruled.

  • April 14, 2025

    NCAA Wins Redacted Document Spat In Volunteer Coach Suit

    A group of plaintiffs suing the NCAA over suppressed wages for volunteer coaches lost its bid to force the organization to turn over an unredacted version of a particular document, with a Monday ruling asserting the information is protected by attorney-client privilege.

  • April 14, 2025

    Greenblatt Pierce Wins DuPont Wage Case Fee Spat With Atty

    Philadelphia firm Greenblatt Pierce Funt & Flores LLC has been awarded fees in a case against a former member who took over an employment class action against DuPont, with a city judge ruling that it was entitled to a piece of the settlement's fee for the work it put into the case.

  • April 14, 2025

    Ex-Reed Smith Atty Gets Review Of NJ Bias Damages Limit

    The New Jersey state appeals court has said it will consider a former Reed Smith LLP labor and employment lawyer's appeal of a ruling that damages in her gender discrimination suit against the firm can only go as far back as the start date of a New Jersey equal pay law.

  • April 14, 2025

    Judge Blocks $1.3M Deal In Background Checks Row

    A $1.3 million deal between workers and a logistics company they accused of not telling almost 30,000 job applicants they were undergoing background checks won't go forward because the children's charity that would receive unclaimed funds has no link to the workers, a California federal judge ruled.

  • April 11, 2025

    Dallas Jury Clears Omni Hotels Of Gender-Based Pay Bias

    A Dallas federal court jury on Friday cleared Omni Hotels Management Corp. of gender discrimination accusations in Omni's second go at defending against the suit before a jury, handing Omni a clean victory after the Fifth Circuit ordered a new trial.

  • April 11, 2025

    As Dems Seek To Raise Wage Floor, Others Float Abolishing It

    While Democrats in Congress try again to raise the federal minimum wage for the first time in more than 15 years, some libertarian policy observers call for doing away with the federal wage floor altogether, an argument they say makes more sense than ever before.

  • April 11, 2025

    Ex-Exec Alleges Rampant Sex Harassment At Car Auction Co.

    A female former human resources chief at an online vehicle auction company was fired for speaking up against male executives' unchecked sexual misconduct and reporting that women in leadership received less compensation than men, according to a complaint filed in Texas state court.

  • April 11, 2025

    Okla. Trucking Co. Accused Of Misclassifying Drivers

    A trucking company incorrectly classifies delivery drivers as independent contractors even though it controls "every aspect" of its drivers' work, according to a proposed class and collective action filed in Oklahoma federal court.

  • April 11, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Tesla Seeks To Split Up WARN Suit

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for a potential ruling on a motion to send a worker's individual WARN Act claims against Tesla to arbitration and stay or dismiss nonindividual claims the worker is bringing. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in the Golden State.

  • April 11, 2025

    Ex-BofA Worker Seeks Class Status Over Unpaid PTO

    Bank of America applies the same nationwide policy of not paying unused vacation time when employees part ways with the company, a former lending officer said, urging a California federal court to grant her case class certification.

  • April 11, 2025

    Plumbing Co.'s Wage Talk Ban Was Illegal, NLRB Judge Says

    A plumbing company in Utah threatened to fire employees for talking about compensation and terminated a worker in violation of federal labor law, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, finding the owner of the business can't bar employees from discussing pay with one another.

  • April 11, 2025

    EPA Workers Allege Discrimination Over Indefinite Leave

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees dedicated to working on issues facing poor and minority communities exposed to disproportionate pollution say in a new complaint that the EPA is discriminating against them by forcing them into indefinite leave.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Potential Perils Of Implementing Employee Sabbaticals

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    As companies try to retain employees with sabbatical benefits amid record-low unemployment rates, employers should be aware of several potential legal risks when considering policies to allow these leave periods, say Jesse Dill and Corissa Pennow at Ogletree.

  • NY Hospitality Employers Face Lofty Compliance Burden

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    As New York hospitality businesses have reopened over the last year, there are more employment compliance considerations now than ever before, including regulations and laws related to wage rates, tip credits, just cause and uniform maintenance pay, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • COVID's Impact On Employment Law Is Still Felt 3 Years Later

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    Since COVID-19's onset in the U.S. three years ago, almost every existing aspect of employment law has been shaped by pandemic-induced changes, including accommodation requests under the Americans with Disabilities Act, remote work policies and employer vaccine mandates, say Scott Allen and M.C. Cravatta at Foley & Lardner.

  • Ecolab Ruling Opens Doors For Percentage Bonuses In Calif.

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    California's Second Appellate District recently became the first court in the state to clear the air on percentage bonuses, providing employers who have wanted to offer such bonuses with a new option to do so without having to recalculate the overtime regular rate, says Paul Lynd at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How Employers Can Defend Against Claims Made In Bad Faith

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    When an employer becomes aware of an employee complaint, it should carefully research whether the claim could be characterized as frivolous or in bad faith, and then consider various defense strategies, say Ellen Holloman and Jaclyn Hall at Cadwalader.

  • Encouraging Labor Abuse Reports Beyond The PAGA Model

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    The recent stalling of several state bills modeled after California's Private Attorneys General Act, which would allow workers to sue on behalf of the state over labor violations, suggests budget-constrained regulators should consider alternative tools for incentivizing employees to flag workplace abuses, says Joseph Jeziorkowski at Valiant Law.

  • Eye On Compliance: Service Animal Accommodations

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    A Michigan federal court's recent ruling in Bennett v. Hurley Medical Center provides guidance on when employee service animals must be permitted in the workplace — a question otherwise lacking clarity under the Americans with Disabilities Act that has emerged as people return to the office post-pandemic, says Lauren Stadler at Wilson Elser.

  • Joint Employment Mediation Sessions Are Worth The Work

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    Despite the recent trend away from joint mediation in employment disputes, and the prevailing belief that putting both parties in the same room is only a recipe for lost ground, face-to-face sessions can be valuable tools for moving toward win-win resolutions when planned with certain considerations in mind, says Jonathan Andrews at Signature Resolution.

  • Takeaways From Virgin's Wage And Hour Class Action Loss

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    A California district court recently issued a $31 million judgment against Virgin America in a wage and hour class action brought by flight attendants, a reminder that the state Labor Code's reach extends beyond the Golden State when the facts show a strong connection to work performed there, says Julie O’Dell at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • There's More To The Helix FLSA Opinion Than Meets The Eye

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    At first blush, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Helix decision seems remarkable for its determination that an oil rig worker who makes $200,000 a year can still be entitled to overtime, but the decision also offers two more important takeaways about how the Fair Labor Standards Act may be applied, says Nicholas Woodfield at The Employment Law Group.

  • What Employers Need To Know About New Breastfeeding Law

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    The recently enacted federal PUMP Act expands employers' existing obligations to provide breaks and space for certain employees to express breast milk, so employers should review the requirements and take steps to ensure that workers' rights are protected, say Sara Abarbanel and Katelynn Williams at Foley & Lardner.

  • 6 Labor Compliance Questions For Infrastructure Contractors

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    Eric Leonard at Wiley provides a checklist to help both traditional and nontraditional government contractors identify and understand the enhanced labor and employment compliance obligations they assume by taking on a project funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Termination Lessons From 'WeCrashed'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Fulton Bank’s Allison Snyder about how the show “WeCrashed” highlights pitfalls companies should avoid when terminating workers, even when the employment is at will.