Employment

Expert Analysis

• How Emotionally Intelligent AI Could Assist With E-Discovery

  

  While artificial intelligence has already revolutionized the e-discovery field, the development of emotionally intelligent AI promises to explore data in an even more nuanced and human way, thereby further reducing the burden on legal teams, say Lisa Prowse and Brian Schrader at e-discovery services provider BIA.

• Justices' View Of Their Role May Influence LGBTQ Bias Cases

  

  Arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 8 in a trio of Title VII discrimination cases involving gay and transgender workers show the decisions may hinge on whether the justices feel they should ensure case law evolves to remain relevant or interpret the legislature’s intent, say Donna McElroy and Katina Zampas at Dykema.

• 9th Circ. Ruling Returns Stability To Joint Employer Test

  

  By applying a traditional control-type test to hold that McDonald’s was not a joint employer of its franchisee’s employees, the Ninth Circuit last week in Salazar v. McDonald’s injected a welcome dose of clarity and common sense into a volatile area of law, say Andrew Murphy and Lauren Linderman at FaegreBD.

• Unpacking The Harvard Admissions Ruling And What's Next

  

  While a Massachusetts federal judge's decision last week in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard is a welcome development for institutions that rely on race-conscious admission practices, it also illustrates the exhaustive steps needed to justify what are often modest uses of race, say Scott Schneider and Paige Duggins-Clay at Husch Blackwell.

• Preventable Risks Your Law Firm May Be Overlooking

  

  Although most lawyers are well-prepared to defend or justify the value of an insurance claim for clients, often law firms have not clearly identified their own potential liabilities, planned for adequate insurance or established prudent internal risk management practices, says Victor Sordillo at Sompo International.

• 6 Ethics Tips For Attorneys Making Lateral Transfers

  

  With lateral transfers between law firms on the rise, it is more important than ever for partners to understand the steps they must take to adhere to ethics rules and other requirements when making a transition, say attorneys at Harris Wiltshire.

• Options For Calif. Franchisors After New Contractor Standards

  

  Recent judicial and legislative developments in California that make it harder to classify workers as independent contractors have left franchisors with lots of questions, but some safeguards may lessen the risk of liability when franchisees fail to comply with labor laws, say Jonathan Solish and Glenn Plattner at Bryan Cave.

• How SAG-AFTRA Altered Its Deal With Signatory Cos.

  

  The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union recently reached an agreement with six companies covering the hiring of talent for commercials, but there are reasons to think the deal may not necessarily result in more union productions and union jobs, says Brian Murphy of Frankfurt Kurnit.

• Philadelphia Is Emerging As A Leader On Workplace Regs

  

  Following a minimum wage increase and new pay equity and ban the box laws enacted over the last few years, the Philadelphia City Council recently passed two more workplace statutes, demonstrating a trend that has thrust the city to the forefront of municipalities instituting worker protections, say Rick Grimaldi and Samantha Bononno at Fisher Phillips.

• Opinion

  Erosion Of Bristol-Myers Test In Class Actions Is Misguided

  

  In two pending class actions, the Seventh Circuit and the D.C. Circuit may be slated to water down the U.S. Supreme Court's Bristol-Myers holding that state courts do not have specific, personal jurisdiction over nonresident plaintiffs' claims, even though there is no policy justification for treating class actions differently, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Employers Look To NJ High Court For Clarity On Medical Pot

  

  The New Jersey Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings will implicate and affect not only the state’s authorizing statute for medical cannabis, but also its anti-discrimination law and a new statute that expanded protections for workers who use medical marijuana, says Ruth Rauls of Saul Ewing.

• Bid Protest Spotlight: Task-Order Value, Discretion, OCIs

  

  In this month's bid protest roundup, Sandeep Nandivada of Morrison & Foerster looks at two September decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, covering task-order jurisdiction and agency discretion to implement corrective action, and one from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on standards for organizational conflicts of interest.

• NY Pay Frequency Ruling May Expand Employer Liability

  

  In Vega v. CM & Associates Construction Management, a New York appellate court recently recognized for manual workers a private cause of action and the ability to recover liquidated damages when they have been paid late, a decision that could lead to an uptick in pay frequency claims, say Leni Battaglia and Melissa Rodriguez at Morgan Lewis.

• State Net

  Battles Still Rage Over Calif. Data, Worker Classification Laws

  

  California is set to be reshaped soon by two pieces of legislation — one on data privacy, and one on worker classification — but numerous attempts by lawmakers to amend both laws, and the possibility of ballot measures that may further alter them, are clouding the picture, says Rich Ehisen of State Net Capitol Journal.

• 10th Circ. Ruling Is Cogent Reminder Of Employer ADA Duties

  

  In Mestas v. Town of Evansville, the Tenth Circuit demonstrated that employers must recognize when an employee’s statements constitute an accommodation request under the Americans with Disabilities Act, even if they are not explicitly phrased that way, says Linda Dwoskin at Dechert.