Employment

Expert Analysis

• OFCCP Case Changes The Game For Contractor Pay Audits

  

  An administrative law judge's decision in Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs v. Analogic rejected the theory of disparate impact that the OFCCP applied to sex-based pay discrimination and provides lessons on how contractors should respond to OFCCP pay system audits, say Soul Cherradi of BP, Dan Kuang of Biddle Consulting and attorneys at Bello Welsh.

• Gov't Contractors, Be Prepared For FCA Parallel Proceedings

  

  The continued sprawl of False Claims Act cases warrants scrutiny of one of the statute's less understood characteristics — one set of facts can lead to concurrent or successive proceedings initiated by a combination of criminal, civil or administrative authorities, as well as private plaintiffs, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• Illinois Courts Will Continue To Interpret BIPA Broadly

  

  Against the backdrop of the Illinois Supreme Court's Biometric Information Privacy Act opinion in Rosenbach v. Six Flags, an Illinois appellate court's recent decision in Liu v. Four Seasons reinforces that companies must carefully design and implement stringent BIPA policies to protect against class actions and related liability, say attorneys with Eversheds Sutherland.

• Rebuttal

  Jury Trials, Though In Decline, Are Well Worth Preserving

  

  In a recent Law360 guest article, the author applauded the disappearance of jury trials as an inefficient, costly mechanism, but in doing so he overlooked the greater value of jury trials for our justice system, says Stephen Susman, executive director of the Civil Jury Project at NYU School of Law.

• A Broader View Of The US Supreme Court Bar

  

  During the past 15 years, three widely read articles bolstered by starstruck media have promulgated the incorrect perception — sorely in need of revision — that the U.S. Supreme Court bar is limited to a handful of elite lawyers, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy.

• The Potential Impact Of Reversing Chevron Deference

  

  Some questions during U.S. Supreme oral arguments in Kisor v. Wilkie suggested a willingness to overturn Auer deference. If this leads to the scuttling of Chevron deference, rapidly evolving areas of law like labor and employment could benefit from a return to courts addressing ambiguities in federal statutes, says Michael Abcarian of Fisher Phillips.

• Are Calif. Real Estate Agents Still Independent Contractors?

  

  The California Supreme Court's Dynamex decision makes it very difficult for real estate brokerage firms to continue treating their agents as independent contractors, but there are some glimmers of hope for firms, say Mary Watson Fisher and Anna Greenstin Kudla of Walsworth.

• Trade Secret Takeaways From 9th Circ. Beer Recipe Ruling

  

  The Ninth Circuit's recent opinion in Anheuser-Busch v. Clark — concerning AB’s beer recipe and brewing process — underscores the importance of providing the court with ample evidence of an employer’s efforts to keep its trade secrets confidential in the face of an anti-SLAPP motion, says Dan Forman of Carothers DiSante.

• Kickstarter's Unionizing Efforts May Signal New Trend In Tech

  

  Historically, employee organizing efforts at tech companies have been limited to lower-paying positions, but Kickstarter employees' recently announced plans to unionize could signal a shift toward increased unionizing efforts by tech workers in higher-paid positions, says Candice Zee of Vedder Price.

• New Chancery Guidance On Books And Records Law

  

  The Delaware Court of Chancery’s recent decisions in Schnatter, Tempur-Sealy and CHC Investments further delineate the metes and bounds of a stockholder's right to obtain a company's books and records, say attorneys with Winston & Strawn.