Mealey's Employment : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Employment

September 03, 2025
8th Circuit Upholds Firing Of Worker Who Says CBD Oil Caused Failed Drug Test

ST. LOUIS — An Arkansas employer has the right to fire an employee at any time “for good cause, no cause, or even a morally wrong cause” under Arkansas’ employment-at-will doctrine, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in a per curiam unpublished opinion issued in a case brought by an employee who sued over his firing after failing a drug test, the results of which he attributed to the use of cannabidiol (CBD) oil for back pain from an on-the-job injury.
August 29, 2025
8th Circuit Reverses Dismissal, Summary Judgment Rulings For BNSF In EEOC Suit

OMAHA, Neb. — A trial court judge erred in granting partial dismissal and summary judgment to a railway accused by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of creating a hostile work environment for a female employee as well as a class of similarly situated female workers, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Aug. 28, opining that a heightened pleading standard was applied in error when dismissing the claims of the class of women and that genuine issues of material fact should have prevented the summary judgment ruling.
August 29, 2025
Federal Reserve Governor Sues, Seeks TRO After Purported Firing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook on Aug. 28 filed a complaint and a motion for a temporary retraining order (TRO) in a federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking to halt her purported firing three days earlier announced by President Donald J. Trump on his social media account.
August 29, 2025
$8.5M Settlement OK’d In Worker’s Suit Alleging Calif. Wage-And-Hour Violations

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted final approval of an $8.5 million class and representative settlement, ending wage-and-hour claims brought by one employee under California law against an engineering conglomerate accused of failing to provide meal and rest breaks, overtime and minimum wages and expenses.
August 28, 2025
Jury’s Award Partially Upheld In Pandemic Speech Case; New Trial For 1 Claim

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut partially denied a renewed motion for judgment notwithstanding a jury verdict or for a new trial filed by a Connecticut school board and principal after a jury awarded a Connecticut teacher $1.1 million on her claims that she was subjected to retaliation and defamation after making public comments and social media comments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic; the judge left in place $475,000 awarded for a retaliation claim brought under state law and a defamation claim and ordered a new trial on the teacher’s retaliation claim brought under federal law.
August 28, 2025
2nd Circuit Says Strip Clubs Must Supply Subpoenaed Worker Info In Title VII Case

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that the operators of two New York gentlemen’s clubs must submit pedigree information about their employees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that was requested through subpoenas as part of an investigation into a former employee’s Title VII sexual discrimination and harassment claims, finding the trial court “sensibly concluded” that the requests were relevant to the case and not “overly burdensome.”
August 27, 2025
11th Circuit: Lump-Sum Payments Shortchanged Top Hat Plan Participants

ATLANTA — Affirming summary judgment and remedies rulings for a class of nearly 200 executives who participated in so-called “top hat” plans, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 26 agreed with the lower court that the 2013 lump-sum payments at issue violated the plan terms because they “‘adversely affected’ the ‘accrued benefit’ of at least some participants.”
August 26, 2025
Divided 6th Circuit Remands Parts Of Fired Mail Clerk’s FMLA Case To Trial Court

CINCINNATI — A divided Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a Michigan federal judge incorrectly opined that a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) “medical certification can create a hard cap on unforeseeable intermittent FMLA leave” in reversing and remanding parts of a discrimination and retaliation suit a fired mail clerk filed against the United States Postal Service (USPS) over unexcused absences he took to treat his sickle cell anemia.
August 26, 2025
Illinois Panel Reverses Class Certification In Pepperidge Farm BIPA Case

CHICAGO — A trial court must “make explicit findings as to whether any possible conflict of interest” exists as to class counsel in an Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) case brought against Pepperidge Farm Inc. by an employee, an Illinois appellate panel ruled Aug. 25, reversing class certification after the sole named plaintiff’s daughter’s firm was permitted to remain as class counsel.
August 26, 2025
Labor Secretary Argues Against High Court Review Of DOL Interaction, Travel Pay

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should not grant a home health agency’s petition seeking review of two questions concerning the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Portal-to-Portal Act (PPA) and a finding of a willful violation, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) secretary writes in an Aug. 25 opposition brief, arguing that the case is “an unsuitable vehicle to consider” the willful violation question and there is no circuit split when it comes to the ruling on pay for time spent traveling between worksites.
August 22, 2025
Panel: Ga. Trial Court Erred Allowing FELA Case To Proceed Without Expert Testimony

ATLANTA — A Georgia trial court erred in refusing to grant summary judgment to Norfolk Southern Railway Co. because its employee, who claims that strenuous work on the railroad caused his injuries, lacked expert testimony to prove medical causation, the state appeals court held in reversing.
August 22, 2025
Vaccine Refuser Who Court Found Failed To Make Out Discrimination Claim Appeals

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After a North Carolina federal judge granted summary judgment to an employer in a former employee’s lawsuit stemming from her termination for declining to become vaccinated for COVID-19, having found that the employee failed to establish a prima facie case of failure to accommodate her religious beliefs or of racial discrimination, the employee on Aug. 21 filed a notice of appeal to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
August 22, 2025
Hospital Says Vaccine Mandate Not State Act, Did Not Violate Constitutional Rights

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Arguing that it is not a state actor and that former employees’ constitutional rights were not violated, a university health system moved to dismiss the second amended complaint of former employees alleging violations of their constitutional rights to “bodily autonomy, medical privacy and equal protection” caused by the health system’s mandatory COVID-19 policy and seeking damages under Section 1983 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code.
August 21, 2025
Federal Judge Denies Injunction Pending Appeal In Fired Register Of Copyrights’ Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia on Aug. 20 denied a motion for an injunction pending appeal filed by the register of copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office who sued after she was purportedly fired in May by President Donald J. Trump and was denied a preliminary injunction in her case; a similar motion remains pending before the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
August 21, 2025
Deal Reported In Former Twitter Workers’ $500M Lawsuit For Severance

SAN FRANCISCO — In a joint Aug. 20 filing citing an unspecified “imminent class-wide settlement agreement,” the parties in an appeal where former Twitter Inc. employees received support from amicus curiae the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in seeking revival of their putative class action for more than $500 million in severance benefits asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to postpone oral argument that is scheduled for Sept. 17.
August 21, 2025
Judge: Pension Trust Must Pay Class Nearly $25M In Early Retirement Row

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Wrapping up a 6-year-old Employee Retirement Income Security Act case filed by labor union members whose early retirement benefits were stopped or denied because of non-boilermaker work, a Kansas federal judge ordered defendants to pay class members a total of $24,851,056 and to refrain from “acting in a manner that is contrary to” an April 30 summary judgment order.
August 20, 2025
Modified Class Certified In USAID Workers’ Shutdown Suit

GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge in Maryland certified a modified class of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) workers who allege that actions by Elon Musk and others in the federal government to shut down the agency violate the U.S. Constitution.
August 20, 2025
5th Circuit Reverses ‘Quorum Clause’ Ruling That Enjoined Pregnant Workers Act

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority found that a constitutional “quorum clause” does not require U.S. Congress members to be physically present to make up a voting quorum, reversing and vacating a Texas federal judge’s ruling that the clause required physical presence and trumped a COVID-19-era rule that allowed voting by proxy during the passage of federal legislation that established the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA).
August 20, 2025
State Farm Says 6th Circuit Cat’s Paw Ruling Warrants Review In Fired Worker Case

CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority’s finding that the existence of proximate cause in a cat’s paw case supports its ruling that a fired State Farm employee who helped a disabled coworker seek an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation can pursue retaliation claims pursuant to the ADA and Ohio law is grounds for panel rehearing or en banc review, State Farms claims in a petition.
August 20, 2025
Split D.C. Circuit: CFPB Firings Claims Must Go Through CSRA Review Scheme

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated a trial court’s preliminary injunction in a case over the termination of more than 1,400 workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) after the majority ruled that the claims related to loss of employment “must proceed through the specialized-review scheme established in the Civil Service Reform Act.”
August 20, 2025
5th Circuit Denies Rehearing After Affirming Dismissal Of Suit Over NLRB Memo

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals treated a petition for rehearing en banc filed by staffing companies as a petition for panel rehearing and denied it, leaving in place a panel majority ruling that a federal court in Texas properly dismissed for lack of standing the companies’ complaint alleging that a memorandum by the then-National Labor Relations Board general counsel enforced a new interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which they claimed “prohibits employers from speaking to employees about unionization.”
August 20, 2025
Split 5th Circuit Upholds Preliminary Injunctions Halting NLRB ULP Proceedings

NEW ORLEANS — Three trial courts properly issued preliminary injunctions in three cases challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board that halted unfair labor practice (ULP) complaints against three employers, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority ruled Aug. 19, opining that the employers “made their case” regarding the dual for-cause removal protections for administrative law judges (ALJs) and NLRB members and “[w]hen an agency’s structure violates the separation of powers, the harm is immediate—and the remedy must be, too.”
August 20, 2025
5th Circuit Remands Louisiana Dock Operator’s Claims Over COVID-19 Vaccine Firing

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that a Louisiana dock operator who was fired for failing to get a COVID-19 vaccine after denial of a religious exemption request presented “sufficient evidence” to pursue claims of religious discrimination and disparate treatment, reversing and remanding the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to his former employer.
August 20, 2025
10th Circuit Affirms $62,430 Fee Award, Other Rulings Against Pro Se Appellant

DENVER — Issuing an unpublished order on two appeals that sprang from the same case, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal and summary judgment rulings against a man who filed a pro se suit over the fallout from an externship he took part in after suffering a stroke as a law student; the panel also upheld an order requiring the man to pay one defendant $62,430 for attorney fees, which was half of what the defendant had sought.
August 19, 2025
Preliminary Injunction Granted In Suit Challenging EO Limiting Right To Organize

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three unions sufficiently established irreparable harm, a federal judge in the District of Columbia said in granting their motion for a preliminary injunction in a case challenging a March presidential executive order (EO) that removed various federal agencies and agency subdivisions from the union organizing protections of the Federal Service Labor-Management Statute and Foreign Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.