9th Circ. Appears Icy Toward Calif. Captive Meeting Law

By Vin Gurrieri

The Ninth Circuit seemed hesitant Tuesday to unblock a 2-year-old California law that prohibits employers from punishing workers for skipping what are commonly known as captive audience meetings in which companies convey views about political or religious topics, with two judges suggesting that the statute infringes on employers' free speech rights.  

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Trucking Co. 'Predictive Model' Doesn't Moot OT, 9th Circ. Told

By Craig Clough

Truck drivers denied overtime under a Fair Labor Standards Act carveout for interstate commerce urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to find they're entitled to the pay, saying that they drove only within California and that their employers' "predictive model" order fulfillment system doesn't qualify their deliveries as interstate commerce.

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EEOC Says Exxon's Delayed Disclosures Warrant Sanctions

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said ExxonMobil held onto critical information until the last minute in a lawsuit alleging the company didn't properly handle the discovery of nooses in an oil refinery complex, urging a Louisiana federal court to bar the company from using the eleventh-hour materials.

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11th Circ. Upholds Block of Fla. 'Stop WOKE' Law

By David Minsky

The Eleventh Circuit upheld a lower court's preliminary injunction on a Florida law that restricts classroom discussion of race and gender, finding on Tuesday that the law violates the First Amendment's free speech protections. 

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Entrepreneur Can't Sue Over Ex-Worker's Hill Testimony

By Caroline Simson

The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday nixed a multimillionaire executive's defamation suit against a former employee whose testimony to Congress helped secure passage of a law barring the arbitration of sexual assault and harassment claims, litigation that also sought to undo an arbitral award favoring the former employee.

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8th Circ. Backs Ex-Wilbur-Ellis Workers In Trade Secret Suit

By Adam Lidgett

The Eighth Circuit on Tuesday upheld a lower court's finding that agribusiness Wilbur-Ellis couldn't make its case that several former employees took off with its trade secrets when they went to a competitor.

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6th Circ. Revives Pilot's Disability Claims In Vaccination Row

By Susan Smiley

In an unpublished opinion issued Monday, a Sixth Circuit panel revived some disability claims brought against Kalitta Air LLC by a cargo pilot after he was fired for refusing to get a second COVID-19 vaccine because he suffered a severe reaction from the first dose.

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Vape Co. Accused Of Racial Bias Toward Black Manager

By Jonathan Capriel

A retail marketing manager for a high-end maker of cannabis vape products, Puffco, claims she was subjected to daily race- and gender-based harassment, functionally demoted after taking medical leave and then retaliated against after complaining to HR, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County court.

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Health Corp. Worker Says Leave, ADA Requests Got Her Fired

By Grace Elletson

A Michigan healthcare system denied a worker's requests for breaks and later shifts in order to manage her mental health disability and then fired her shortly after she took leave to get treatment, the former employee alleged in a new suit filed in federal court.

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NYC Hits Walgreens, 3 Others With $2.3M In Wage Fines

By MJ Koo

New York City has secured more than $2.3 million in settlements from four companies including Walgreens for violating worker scheduling and paid time off protections, the city's consumer and worker protection agency announced Monday.

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Car Dealership Staff Win Class Cert. In Mass. Wage Case

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts state court has certified a class of employees at dozens of car dealerships under the Herb Chambers brand who alleged they were not paid overtime or Sunday premium pay in accordance with the state's wage law.

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Mass. Cop Says He's Owed OT For Meal Breaks During Leave

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts police lieutenant who spent nearly three years on paid administrative leave while his department investigated a suspected internal affairs leak says he's owed hundreds of hours of overtime pay because he was not allowed to leave his home for a 30-minute meal break during the workday.

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'Terrifier' Filmmaker Can't Slash Actor's Royalties Claims

By Elliot Weld

The makers of the 2016 independent horror film "Terrifier" were able to shake an actress' claim that nude images of her were illegally circulated but couldn't persuade a judge to throw out her claims for breach of contract and acting in bad faith.

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Furniture Store, Delivery Co. Reach $2.5M Deal To End OT Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A furniture retailer and a last-mile delivery company have agreed to a $2.5 million settlement resolving a roughly 9-year-old class action brought by workers alleging delivery truck drivers and helpers were misclassified and denied overtime pay, according to a motion for preliminary approval filed in New Jersey federal court.

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FedEx Hit With Wage Suit Over Security Checks

By Benjamin Morse

FedEx shorted warehouse workers by requiring them to undergo unpaid security screenings before and after their shifts, according to a proposed class action filed in Colorado federal court Tuesday.

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Starbucks Workers United Seeks OK For Name, Logo Use

By Katherine Smith

Starbucks Workers United has asked a Pennsylvania federal court to declare that its name and logo do not infringe the coffee chain's trademarks because they differentiate the union as an independent entity.

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Cannabis Co. Says Worker's Suit Belongs Before NLRB

By Emily Brill

A former employee of a New Jersey cannabis company should have brought his wrongful firing claims to the National Labor Relations Board and the fact that he didn't dooms his lawsuit in New Jersey federal court, the company said in a motion to dismiss the litigation.

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NJ Panel Backs Atty's Trimmed Government Pension Credits

By Grace Elletson

A New Jersey state appeals court said the state's public employee pension system was right to shave eight years of service off a government prosecutor's retirement credits, finding he couldn't skirt a change in law that blocked contractors of professional services from collecting benefits.

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DOJ Backs Private Claims Against NewYork-Presbyterian

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Department of Justice has thrown its support behind claims from union benefit funds in New York federal court that mirror the government's own case accusing NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital of blocking cheaper insurance plans.

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NJ Union Loses Appeal In Insurance Opt-Out Arbitration Row

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey appellate panel Tuesday affirmed a state labor agency's decision blocking arbitration over Essex County's refusal to pay health insurance opt-out reimbursements to correction officers who receive state health benefits through their spouses, finding state law preempted the union's grievance.

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DC Circ. Nixes Part Of IAM Fund's $13M Liability Win

By Kellie Mejdrich

The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday partially unraveled an early win for a multiemployer pension fund in a dispute over $13 million in withdrawal liability against several Illinois truck dealership companies, holding the lower court needed to recalculate some of the interest and damages assessed.

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Food Deal Rivals Battle In Chancery Over Competition Claims

By Jarek Rutz

Lawyers for Global Market Foods LLC urged the Delaware Chancery Court on Tuesday to block the former owner of a food distribution business from competing after selling the company for $58 million, while the sellers argued the buyer is improperly trying to rewrite the parties' contracts and expand negotiated noncompete restrictions.

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Ex-Sadot Group Exec Says Company Withholding Severance

By George Woolston

The former chief marketing officer for agricultural commodities trader Sadot Group Inc. has alleged in New Jersey federal court that the company is refusing to pay her almost $150,000 allegedly owed in severance and other compensation.

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Mayo Sacked Research Director For Flagging Flaws, Suit Says

By Holly DeMuth

Mayo Clinic retaliated against and eventually terminated its director of research operations after she brought up concerns about security, safety and privacy regarding the medical center's use of artificial intelligence and other protocols, according to a lawsuit filed in Minnesota federal court on Monday.

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Uber App Terms Bind Driver's Estate To Arbitration, Court Told

By Abigail Harrison

An estate trying to hold Uber accountable for the death of a driver should be forced to resolve its grievances in arbitration because Emmanuel Kwame Gbedee Sr. accepted a company agreement with an arbitration clause, Uber told a North Carolina federal court.

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Ogletree Co-Founder Deakins, 'Beacon Of Wisdom,' Dies At 90

By Emily Johnson

A co-founder of the global labor and employment juggernaut Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC died Monday after decades of helping shape the firm's values of honesty and transparency.

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Mitigating Employer Risk In Immigration Compliance Visits

As Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate site visits become an increasingly important tool to verify that the details in employment-based immigration petitions match the reality of the workplace, employers can reduce their risk by treating preparedness as part of their immigration compliance program, says Morgan Bailey at Mayer Brown.

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Ohio Fuels Litigation Funding Debate As Foreign Ban Is Enacted

By Ryan Boysen

Ohio has enacted a sweeping law that bans all foreign litigation funders from doing business in the Buckeye State, drawing praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and outrage from the litigation finance industry.

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ABA Seeks Trump Docs In Suit Alleging Law Firm Intimidation

By Emily Sawicki

The Trump administration cannot rely on the presidential communications privilege to block disclosure of communications related to allegations that the president sought to intimidate BigLaw firms into conforming with his policy initiatives, the American Bar Association told a D.C. federal judge.

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Trump's SDNY Pick Steps In As Clayton Focuses On DC

By Pete Brush

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's pick to succeed him, James McDonald, will assume a leadership role as Clayton works on his own nomination for director of national intelligence in Washington.

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Judge Says Warning 'Sufficient Deterrent,' Nixing AI Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

A Kentucky federal judge has declined to sanction two attorneys who filed a brief that included errors generated by artificial intelligence amid a fraud case against a notary public, finding the lawyers had no history of misconduct and had shown sufficient remorse.

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Wis. Judge Avoids Prison Time In ICE Obstruction Sentence

By Nate Beck

A former Wisconsin state judge on Wednesday was fined $5,000 but will not serve prison time for obstructing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest of a defendant in her courtroom by directing him down a private hallway away from agents before he was later captured.

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Del. Judge Recuses Herself From Apollo $570M Payout Suit

By Katryna Perera

The Delaware vice chancellor presiding over litigation regarding a $570 million payout to Apollo Global Management Inc. insiders has disqualified herself from the case after a possible conflict of interest arose due to her former role as an attorney with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, which was involved in a merger with ties to the payout.

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Ga. Judge Rejects UPS Plaintiff's Bid To Force Recusal

By Madison Arnold

A Georgia federal judge reportedly disciplined for having sexual intercourse in her chambers and attending a political event has opted not to recuse herself in the case of a former UPS employee in his dismissed racial discrimination lawsuit.

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McCarter Trial Judge Has 'Serious Doubts' About NY Expert

By Brian Steele

The Hartford judge presiding over a $22.5 million lawsuit against McCarter & English LLP and a former partner said Wednesday he had "serious doubts" about allowing testimony from a defense expert, but let him proceed as long as he did not claim to interpret New York law.

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Morgan & Morgan Malpractice Fight Won't Get Another Review

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals has rejected Morgan & Morgan PA's bid to challenge a trial court ruling denying the firm's summary judgment motion in a legal malpractice case brought against it by clients seeking representation in a personal injury action.

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Day Pitney Can't Be Cut Off From New Counsel, Client Says

By Aaron Keller

A former Connecticut chief justice's ethics gaffe cannot preclude fellow lawyers at Day Pitney LLP from communicating with new counsel for John B. Clinton, a private equity management firm owner locked in a 13-year-old, $1.3 million corporate windup lawsuit, Clinton has urged a Connecticut state court judge to conclude.

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