Mass. Voters Approve Public Defenders' Bid For Union Rights

By Julie Manganis

Attorneys and other employees of Massachusetts' public defender agency should have the opportunity to decide whether to form a union, voters said Tuesday in approving a ballot measure authorizing a change to state law.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

House Democrat Urges Labor Agencies To Preserve Records

By Benjamin Morse

The top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee urged the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board and other federal agencies on Wednesday to preserve government records ahead of the next Congress, warning that officials who unlawfully destroy documents could face criminal penalties.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5th Circ. Backs NLRB Bargaining Order For Hyatt Operator

By Katherine Smith

The Fifth Circuit has upheld a National Labor Relations Board decision ordering a Texas Hyatt hotel operator to bargain with a UNITE HERE local, ruling that the company failed to establish that the union interfered with the employees' free choice when they voted for representation.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Google Loses Bid To Toss Jewish Ex-Worker's Bias Claims

By Grace Elletson

An Illinois federal judge rejected Google's bid to narrow a suit from a Jewish ex-worker who said his boss began harassing him after learning about his religious identity and mental health struggles, saying the events alleged in his complaint seemed too suspicious to justify cutting discrimination claims.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Turner Sports, Ex-HR Director Reach Deal In Severance Suit

By David Aaro

A one-time Warner Bros. subsidiary has struck a deal to end a race bias suit from a former human resources director who claimed she was denied severance benefits after she quit following Discovery Inc. and WarnerMedia's 2022 merger, according to a Georgia federal court filing.

Settlement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mass. Justices Doubt Nantucket's Rationale For PFML Denial

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court appeared to push back Wednesday on assertions by Nantucket that it cannot implement the state's Paid Family and Medical Leave Act for employees of the island enclave, despite a town meeting vote, because some of its unions have not agreed to bargain over the cost.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

IKEA 'Boys' Club' Derailed Manager's Career, Bias Suit Alleges

By Emily Brill

An ambitious IKEA middle manager lost her shot at a promotion and eventually lost her job entirely because of the toxic "boys' club" culture of the company's leadership team, she alleged in a new discrimination suit in Washington state court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

6th Circ. Backs UAW, Ford Win In Discrimination Suit

By Katherine Smith

The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive a former Ford employee's lawsuit claiming that the United Auto Workers failed to properly represent him after he was wrongfully terminated, ruling that the claims he lodged against the company and the union are time barred.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wash. Justices Won't Hear Concrete Co.'s $649K Wage Appeal

By MJ Koo

Washington's highest court declined to review a concrete company's challenge to a state agency's finding that it underpaid workers who used radar and X-ray imaging to scan concrete on a Seattle-area light rail bridge project, leaving the company on the hook for nearly $649,000 in unpaid wages and interest.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ford, EV Battery Co. Must Face Workers' Unpaid Wage Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

Ford Motor Co. and its electric vehicle battery joint venture must face a proposed class and collective action alleging unpaid wages after a Michigan federal judge ruled Wednesday that workers sufficiently alleged the automaker was their joint employer and that Michigan courts have jurisdiction over the venture.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Avangrid Atty Who Raised Bribery Concerns Fights Firing

By Brian Steele

The chief compliance officer of an Avangrid unit lost his job because he cooperated with a federal regulator's audit and refused to downplay a bribery matter involving a Maine-based offshoot, according to a whistleblower lawsuit in Connecticut state court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Pardon Atty's Firing Is Not Reviewable, DOJ Tells Court

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Justice Department has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit from a former U.S. pardon attorney who alleges she was fired for not recommending restoration of actor Mel Gibson's gun rights.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

SkyWest Union Latest To Oppose Spirit's Ch. 11 Data Sale

By Vince Sullivan

A union representing flight crew members for SkyWest Airlines has asked a New York bankruptcy court for permission to intervene in the Chapter 11 case of budget airline owner Spirit Aviation Holdings so that it can submit a statement opposing a sale of data to Google.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ogletree Brings On 3 Attys In Calif. Specializing In Litigation

By James Boyle

Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC has expanded two of its California offices with the recent additions of three attorneys who moved their practices to Los Angeles and San Diego.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ogletree Adds Ex-Amazon Employment Atty To Seattle Office

By Rachel Riley

A leading in-house employment attorney for Amazon has departed to join Ogletree Deakins' Seattle office, bringing expertise helping Fortune 50 companies navigate workforce challenges to the firm.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How Groq-Nvidia Suit Tests Venture Capital Exit Math

A recent Delaware Court of Chancery suit concerning Nvidia's acquihire of certain Groq employees highlights that when such deals are challenged, the economic dispute turns on reconciling technology, people, cash and continuing ownership rather than on the headline number, says Ben Dubin at VC Expert Services.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Opinion

The Invisible AI Danger That May Undermine Legal Profession

A public database tracking cases involving hallucinations generated by artificial intelligence recently surpassed 2,200 entries, but the bigger risk underlying attorneys’ use of such tools is that they will slowly surrender their judgment to AI and lose analytical skills, says Massachusetts District Court Associate Justice Brian Palmucci.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Controversial DOJ Civil Rights Division Leader Steps Down

By Alison Knezevich

Harmeet K. Dhillon, a U.S. Department of Justice official who instituted dramatic changes as leader of the Civil Rights Division, has stepped down from her role.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sullivan & Cromwell Brings On Weil Capital Markets Leader

By Isaac Monterose

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP has hired the co-leader of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's capital markets team for a capital markets partner role in its New York City office, the firm announced Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Racing Against Whistleblowers Could Cost Companies

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice's new cash rewards program for tips on criminal fraud threatens to ramp up the pressure on companies to hurry internal investigations and quickly report suspected misconduct to the government before whistleblowers do, which could backfire in some cases, according to experts.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Albright's Do's And Don'ts For Patent Trials

By Dani Kass

Two months after former ​U.S. District Judge Alan Albright returned to private practice, he regaled a room of attorneys at the University of Texas School of Law on Thursday with lessons from his time on the bench.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump's Hush Money Conviction Examined By Wary NY Panel

By Frank G. Runyeon

A New York State appellate court Thursday quizzed attorneys for President Donald Trump and state prosecutors over his hush-money conviction, exploring defense counsel's claims that the district attorney trespassed into federal jurisdiction by charging election violations and trampled on presidential immunity in a case "infected with multiple fatal errors."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »