Labor

  • November 12, 2024

    Dock Co. Fired Worker Over Wage Talk, NLRB Judge Says

    A Missouri dock-building company violated federal labor law when it fired a worker who had discussed wages with his coworkers, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, rejecting the owner's testimony that he fired the worker for poor attendance as inconsistent and illogical.

  • November 12, 2024

    Justices Deny Nurse's Challenge To Labor Preemption

    The U.S. Supreme Court turned away a California nurse's challenge to a state court decision rejecting an unfair firing suit Tuesday, declining to take another pass at what sort of labor-related suits plaintiffs may bring in court.

  • November 12, 2024

    MVP: deRubertis Law's David M. deRubertis

    Worker-side lawyer David deRubertis, who runs his own firm, says he has helped workers win $526 million in damages from their employers in the past two years alone, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Employment MVPs.

  • November 08, 2024

    Old Standard Changes Worker Outburst Case, Co. Tells NLRB

    A rubber manufacturer told the National Labor Relations Board it must dismiss allegations that it unlawfully disciplined a worker who argued with a manager, saying the standard the Fifth Circuit ordered the board to apply on remand fundamentally alters how the board should analyze the case.

  • November 08, 2024

    Navy Contractor's Reprimand Was Illegal, Split NLRB Says

    A U.S. Navy contractor illegally barred a worker from sending emails to colleagues about workplace matters without approval, a divided National Labor Relations Board panel determined Friday, but found the company lawfully fired the employee for passing along scheduling concerns to its client.

  • November 08, 2024

    Gov't Union Continues Organizing Push For DOJ Attys

    Attorneys in the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights and environment divisions are stepping up their efforts to organize with the National Treasury Employees Union, the union confirmed Friday, as federal workers brace for coming changes under President-elect Donald Trump's new administration.

  • November 08, 2024

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Weighs NLRB Constitutionality

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider a nursing home's attempt to block a National Labor Relations Board case against it on the grounds that the agency is unconstitutionally structured. Here, Law360 looks at this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • November 08, 2024

    9th Circ. Affirms Union Longshoreman's Promotion Denial

    A union-represented longshoreman who left his job to serve in the U.S. Air Force for nine years is ineligible for a promotion he might have received if he served five years or less, the Ninth Circuit affirmed, saying he didn't qualify for an exception to the years requirement.

  • November 08, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: $16M Delta Pay Stubs Deal Heads To Court

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for potential final approval of a nearly $16 million settlement for Delta Air Lines flight attendants alleging wage claims. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • November 08, 2024

    NLRB Ups Scrutiny Of Employer Statements On Union Impact

    Employers that tell workers during organizing drives that having a union would cut off direct relationships with managers may violate federal labor law, the National Labor Relations Board said Friday in a decision reversing nearly 40-year-old precedent. 

  • November 07, 2024

    NLRB Attys Challenge Lawfulness Of Co.'s Repayment Clause

    A healthcare facility management company violated federal labor law by requiring workers who leave the company within three years to pay back relocation costs and advancements, NLRB prosecutors said in a complaint Law360 obtained Thursday.

  • November 07, 2024

    Election Puts Unions' Success With Student Workers In Peril

    Unions have found success organizing graduate students and other student workers in recent years due to critical legal changes and dissatisfaction with the culture in higher education institutions, but experts warned the incoming Trump administration could threaten the momentum labor has built.

  • November 07, 2024

    NLRB Member Praises Off-Site Union Elections In Dissent

    A National Labor Relations Board member said Thursday he's open to giving board officials broader leeway to schedule union representation elections at locations other than a worksite, writing in a dissent that regional directors should balance accessibility concerns with those about the elections' fairness.

  • November 07, 2024

    Teamsters Tell 10th Circ. To Nix Yellow's Contract Claims

    The Tenth Circuit must uphold a district court's decision to dismiss Yellow Corp.'s $137 million lawsuit against the Teamsters, the union said, arguing the business didn't exhaust the grievance process under a contract and can't claim that making such an effort would have been pointless.

  • November 07, 2024

    Bakery Union Local To Hold New Officer Election In DOL Deal

    An Illinois-based Bakery Confectionery Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers local will conduct a new election for three officers and four trustees under the U.S. Department of Labor's supervision, according to a settlement resolving claims that the union didn't properly update members' addresses before sending out ballots.

  • November 07, 2024

    Ariz. Co. Defends Constitution-Based Bid To Halt NLRB Case

    A healthcare system in Maricopa County, Arizona, defended its request to pause a National Labor Relations Board case accusing it of unlawfully firing a worker, saying its Constitution-based arguments against the board's structure rest on solid ground.

  • November 07, 2024

    Union Says DOL Can't Show It Deprived Members Of Vote

    An Amalgamated Transit Union local representing Greyhound bus drivers is fighting the U.S. Department of Labor's push to vacate its officer election results, telling a Georgia federal judge the department has failed to show that people who didn't receive ballots were actually eligible members at the time.

  • November 06, 2024

    Fla. Union Dues Law Halted For Unexpired Deals, Judge Says

    A Florida law's provision banning the deduction of union dues from public employees' paychecks is unconstitutional as to collective bargaining agreements that are still in effect for two Florida teachers unions, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

  • November 06, 2024

    Legal Support Firm Seeks To Stop NLRB Litigation

    A legal support consulting firm demanded an injunction in Texas federal court to block National Labor Relations Board proceedings against it, pursuing constitutional claims about the agency's structure and alleging the NLRB tried to "bully" the employer into bargaining with an electrical workers union.

  • November 06, 2024

    EEOC, Union Still Can't Get Approval To End 53-Year-Old Suit

    A New York federal judge rejected the latest bid from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and an Ironworkers local for approval of a deal to end a decades-old race bias suit, finding Wednesday they still couldn't provide data showing racial hiring disparities had been eliminated.

  • November 06, 2024

    Alaska Voters On Brink Of Nixing Captive Audience Meetings

    Alaska voters are poised to approve a ballot measure restricting employers from holding so-called captive audience meetings in the state, which would make it the latest state to join a movement limiting the common anti-union tactic and the first to adopt the policy by ballot measure.

  • November 06, 2024

    NJ Nursing Home Loses 2nd Bid To Halt NLRB Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge shot down a nursing home operator's second attempt to use a constitutional argument to block National Labor Relations Board prosecutors from pursuing a case against the company, saying Wednesday that the company's second injunction bid too closely resembled its first failed bid.

  • November 06, 2024

    Amazon Calls For Halt To NLRB Delivery Drivers Proceeding

    Amazon urged a California federal judge to pause a National Labor Relations Board case alleging the e-commerce giant jointly employed its former contractor's Teamster-represented drivers, raising now-familiar claims that removal protections for agency officials violate the U.S. Constitution.

  • November 06, 2024

    Mass. Voters Back Gig Driver Unions, Setting Up Possible Suit

    Massachusetts voters on Tuesday handed Uber and Lyft drivers a novel route to unionization, likely setting up a legal challenge to the measure that experts predict will face an uphill climb.

  • November 05, 2024

    Trump's Second Term Poses Range Of Outcomes For NLRB

    Donald Trump's projected return to the White House is poised to have a major effect on the National Labor Relations Board, with the potential for a dramatic reversal of the last four years of pro-union policy.

Expert Analysis

  • NLRB Outburst Ruling Hampers Employer Discipline Options

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    A recent ruling from the National Labor Relations Board, which restores a worker-friendly standard on protections for profane outbursts during workplace actions, will severely limit employers' disciplinary processes, particularly when employee conduct crosses a line that would violate other federal statutes and regulations, says Michael MacHarg at Adams and Reese.

  • FLRA Ruling May Show Need For Congressional Clarification

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    With its recent decision in The Ohio Adjutant General's Department v. Federal Labor Relations Authority, the U.S. Supreme Court took a somewhat behavioral approach in determining that the guard acted as a federal agency in hiring dual-status technicians — suggesting the need for ultimate clarification from Congress, says Marick Masters at Wayne State University.

  • Cos. Shouldn't Alter Noncompete, Severance Agreements Yet

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    Two recent actions from the Federal Trade Commission and the National Labor Relations Board have sought to ban noncompete agreements and curtail severance agreements, respectively, but employers should hold off on making any changes to those forms while the agencies' actions are challenged, say attorneys at Herbert Smith.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Remote Work Policies

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    Implementing a remote work policy that clearly articulates eligibility, conduct and performance expectations for remote employees can ease employers’ concerns about workers they may not see on a daily basis, says Melissa Spence at Butler Snow.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Bias Lessons From 'Partner Track'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with CyberRisk Alliance's Ying Wong, about how Netflix's show "Partner Track" tackles conscious and unconscious bias at law firms, and offer some key observations for employers and their human resources departments on avoiding these biases.

  • NLRB GC Memos Complicate Labor Law Compliance

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    Policy memoranda from National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo outlining new interpretations of the National Labor Relations Act create compliance dilemmas for employer counsel, who must review not only established law, but also statements that may better predict how the board will decide future questions, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • NLRB Order May Mean Harsher Remedies For Labor Violations

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    The National Labor Relations Board's recent ruling against a Nebraska meat processor, ordering an expanded range of remedies for the employer's repeated labor law violations, signals the NLRB's willingness to impose harsh remedies more frequently, in the full spectrum of unfair labor practice litigation, say Eric Stuart and Zachary Zagger at Ogletree.

  • Eye On Compliance: Joint Employment

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    Madonna Herman at Wilson Elser breaks down the key job conditions that led to a recent National Labor Relations Board finding of joint employment, and explains the similar standard established under California case law — providing a guide for companies that want to minimize liability when relying on temporary and contract workers.

  • How Unions Could Stem Possible Wave Of Calif. PAGA Claims

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    Should the California Supreme Court hold in Adolph v. Uber that the nonindividual portions of Private Attorneys General Act claims survive even after individual claims go to arbitration, employers and unions could both leverage the holding in Oswald v. Murray to stifle the resurgence in representative suits, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Tips For Defending Employee Plaintiff Depositions

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    A plaintiff cannot win their employment case through a good deposition, but they can certainly lose it with a bad one, so an attorney should take steps to make sure the plaintiff does as little damage as possible to their claim, says Preston Satchell at LexisNexis.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Whistleblowing Insights From 'Dahmer'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with DS Smith's Josh Burnette about how the show "Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" provides an extreme example of the perils of ignoring repeat complaints — a lesson employers could apply in the whistleblower context.

  • Labor Trends To Watch In Warehousing And Distribution

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    Employers in the warehousing and distribution sector should prepare for major National Labor Relations Board updates this year that will likely increase their exposure to unfair labor practice charges and make it easier for workers to unionize, say Laura Pierson-Scheinberg and Lorien Schoenstedt at Jackson Lewis.

  • Musk Ruling A Lesson On Employer Statements About Unions

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    A recent Fifth Circuit decision in Tesla v. National Labor Relations Board found that Elon Musk's 2018 tweets threatened employees at the company amid a unionizing campaign, reminding employers that communicating public statements about union organizing should be rooted in facts, says Daniel Handman at Hirschfeld Kraemer.

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