Wage & Hour

  • February 13, 2025

    Ex-DraftKings Engineer Wants Parental Leave Suit Kept In Play

    A former DraftKings engineer asked a Massachusetts federal court not to toss his suit accusing the company of firing him the day after he asked to take parental leave, saying he can benefit from a Massachusetts paid leave law despite living in Wisconsin.

  • February 12, 2025

    Unions Beef Up Suit To Keep DOGE Out Of Federal Agencies

    Unions and nonprofits seeking to stop Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the U.S. Department of Labor's data have enhanced their injunction request, looking also to shield the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's and Department of Health and Human Services' data and prove they have standing to sue.

  • February 12, 2025

    Foley Hoag Must Face Bulk Of Worker's Bias, Wage Suit

    A New York federal judge largely denied Foley Hoag LLP's bid to partially escape a Moldovan former employee's lawsuit, saying Wednesday he put forward enough information to back up his claims that the firm discriminated against him because of his Russian heritage and disability.

  • February 12, 2025

    Nike Asks 9th Circ. To Claw Back Workplace Harassment Docs

    A lawyer for Nike urged a Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday to block an Oregon local newspaper from publishing workplace harassment questionnaires provided by plaintiffs' attorney in pay equity litigation against the athletic apparel giant.

  • February 12, 2025

    Trump Admin Says NIL Payments Don't Have To Follow Title IX

    The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday rescinded a directive for name, image and likeness compensation for athletes to not discriminate against women under Title IX guidelines, calling the guidance enacted in the final days of the Biden administration "overly burdensome" and "profoundly unfair.''

  • February 12, 2025

    Houston Firm Pushes For $30K Sanctions In Back Wages Case

    A Houston law firm has urged an appellate court to sanction its former associate for his conduct during a back wages trial, saying that the trial court declined to decide the firm's motion despite having power over the case four months after the verdict.

  • February 12, 2025

    Morgan Lewis, Patent Specialist End Age, Race Bias Suit

    A discrimination complaint filed by a former patent prosecution specialist against her former employer, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, has been dismissed from Washington, D.C., federal court after both sides reached a settlement agreement.

  • February 12, 2025

    Warehouse Broker, DOL Strike $415K Deal In Wage Suit

    A customs warehouse broker will pay nearly $415,000 to end a U.S. Department of Labor suit alleging it failed to pay workers their full wages, according to an Arizona federal court filing. 

  • February 12, 2025

    Resort Co. Resolves Collective's Subminimum Wage Suit

    A Texas federal judge signed off on a settlement that resolves a collective action accusing a hotel and resort operator of failing to pay tipped servers a minimum wage by asking them to perform substantial nontippable work and cover uniform costs.

  • February 12, 2025

    Arbitration Act's Transportation Exemption At Inflection Point

    Courts will continue to refine the Federal Arbitration Act’s exemption for transportation workers involved in interstate commerce, showing a greater fidelity to textualist interpretations of the statute and expanding the exemption’s coverage. Here, Law360 explores the state of debate on the exemption in light of the law's 100th anniversary.

  • February 12, 2025

    $180M Deals In Poultry Process Wage-Fixing Row Get First OK

    A Maryland federal judge gave her blessing to several settlements totaling approximately $180 million in a suit accusing a slew of poultry companies of conspiring to keep wages low at their plants, greenlighting what the workers called "a historic recovery."

  • February 12, 2025

    HR Worker Says NC County Fired Her For Taking Sick Leave

    A North Carolina county fired a human resources specialist who had worked for the county for eight years because she got sick and asked to take short-term medical leave, she said in a complaint in federal court.

  • February 12, 2025

    Ga. House Bill Would Exclude Overtime Pay From Income Tax

    Georgia would exclude overtime compensation from state income taxes under a bill filed in the state House of Representatives.

  • February 11, 2025

    Trump Tells Agencies To Plan 'Large-Scale' Cuts With Musk

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that directs agencies to prepare for "large-scale" cuts to the federal workforce and gives Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency the authority to approve the future hiring of career officials.

  • February 11, 2025

    5 Issues To Watch As Federal Arbitration Act Turns 100

    Wednesday marks the centennial of the Federal Arbitration Act, and a handful of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding the law haven't stemmed battles over when a court can send wage and hour claims to arbitration. Here, Law360 explores FAA issues as the law turns 100.

  • February 11, 2025

    Plant Nursery To Shell Out $2.5M In H-2A Wage Suit

    An operator of plant nurseries in California agreed to shell out $2.5 million in back wages after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation determined that it coerced H-2A workers to quit in order to dodge the program's wage and hour requirements, the department said. 

  • February 11, 2025

    State Wage And Hour News To Watch

    New Yorkers will get a warning if their employer plans a sizable layoff or business closure due to artificial intelligence displacement, and Illinois is phasing out the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities. Here, Law360 explores state wage and hour developments that attorneys should know about.

  • February 11, 2025

    Penn. College Wrongly Fired Sergeant With Cancer, Suit Says

    The University of Scranton failed to accommodate a police sergeant with renal cancer and eventually fired him after he fell asleep briefly during a period in which he was undergoing treatments, according to a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • February 11, 2025

    Black VP Says Citibank Showed Race, Disability Bias

    Citibank passed a Black vice president over for a higher role, excessively criticized her work and paid her less than white male colleagues because of her race and her requests to accommodate her diabetes, a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Florida federal court said.

  • February 11, 2025

    Worker Claims Company's Post-COVID Firing Was Illegal

    A General Dynamics subsidiary and submarine manufacturer was unjustified in its firing of a former employee who suffered from long COVID, according to a lawsuit the company removed to Connecticut federal court.

  • February 11, 2025

    Starbucks Maintains Illegal DEI Policies, Missouri Tells Court

    Starbucks puts illegal quotas in place to hire and promote more women and people of color and offers incentives to executives to meet these goals by connecting the quotas to their bonuses, the Missouri attorney general told a federal court Tuesday.

  • February 11, 2025

    Pay Bias Claims Cut From Chicago Journalist's Title VII Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday narrowed a proposed class action from a group of Black, female journalists claiming The Chicago Tribune and its hedge fund owner paid them less than their white, male counterparts, ruling they failed to show they performed the same work for less pay.

  • February 11, 2025

    Lane Bryant Worker Can't Get $1.15M Wage Deal OK'd

    A California federal judge refused to greenlight a $1.15 million deal that would have resolved a stylist's Private Attorneys General Act suit against fashion company Lane Bryant, saying the settlement does not disincentivize the company from acting illegally and devalues the wage and hour claims.

  • February 10, 2025

    6th Circ. Backs Electric Co. In Fired Ex-Exec's Severance Suit

    The Sixth Circuit upheld the dismissal Monday of an ex-executive's suit claiming the American Electric Power Service Corp. owed him severance after he was fired for failing to tamp down on his assistant's excessive spending, stating the company showed he was ineligible for the extra pay.

  • February 10, 2025

    Mechanic Says Elevator Co. Fired Him Over Paternity Leave

    A New York City elevator mechanic sued his former employer in New York federal court, claiming the company retaliated against him when he raised workplace safety concerns, fired him when he said he intended to take paternity leave, and pressured employees to work through lunch without pay.

Expert Analysis

  • State Law Compliance Considerations For Remote Job Posts

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    In light of the increasing prevalence of state and local laws mandating a salary range on job listings, employers should provide pay transparency when looking for remote workers in order to avoid potential penalties and litigation, says Eric Fox at Gordon & Rees.

  • Employers Should Note Post-Midterms State Law Changes

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    State ballot measures in the recent midterm elections could require employers to update policies related to drug use, wages, collective bargaining and benefit plans that offer access to abortion care — a reminder of the challenges in complying with the ever-changing patchwork of state workplace laws, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • PAGA Claims Are A Gamble As Calif. Justices Mull Uber Case

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    The California Supreme Court's pending Private Attorneys General Act decision in Adolph v. Uber will have significant repercussions for both employers and employees, potentially forcing employers to question whether there is any benefit to arbitrating individual PAGA claims, says Jonathan Andrews at Signature Resolution.

  • Why Companies Lose In Gig Worker Class Cert. Cases

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    The recent class certification of gig workers in Roman v. Jan-Pro Franchising in California and Bedoya v. American Eagle Express in New Jersey shows that companies who rely on uniform contracts and policies with independent contractors expose themselves to liability in a judicial climate that increasingly favors workers, say Joan Fife and Kevin Simpson at Winston & Strawn.

  • DOL Proposal Invokes ABC Test For Contractor Classification

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    The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued a proposed rule for determining whether workers are independent contractors or employees, that, if adopted, would effectively implement California's so-called ABC test for classification and substantially rewrite the employment playbook nationwide, says Ronald Zambrano at West Coast Employment Lawyers.

  • Labor Rules Will Unlock IRA Tax Credits' Full Value

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    Companies that make sure to follow the Inflation Reduction Act's unique labor rules will be in the best position to unlock the law's tremendous tax incentives aimed at promoting renewable energy, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging carbon sequestration, say Nicole Elliott and Timothy Taylor at Holland & Knight.

  • What To Know About New Wave Of Calif. Employment Laws

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    Attorneys at Reed Smith share insights on employment and benefits laws recently enacted in California that are certain to affect employers in the year ahead — including new bereavement and medical leave requirements, expanded reproductive health care protections, a minimum wage increase, and updated pay transparency rules.

  • Enforcing Cost-Splitting Employment Arbitration Provisions

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    While recent appellate decisions and executive action have increased scrutiny of employment arbitration agreements, with careful agreement drafting and negotiation employers can still craft enforceable provisions requiring employees to split arbitration costs, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

  • Beware Rise In Lawsuits Under NY Manual Worker Pay Rule

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    Although the New York rule that manual workers must be paid weekly has existed for some time, there has been a significant increase in the number of lawsuits against employers after the 2019 ruling in Vega v. CM & Associates, making correct classification of employees paramount, say Heather Sager and Krista Gay at Perkins Coie.

  • Unpacking FLSA Domestic Service Worker Wage Exemptions

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Nancy Barnes and Anthony McNamara at Thompson Hine explain the nuances of domestic service worker compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the applicable exemptions to its minimum wage and overtime requirements.

  • Tips On Complying With Calif.'s New Pay Transparency Law

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    California's new pay transparency law takes effect on Jan. 1, which means that employers must take action now to ensure that they are prepared to comply with an extensive pay reporting scheme that is among the most complex and detailed in the nation, say Maria Stearns and Joanna Blake at Rutan & Tucker.

  • Strategies For Approaching New NY Pay Transparency Laws

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    Pay transparency laws are proliferating in New York and across the country, resulting in a patchwork that can be challenging for employers to navigate, but considering seven key questions can help with cross-jurisdictional compliance, says Kelly Cardin at Ogletree.

  • Navigating The OT Debates In High Court Rig Worker Case

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    While recent U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in Helix Energy v. Hewitt focused on whether an oil rig worker could qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act’s highly compensated employee overtime exemption, the most interesting issue raised could spark new challenges to previously unquestioned overtime regulations, says Glenn Grindlinger at Fox Rothschild.