Labor
Supreme Court Deals Big Setback to Public Unions
News
The 5-to-4 decision overturned a 40-year-old precedent and said that compelling such fees was a violation of workers’ free speech rights, reports The Washington Post.
Supreme Court Poised to Rule on Trump Travel Ban, Union Fees, Other Cases
News
The U.S. Supreme Court is heading toward the end of its current term, and remaining cases include the Trump travel ban, union fees, and regulations on Christian-based anti-abortion centers.
Littler Survey: Employers Reeling from Regulatory Shifts, New Forces Impacting Workplace
Insight
Littler’s seventh annual survey of more than 1,100 employers reveals how companies are responding to rapid social and political changes.
Federal Court Dismisses Non-Compete Claim Based on Facially Overbroad Activity Restraint
Insight
The covenant restricted the employee from taking any position with another company that engaged in the same business as the employer.
Collective Bargaining Agreements Must be Interpreted According to ‘Ordinary Principles of Contract Law’
News
Lower courts found in favor of retirees in the dispute over union retiree health benefits, but the U.S. Supreme Court reversed.
Ruling on Union Pensions Could Affect Hundreds of Companies
News
The case arose when Just Born announced three years ago that it would no longer enroll new employees in the multi-employer pension it had participated in for decades and would instead divert money into a 401(k) plan for those workers.
Trump Labor Board Member Forgot About Conflict of Interest, Watchdog Says
News
National Labor Relations Board Member William Emanuel violated a White House ethics pledge by participating in a closely watched case involving his former law firm, the NLRB’s inspector general concluded in a report obtained by Bloomberg Law.
Former Jones Day Attorney Tapped For Position at the EEOC
News
The top litigator position at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been vacant since December of 2016.
Trump Labor Board Scrambles to Avoid Pro-Worker Ruling, Lawyers Claim
News
If the workers win at trial, the case could have a profound effect on how major corporations are held liable for workplace wrongdoing, Bloomberg reports.
Workplace Monitoring Gets Personal, and Employees Fear It’s Too Close for Comfort. They’re Right.
News
The Chicago Tribune speculates that employers could even provide Fitbits or another portable health monitor as part of a corporate wellness program. Can the personal data gleaned be used to alter, or deny, access to employer-provided insurance plans?
Collection of Employee Biometric Data: Privacy and Compliance Issues
Insight
A post on the Fisher Phillips website discusses the privacy concerns for employees and the compliance issues for employers related to collection of biometric data.
Morgan Lewis Scolded for Possible Conflict in Hotel Wage Case
News
Bloomberg Law reports that a judge concluded that Morgan Lewis “plainly violated” California attorney professional conduct rules by representing “both sides of the case” in a hotel workers’ class action suit.
Tackett Redux: Ordinary Principles of Contract Interpretation Mean No Inference of Vesting
News
The ruling again rejected the Sixth Circuit’s inference from silence that CBAs vested retiree benefits for life, reports Proskauer Rose.
Conflict of Interest Causes NLRB to Vacate Pro-Corporation Ruling
News
The NLRB threw out its most important ruling of 2017 — a 3-2 victory for major U.S. corporations — following an internal agency report that found that a potential conflict-of-interest had tainted the vote.
For the Third Time, Supreme Court to Hear Mandatory Union Dues Arguments
News
The case, appealed by an employee of the state of Illinois, comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit rejected his argument that the agency fee violated his rights under the First Amendment.
Attempting to Insert New Term into Collective Bargaining Agreement Not Agreed to in Negotiations Violates the Law
Insight
A signed agreement serves as an absolute bar to employees filing a decertification petition during the term of the agreement, while an unsigned agreement does not bar such a petition.
Hunton & Williams Adds Team to National Labor and Employment Practice
News
Hunton & Williams LLP announces the expansion of its national labor and employment practice with the addition of partners Michele J. Beilke and Julia Y. Trankiem and two associates in Los Angeles.
Will the Supreme Court Deal a Blow to Trade Unions?
News
The case asks whether public employees who choose not to join their designated union may nevertheless be charged “agency fees” to support collective bargaining.
Employer’s Notice of Mandatory Arbitration Program May Be Insufficient to Compel Arbitration
Insight
Something more is required in order to be able to infer the employee’s knowing assent to the new term of employment, the Sixth Circuit ruled.
Tech Start-Up Fires Engineers Amid Union Organizing Effort
News
The move came less than two weeks after the workers filed a petition to join a CWA unit and days before a union election hearing scheduled for Jan 31,” according to Bloomberg.
