Labor

  • May 09, 2025

    NY Forecast: X Arbitration Fees Dispute At 2nd Circ.

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider social media platform X's attempt to reverse a lower court order requiring it to pay fees for arbitration proceedings with employees who claim they were not paid the full amount of severance they were owed. Here, Law360 looks at this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • May 09, 2025

    Souter's Clerks Remember Him As Humble, Kind And Caring

    Former clerks of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter are heartbroken over the death Thursday of a man many of them remember more for his conscientiousness, humility, kindness and disdain for the spotlight than for his undeniable brilliance as a jurist.

  • May 09, 2025

    $894K Award Against Construction Co. Upheld In New York

    A New York federal court deemed an arbitration award of about $895,000 valid against a construction company that failed to comply with an audit required under a collective bargaining agreement with the New York City District Council of Carpenters.

  • May 09, 2025

    Hiker And 'Raconteur': Atty Recalls 50-Year Bond With Souter

    Behind a towering legal legacy was a man who loved to hike mountains, could recall details of things he read decades ago and was always there for those he cared about, a New Hampshire attorney said as he reflected on a lifelong friendship with U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

  • May 09, 2025

    NLRB Urges 5th Circ. To Uphold Union Certification At Nexstar

    The National Labor Relations Board defended its decision finding Nexstar Media Inc. shift leads in Denver are statutory employees who can unionize, telling the Fifth Circuit to nix the company's challenge to a union's certification and its objections to a representation election.

  • May 09, 2025

    Fisher Phillips Opens Tokyo Office Amid Regulatory Shifts

    Employer-side labor law firm Fisher Phillips has launched a Tokyo office in response to increasing client demand from American and multinational companies doing business in Japan and from Japanese companies doing business in the Americas.

  • May 09, 2025

    AFL-CIO Backs NLRB In Successor Bar Row At DC Circ.

    The D.C. Circuit doesn't need to rethink its finding that a company violated federal labor law by snubbing a union after acquiring a Puerto Rico hospital, the AFL-CIO has argued, fighting the company's challenge to both its loss and the National Labor Relations Board's successor bar doctrine.

  • May 09, 2025

    A Look At David Souter's Most Significant Opinions

    The retired Justice David Souter defied simple definition, viewed as a staunch conservative until he co-wrote an opinion upholding abortion rights in 1992. He did not hew to partisan lines, but reshaped the civil litigation landscape and took an unexpected stand in an extraordinarily close presidential election.

  • May 09, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Petroleum Cos. $7M Wage Deal Before Court

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for the potential initial approval of a $7.2 million deal in a proposed wage and hour class action against Marathon Refining Logistics Services and related companies. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • May 09, 2025

    Justice Souter Was An Unexpected Force Of Moderation

    Justice David Souter, who saw the high court as a moderating force apart from the messiness of politics, subverted the expectations of liberals and conservatives alike during his 19 years on the bench.

  • May 09, 2025

    Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter Dies At 85

    Retired Justice David H. Souter, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 to 2009, has died at 85, the court announced Friday. 

  • May 08, 2025

    5th Circ. Wipes Out Southwest Attys' Religious Training Order

    The Fifth Circuit on Thursday held that a lower court overstepped by ordering several in-house Southwest Airlines attorneys to undergo "religious liberty training" following a flight attendant's win in a wrongful termination suit, finding that the training wouldn't benefit the flight attendant or persuade Southwest to comply with an earlier order.

  • May 08, 2025

    Kroger-Owned Chain Fights Counterclaims In Strike Row

    If a United Food and Commercial Workers local wants to accuse King Soopers of violating a post-strike agreement, the union must take its argument to the National Labor Relations Board, the Kroger-owned grocery chain told a Colorado federal judge Thursday, asking her to throw the allegation out of federal court.

  • May 08, 2025

    Full DC Circ. Restores International Media Funding, For Now

    The en banc D.C. Circuit on Wednesday restored federal grant funding to international broadcasters while the Trump administration appeals a lower court ruling blocking cuts to the agency that oversees Voice of America.

  • May 08, 2025

    6th Circ. Eyes Reviving Kellogg, FedEx Mortality Table Suits

    The Sixth Circuit on Thursday appeared open to reviving suits against Kellogg and FedEx from married pensioners who alleged their employers' outdated actuarial assumptions shortchanged their joint-and-survivor benefits, with multiple judges seeming to doubt a lower court's assertion that employers had unfettered latitude when choosing what data to use.

  • May 08, 2025

    NLRB Captive Meeting Ban Affected Union Vote, Nexstar Says

    Nexstar Media Group Inc. challenged the certification of a union representing NewsNation workers, claiming the National Labor Relations Board's ban on what are known as captive audience meetings violated the company's First Amendment rights and unfairly influenced the vote's outcome.

  • May 08, 2025

    Mass. Heating, Plumbing Co. Must Bargain, NLRB Judge Says

    A Massachusetts heating and plumbing company's response to an organizing drive violated federal labor law, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, saying the company illegally fired five workers for union activity, told union supporters to quit, and promised workers better job assignments if they opposed the union.

  • May 07, 2025

    Southwest Says Union Deal Makes Sick Leave Suit Irrelevant

    Southwest Airlines said Tuesday that a suit challenging its sick leave settlement with Colorado is moot because a recent collective bargaining agreement between the airline and its workers in the state already applies a 2020 law.

  • May 07, 2025

    NY Legal Aid Union Accused Of Antisemitism At NLRB, EEOC

    A United Auto Workers affiliate representing attorneys at a New York legal services organization violated federal laws when the union thwarted antisemitism measures in the workplace, a nonprofit alleged Wednesday in announcing charges it filed at the National Labor Relations Board and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

  • May 07, 2025

    NLRB Official Says Settlement Bars Union Ouster At Glass Co.

    A National Labor Relations Board official has tossed a worker's petition to decertify a union representing workers at a Minnesota glass company, saying a settlement between the company and union in a separate case prevents the election from going forward.

  • May 07, 2025

    NLRB Judge Says Amazon Lawfully Fired Union Backer In NY

    Amazon did not violate federal labor law by firing a union supporter and unilaterally changing certain policies about cellphone use and COVID-19 tests at a New York warehouse, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled while finding the company illegally denied union representation during investigatory interviews.

  • May 07, 2025

    USW Knocked By Judge For Causing Member's Demotion

    The United Steelworkers violated federal labor law by resolving a member's grievance in a manner that caused another member to be demoted, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, ordering the union to pursue another grievance on behalf of the demoted member.

  • May 06, 2025

    NFLPA Says Ex-Player Has Wrong Target In Rehab Abuse Suit

    A former pro football player who claimed that he was incorrectly sent to a Texas drug treatment center that later abused and physically blocked him from leaving, should not blame the NFL Players Association for his being there, the union told a Texas federal court.

  • May 06, 2025

    Split 5th Circ. Nixes Amazon's Appeal To Halt NLRB Case

    A divided Fifth Circuit panel found Tuesday that a Texas federal judge did not "effectively deny" Amazon's bid to halt a refusal-to-bargain case at the National Labor Relations Board based on allegations that the agency is unconstitutional, tossing the e-commerce giant's appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

  • May 06, 2025

    DOD Says It Has Standing To Halt Labor Contracts

    The U.S. Department of Defense asked a court not to end its lawsuit over President Donald Trump's move to end collective bargaining with its workers, saying it cannot manage its workforce "without facing substantial legal uncertainty."

Expert Analysis

  • Trump's 1st 100 Days Show That Employers Must Stay Nimble

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    Despite the aggressive pace of the Trump administration, employers must stay abreast of developments, including changes in equal employment opportunity law, while balancing state law considerations where employment regulations are at odds with the evolving federal laws, says Susan Sholinsky at Epstein Becker.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Classification Lessons From 'Love Is Blind'

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    The National Labor Relations Board's recent complaint alleging that cast members of the Netflix reality series "Love Is Blind" were misclassified as nonemployee participants and deprived of protections under the National Labor Relations Act offers insight for employers about how to structure independent contractor relationships, say Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter at Troutman Pepper.

  • Independent Contractor Rule Up In The Air Under New DOL

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    In several recent court challenges, the U.S. Department of Labor has indicated its intent to revoke the 2024 independent contractor rule, sending a clear signal that it will not defend the Biden-era rule on the merits in anticipation of further rulemaking, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Tracking FTC Labor Task Force's Focus On Worker Protection

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently directed its bureaus to form a joint labor task force, shifting the agency's focus toward protecting consumers in their role as workers, but case selection and resource allocation will ultimately reveal how significant labor markets will be in the FTC's agenda, say attorneys at Venable.

  • GC Nominee Likely Has Employer-Friendly NLRB Priorities

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    President Donald Trump’s nomination of Crystal Carey as general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board indicates the administration's intent to revive precedents favorable to employers, including expansion of permissible employer speech and reinstatement of procedural steps needed for employees to achieve unionization, say attorneys at Vorys.

  • A Close Look At The Rescinded Biden-Era NLRB Memos

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    National Labor Relations Board acting general counsel William Cowen's recent decision to rescind several guidance memoranda from his predecessor signals that he aims to move the board away from expanding organizing rights and to provide more room for employers to protect their operations and workforce, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • 6 Criteria Can Help Assess Executive Branch Actions

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    With new executive policy changes announced seemingly every day, several questions can help courts, policymakers and businesses determine whether such actions are proper, effective and in keeping with our democratic norms, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • 5 Key Issues For Multinational Cos. Mulling Return To Office

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    As companies increasingly revisit return-to-office mandates, multinational employers may face challenges in enforcing uniform RTO practices globally, but several key considerations and practical solutions can help avoid roadblocks, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • 7 Things Employers Should Expect From Trump's OSHA Pick

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    If President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is confirmed, workplace safety veteran David Keeling may focus on compliance and assistance, rather than enforcement, when it comes to improving worker safety, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Takeaways From 'It Ends With Us' Suits

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    Troutman’s Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter discuss how the lawsuits filed by “It Ends With Us” stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni hold major lessons about workplace harassment, retaliation and employee digital media use.

  • Issues To Watch At ABA's Antitrust Spring Meeting

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    Attorneys at Freshfields consider the future of antitrust law and competition enforcement amid agency leadership changes and other emerging developments likely to dominate discussion at the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week.

  • NLRB Firing May Need Justices' Input On Removal Power

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    President Donald Trump's unprecedented removal of National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox spurred a lawsuit that is sure to be closely watched, as it may cause the U.S. Supreme Court to reexamine a 1935 precedent that has limited the president's removal powers, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Weathering Policy Zig-Zags In Gov't Contracting Under Trump

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    To succeed amid the massive shift in federal contracting policies heralded by President Donald Trump's return to office, contractors should be prepared for increased costs and enhanced False Claims Act enforcement, and to act swiftly to avail themselves of contractual remedies, says Jacob Scott at Smith Currie.