Wage & Hour

  • May 30, 2025

    Colo. Judge Won't Halt $14M Wage Fines Against Strip Clubs

    A group of strip clubs made "conclusory assertions" in their bid to dodge $14 million in fines the city of Denver lodged against them for pay practice allegations, a Colorado federal judge ruled, saying that the entities didn't prove a constitutional violation.

  • May 30, 2025

    Coal Miners Re-Up Bid For $15.2M Wage Deal Approval

    Coal miners again asked a Kentucky federal judge Friday to greenlight a $15.2 million deal resolving their unpaid wage suit against several mining companies, presenting a restructured agreement that eliminates collective claims and discusses the degree of similarity among workers in a proposed, nearly 7,000-member settlement class.

  • May 30, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: State Justices Weigh Good-Faith Wage Args

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for California Supreme Court oral arguments regarding what an employer must show for a good faith defense in a wage case. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in the Golden State.

  • May 30, 2025

    Farm Groups' Challenge To H-2A Wage Rule Back On Track

    The U.S. Department of Labor failed to show it would be necessary to push back litigation challenging a Biden-era H-2A wage rule, especially in the context of farm groups' ongoing harm allegations, a Florida federal judge ruled.

  • May 30, 2025

    Mich. Workers Get Final OK For Boot-Up Suit Settlement

    A Michigan federal court greenlighted an $86,000 settlement resolving an insurance specialist's collective action accusing a home healthcare company of failing to pay employees for the time they spent booting up their computers.

  • May 30, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge Weighs Jury Trial Demand In Layoffs Suit

    This week, a New York federal judge will hear arguments over whether a class of former workers at a Four Seasons hotel can withdraw their request for a jury trial in their suit claiming the hotel did not provide required notices before laying them off.

  • May 30, 2025

    Rehab's Ex-Kitchen Worker Drops Unpaid Wage Case

    A former kitchen worker for a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center is no longer pursuing his claims that the nonprofit failed to pay him minimum and overtime wages, and sometimes didn't pay him at all, according to a filing Friday in Georgia federal court.

  • May 30, 2025

    Energy Co. Fired Worker In Retaliation For Probe, Court Told

    A clean energy manufacturing company failed to pay a former employee all his wages and then fired him after he raised safety concerns, the worker told a North Carolina federal court Friday.

  • May 29, 2025

    OPM Memos Push Changes In Federal Hiring Based on 'Merit'

    The Office of Personnel Management on Thursday issued two memos outlining plans for hiring federal workers based on merit, following President Donald Trump's executive orders declaring that the federal hiring system focuses too much on anti-discrimination and not enough on employees willing to serve the executive branch.

  • May 29, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs Ambulance Co. In Ex-Worker's FMLA Suit

    The Second Circuit refused Thursday to revive a former paramedic's lawsuit claiming an ambulance operator unlawfully refused to return him to a supervisory job after he returned from medical leave, saying he wasn't able to work until three months after his federally protected leave expired.

  • May 29, 2025

    Masimo Founder Slaps Board With Lawsuit Over His Ouster

    The founder and former CEO of Masimo Corp. has alleged six of the medical technology company's directors orchestrated his wrongful termination and denied him the compensation he is now owed, according to a suit for hundreds of millions of dollars filed against the executives in California state court.

  • May 29, 2025

    Wash. Justices Upend Cannabis Co. Win In Wage Suit

    Washington state's Department of Labor and Industries does not need to issue a formal letter demanding an employer pay a specific sum to employees before launching a wage and hour lawsuit, the state's supreme court held Thursday, upending a cannabis company's win in a lawsuit the agency launched against it.

  • May 29, 2025

    Home Appraisers' Overtime Suit Moves From NY To Ill.

    A lawsuit accusing an Arizona-based home appraisal company of failing to pay real estate staff appraisers overtime will move to Illinois, after a New York federal judge agreed with a magistrate judge's recommendations that the case needed to move to where the key witnesses are.

  • May 29, 2025

    TikTok Says Sales Reps' Overtime Suit Belongs In Arbitration

    TikTok sales representatives must arbitrate their claims that they were misclassified as overtime-exempt, the social media platform told a California federal court, arguing that the workers signed valid arbitration pacts and that an arbitrator should decide any enforceability issues,

  • May 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Wants Damages Tweaked In Staffing Co. FMLA Suit

    A former employee can't seek front pay or be reinstated to her role at a healthcare staffing firm after a federal jury found she was fired for exercising her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, but certain damages the jury awarded her should be given another look, the Ninth Circuit ruled.

  • May 29, 2025

    Drivers Snag A Narrowed Class Cert. In Misclassification Row

    An Illinois federal judge narrowed a class of drivers accusing a company that provides hazmat freight delivery services of misclassifying them as independent contractors, targeting the class to one of the classification test's prongs and letting out-of-state residents join.

  • May 29, 2025

    Home Loan Co. Accused Of Failing To Pay Overtime

    A lending company required loan processors to put in about 80 hours of work during some weeks but did not pay them overtime wages for the extra time, a worker said in a proposed collective action filed in Arizona federal court.

  • May 28, 2025

    Flooring Co. Faces Trafficking, Forced Labor Suit In Ga.

    An Oregon-based flooring manufacturer has been sued in Georgia federal court by a group of Chinese nationals who allege they were brought to the U.S. to work at a flooring manufacturing facility in Cartersville, Georgia, then exploited, underpaid and subjected to forced labor.

  • May 28, 2025

    DOJ Says Justices' Ruling Backs Nursing Exec's Conviction

    The U.S. Department of Justice is pointing to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling to bolster its fight against a new trial being sought by a convicted Nevada nursing home executive, saying that the new high court decision establishes that economic loss isn't needed to prove wire fraud.

  • May 28, 2025

    4 Tips For Employers As NJ's Pay Range Requirements Kick In

    A New Jersey law requiring employers to include a pay range in both internal and external job postings goes into effect June 1, and businesses in the state should be sure they have their ducks in a row. Here, management-side lawyers offer four tips to help employers prepare.

  • May 28, 2025

    Fla. Ambulance Co. Must Make Missed Payments In OT Deal

    An ambulance service will have to shell out the remaining $42,500 it owes to a group of emergency medical technicians and paramedics to settle their overtime after having missed payment deadlines several times, a Florida federal court ordered Wednesday.

  • May 28, 2025

    Vail Ski Instructors Can't Expand Collective In Wage Suit

    Snow sport instructors cannot revisit previous court orders denying class treatment in their wage and hour lawsuit against Vail Resorts, a Colorado federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the case will proceed in its current form as a collective action.

  • May 28, 2025

    Ex-Texas Solicitor General Accused Of Harassment In Suit

    A new lawsuit from a onetime executive assistant at Stone Hilton PLLC alleges various forms of misconduct at the firm and claims that one of its founders resigned from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office amid sexual harassment allegations.

  • May 28, 2025

    NJ Firm Loses Bid To Toss Worker's Wage Suit

    A New Jersey personal injury law firm will not be able to escape a former employee's lawsuit alleging she was paid less than men and harassed while pregnant, a state court judge ruled, saying that she fulfilled discovery demands.

  • May 28, 2025

    University Of Utah Claims Immunity From Boot-Up Pay Suit

    The University of Utah is an arm of the state and is therefore shielded against a proposed class and collective action accusing it of failing to pay customer service workers for the time they spent booting up their computers, the school told a federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • What Employers Should Know About New Wash. WARN Act

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    Washington state's Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act will soon require 60 days' notice for certain mass layoffs and business closures, so employers should understand how their obligations differ from those under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act before implementing layoffs or closings, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Takeaways From DOJ's 1st Wage-Fixing Jury Conviction

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    U.S. v. Lopez marked the U.S. Department of Justice's first labor market conviction at trial as a Nevada federal jury found a home healthcare staffing executive guilty of wage-fixing and wire fraud, signaling that improper agreements risk facing successful criminal prosecution, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • Handbook Hot Topics: Relying On FLSA Regs Amid Repeals

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    Because handbook policies often rely on federal regulations, President Donald Trump's recent actions directing agency heads to repeal "facially unlawful regulations" may leave employers wondering what may change, but they should be mindful that even a repealed regulation may have accurately stated the law, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • Understanding Compliance Concerns With NY Severance Bill

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    New York's No Severance Ultimatums Act, if enacted, could overhaul how employers manage employee separations, but employers should be mindful that the bill's language introduces ambiguities and raises compliance concerns, say attorneys at Norris McLaughlin.

  • What Employers Should Know Ahead Of H-2B Visa Changes

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    Employers should be aware of several anticipated changes to the H-2B visa program, which allows employers to hire temporary foreign workers, including annual prevailing wage changes and other shifts arising from recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and the new administration, say Steve Bronars and Elliot Delahaye at Edgeworth Economics, and Chris Schulte at Fisher Phillips.

  • Int'l Athletes' Wages Should Be On-Campus Employment

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    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security should recognize participation in college athletics by international student-athletes as on-campus employment to prevent the potentially disastrous ripple effects on teams, schools and their surrounding communities, says Catherine Haight at Haight Law Group.

  • 4 Trends Responsible For Declining FLSA Filings

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    In 2024, the number of Fair Labor Standards Act claims filed in federal courts continued to decrease, reflecting a steady decline in federal FLSA filings since 2015 due to a few trends, including increased compliance and presuit resolution, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Wash. Justices' Moonlight Ruling Should Caution Employers

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    The Washington Supreme Court's recent decision in David v. Freedom Vans, which limited when employers can restrict low-wage workers from moonlighting, underscores the need for employers to narrowly tailor restrictive covenants, ensuring that they are reasonable and allow for workforce mobility, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • 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.

  • A Closer Look At Amendments To Virginia Noncompete Ban

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    Recently passed amendments in Virignia will prohibit noncompetes for all employees who are eligible for overtime pay under federal law, and though the changes could simplify employers’ analyses as to restrictive covenant enforceability, it may require them to reassess and potentially adjust their use of noncompetes with some workers, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • Maximizing Employer Defenses After Calif. Meal Waiver Ruling

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    A California state appeals court's recent decision in Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, finding that revocable meal period waivers prospectively signed by employees are enforceable, offers employers four steps to proactively reduce their exposure to meal period claims and bolster their defenses in a potential lawsuit, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • 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.