Labor

  • January 01, 2025

    Gov't Contracts Cases To Watch In 2025

    Federal courts in 2025 are expected to rehear a finding underpinning a high-profile commercial item contracting dispute, to determine the allowability of contentious labor-related clauses in federal contracts, and to decide whether to back the government's aggressive enforcement of cybersecurity regulations.

  • January 01, 2025

    Pa. Cases To Watch In 2025: Climate Change And Skill Games

    President-elect Donald Trump's impending return to the White House casts a new light on certain pending cases in Pennsylvania courts with federal implications, such as a suburban Philadelphia county's climate change claims against oil companies that contend the suits are preempted and the U.S. Department of Justice's entrance into monopoly allegations against University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

  • December 23, 2024

    NLRB Says Co. Unlawfully Insisted Upon Multiemployer Talks

    A Michigan paving company violated federal labor law by insisting that a union engage in multiemployer bargaining and locking out workers in an effort to force it to do so, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled.

  • December 23, 2024

    3rd Circ. Must Make Newspaper Rescind Changes, NLRB Says

    The National Labor Relations Board asked the Third Circuit to greenlight an injunction against the publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette involving a yearslong negotiating dispute with a NewsGuild affiliate, seeking compliance with portions of a board decision that required the company to walk back unilateral changes.

  • December 23, 2024

    NLRB Says Starbucks Sought To Stifle 1st Organizing Wave

    The National Labor Relations Board found Starbucks committed a host of labor violations to stem the first wave of union organizing in several Buffalo, New York-area stores three years ago, including firing union backers, promising to improve conditions and shuttering an organizing hub.

  • December 23, 2024

    NLRB Reverses Judge On Rail Union's Duty To Provide Notes

    The National Labor Relations Board reversed an agency judge's finding that a rail workers union breached its duty of fair representation by refusing to show a worker its notes from an investigatory meeting that preceded her firing, saying the union had valid reasons for keeping the notes secret.

  • December 20, 2024

    Federal Unions, Workers Bracing For 2nd Trump Term

    Federal workers and unions are steeling themselves for a second Trump term, anticipating a return of executive orders from the first administration that targeted federal workers' job security and limited the power of labor organizations.

  • December 20, 2024

    NLRB Members Disagree On Remedy In Starbucks Cases

    A pair of National Labor Relations Board judges correctly found that Starbucks illegally fought unionization in Los Angeles and Wichita, Kansas, but the judges overstepped by issuing broad cease-and-desist orders against the company, a split National Labor Relations Board ruled, saying narrow cease-and-desist orders are more appropriate.

  • December 20, 2024

    NLRB Says Co. Couldn't Ask Worker To Remove Union Sticker

    A beverage company engaged in unfair labor practices when it asked a worker to remove a union sticker from his coverall, the National Labor Relations Board ruled, flipping a judge's decision that the company was within its rights because the sticker was a safety hazard.

  • December 20, 2024

    Yellow Corp. Layoff Notices Had Too Little Info, Judge Says

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge has shot down some of trucking company Yellow Corp.'s defenses against claims it failed to give proper notice of more than 25,000 layoffs just before it entered Chapter 11, saying the notices it sent weren't informative enough.

  • December 20, 2024

    Veteran Littler Mendelson Policy Expert Dies At 76

    Michael Lotito, a veteran management-side labor and employment attorney who most recently practiced at Littler Mendelson PC, died Thursday, the firm confirmed.

  • December 20, 2024

    Unionized Starbucks Workers Launch 5-Day Strike

    Starbucks baristas in unionized stores in Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago have gone on strike, Starbucks Workers United has announced, saying the union plans to spread the strike to other markets across the country between now and Christmas Eve.

  • December 20, 2024

    Florida Orchestra Unlawfully Declared Impasse, NLRB Says

    A Florida symphony orchestra had not reached an impasse during contract negotiations with a musicians union when it imposed its final offer in 2020, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled, overturning the orchestra's win before an agency judge.

  • December 20, 2024

    Top Pa. Cases Of 2024: Elon Musk, Johnny Doc, Uber Drivers

    This year was a standout for high-profile legal battles in Pennsylvania, from a blockbuster verdict against Monsanto over its Roundup weedkiller to the Philadelphia district attorney's fight with Elon Musk over allegations that he tried to influence the 2024 presidential election with his million-dollar giveaway.

  • December 19, 2024

    NLRB, Post-Gazette Trade Barbs Over Bad Faith Bargaining

    National Labor Relations Board prosecutors and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have squared off in dueling briefs in Pennsylvania federal court over whether the newspaper bargained in bad faith with its workers' unions and whether it should be forced back to the bargaining table.

  • December 19, 2024

    Teamsters Launch Strike In Bid To Force Amazon To Table

    Workers at seven Amazon facilities across the country who have organized with the Teamsters launched a strike against the e-commerce giant Thursday, demanding that the company meet them at the bargaining table.

  • December 19, 2024

    NLRB Says Co. Threatened Worker Over Grievance Win

    A divided National Labor Relations Board panel said that a U.S. Air Force contractor illegally threatened a worker and changed his schedule because he won a hiring grievance, splitting over the strength of a judge's read of witnesses.

  • December 19, 2024

    Hospital Dodged Bargaining Over OT Change, NLRB Says

    A Puerto Rico hospital violated the National Labor Relations Act when it changed how it assigns overtime without bargaining with its workers' union, the National Labor Relations Board ruled, applying a recent precedent shift for evaluating when companies' unilateral changes to employees' working conditions break the law.

  • December 19, 2024

    NLRB Urges DC Circ. To Affirm Finding Of Hospital's Bad Faith

    The National Labor Relations Board urged the D.C. Circuit on Thursday to affirm a ruling that George Washington University Hospital sabotaged negotiations by insisting on unreasonable contract terms and illegally rebuked the union after workers soured on its progress toward a deal.

  • December 19, 2024

    Dinsmore Adds Labor And Employment Duo In Denver

    Dinsmore & Shohl LLP has hired two labor and employment attorneys in Denver from a firm one of those attorneys helped found, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • December 18, 2024

    Janitors' Picket Was Legal, NLRB Says On 2nd Go-Round

    Janitors at a San Francisco commercial building didn't engage in a secondary boycott when they picketed outside their work location, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in a case on remand from the Ninth Circuit, departing from a Trump-era board ruling.

  • December 18, 2024

    Judge Wants To Know If Colo. Kroger Merger Fight Is Moot

    A Colorado state judge wants to know whether two recent decisions blocking the proposed $24.6 billion merger of The Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. Inc. has mooted Attorney General Phillip J. Weiser's challenge to the transaction, according to a briefing plan approved Tuesday. 

  • December 18, 2024

    The Biggest Labor Decisions Of 2024

    A number of rulings this year have reshaped federal labor law, including National Labor Relations Board decisions restricting employers' tactics in anti-union campaigns and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling tweaking the test for the board to win injunctions. Here, Law360 looks at these and more of the biggest labor decisions of 2024.

  • December 18, 2024

    Black Worker Says UPS, Teamsters Engaged In Discrimination

    A UPS worker told a Mississippi federal court that a supervisor repeatedly made references to slavery and discriminated against him because he is Black and that an International Brotherhood of Teamsters local discouraged him from pursuing his discrimination claims.

  • December 18, 2024

    NLRB Says Starbucks Illegally Axed Worker Who Opened Mail

    Starbucks violated federal labor law by firing a worker at a New York store during a unionization campaign, the National Labor Relations Board ruled, reversing an agency judge's finding that the company fired the worker because he opened a letter from the board.

Expert Analysis

  • NLRB's Stricter Contractor Test May Bring Organizing Risks

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    The National Labor Relations Board’s recent Atlanta Opera decision adds another layer of complexity to the legal tests for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee, and could create new risks of union organizing and unfair labor practice charges for companies, say Robert Lian and James Crowley at Akin.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Office Drug Abuse Insights From 'Industry'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with Squarespace general counsel Larissa Boz about how employees in the Max TV show "Industry" abuse drugs and alcohol to cope with their high-pressure jobs, and discuss managerial and drug testing best practices for addressing suspected substance use at work.

  • A Look At 2023's Major NLRB Developments Thus Far

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    Over the last six months, the National Labor Relations Board has broadened its interpretation and enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act, including increasing penalties and efforts to prohibit restrictive covenants and confidentiality agreements, say Eve Klein and Elizabeth Mincer at Duane Morris.

  • What 3rd Circ. Niaspan Decision Means For Class Cert.

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    The Third Circuit's recent denial of class certification in the Niaspan antitrust case underscores its particularly stringent understanding of the implicit ascertainability requirement, which further fuels confusion in the courts, threatens uneven results and increases the risk of forum shopping, says Michael Lazaroff at Rimon Law.

  • 2 Steps To Improve Arbitrator Diversity In Employment Cases

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    There are prevalent obstacles in improving diversity among arbitrator ranks, but in the realm of employment-related disputes, there are two action items practitioners should consider to close the race and gender gap, say Todd Lyon and Carola Murguia at Fisher Phillips.

  • Cos. Should Consider Virtual Bargaining To Show Good Faith

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    Though the National Labor Relations Board recently determined that a Starbucks union's insistence on hybrid meetings was not an attempt to stall negotiations, the board’s lack of a formal decision on when virtual bargaining might be warranted should warn employers to stay flexible about how they come to the table, says Brandon Shemtob at Stevens & Lee.

  • Employers Must Beware NLRB Noncompete Stance

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    The National Labor Relations Board general counsel’s position that overly broad noncompete agreements could violate federal labor means employers should weigh the potential risks before offering such agreements, even though this issue has yet to come before the board for decision, says Samantha Buddig at Laner Muchin.

  • AI Voice Tech Legal Issues To Consider In The Film Industry

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    As studios create believable and identifiable artificial voice performances, there will be several legal pitfalls that rights-holders should evaluate in the context of rights of publicity, consumers' rights, relevant guild and union agreements, and the contractual language of performers' agreements, says Karen Robson at Pryor Cashman.

  • High Court Labor Ruling Is A Ripple, Not A Sea Change

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    Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters looks on the surface like a major win for employers’ right to sue unions for intentionally damaging company property during work stoppages, the ruling may not produce the far-reaching consequences employers hoped for, says Rob Entin at FordHarrison.

  • NLRB's Ruling On BLM Buttons Holds Employer Lessons

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    A recent National Labor Relations Board holding, that two companies violated federal labor law by banning employees from wearing Black Lives Matter buttons, at first seems to contrast with decisions in similar cases, but is based on specific key facts that employers should carefully consider, says Elizabeth Johnston at Verrill Dana.

  • 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.

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