Wage & Hour

  • November 08, 2024

    Ill. Judge Sends Abbott Safety Gear OT Suit To Ohio

    Two Abbott Laboratories employees accusing the company of illegally failing to pay them for sanitary gear changes shouldn't litigate their claims in Chicago but rather Ohio, where a similar lawsuit they were previously part of is pending, an Illinois federal judge said.

  • November 08, 2024

    Ill. AG Strikes $11M Deal With DoorDash Over Driver Tips

    DoorDash has agreed to pay $11.25 million to resolve a lawsuit accusing it of violating Illinois consumer protection law by misrepresenting to its users that drivers would keep 100% of their tips, according to a consent decree reached with the state.

  • November 08, 2024

    DOJ Says Miss. Senate Stiffed Black Atty On Equal Pay

    The U.S. Department of Justice alleged in a race bias suit filed in Mississippi federal court Friday that the state Senate paid a Black attorney at times less than half of what her white colleagues were paid even though they completed the same work.

  • November 08, 2024

    DLA Piper's Performance Critique Is Bogus, Fired Atty Says

    A former DLA Piper associate told a New York federal court that her pregnancy bias case against the firm should be heard by a jury, arguing the firm's assertion that she was fired for careless work is contradicted by bonuses she was given and a lack of disciplinary records.

  • November 08, 2024

    NC Forest Service Workers Defend OT Wage Suit Win

    A group of state foresters urged the North Carolina Court of Appeals to affirm a trial court order requiring they be paid overtime for work combating forest fires, saying state agencies clearly agreed to compensate them at a rate of time-and-a-half of their regular pay under a reimbursement deal with the federal government.

  • November 08, 2024

    Jackson Lewis Adds Veteran UB Greensfelder Atty In Ohio

    Jackson Lewis PC has expanded its employment counseling and litigation capabilities in Cleveland with the addition of a longtime UB Greensfelder LLP attorney.

  • November 08, 2024

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Weighs NLRB Constitutionality

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider a nursing home's attempt to block a National Labor Relations Board case against it on the grounds that the agency is unconstitutionally structured. Here, Law360 looks at this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • November 08, 2024

    9th Circ. Affirms Union Longshoreman's Promotion Denial

    A union-represented longshoreman who left his job to serve in the U.S. Air Force for nine years is ineligible for a promotion he might have received if he served five years or less, the Ninth Circuit affirmed, saying he didn't qualify for an exception to the years requirement.

  • November 08, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: $16M Delta Pay Stubs Deal Heads To Court

    In the coming week, attorneys should keep an eye out for potential final approval of a nearly $16 million settlement for Delta Air Lines flight attendants alleging wage claims. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • November 07, 2024

    Amazon Workers Get Final OK For $5.5M COVID Screen Deal

    A California federal judge gave a final nod Thursday to a $5.5 million settlement that resolves a 250,000-member proposed class action accusing Amazon of unlawfully failing to compensate them for their time spent undergoing mandatory COVID-19 screenings before their shifts.

  • November 07, 2024

    DOL Secretary Seeks Unpaid OT From Health Staffing Cos.

    A pair of health care staffing companies in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania failed to pay overtime to a group of employees it classified as independent contractors, the U.S. Department of Labor alleged Thursday.

  • November 07, 2024

    Live-In Caregivers Want Partial Win In Unpaid Breaks Suit

    Two live-in caregivers urged a Connecticut federal court to grant them a partial pretrial win Thursday in their lawsuit against a home healthcare company, arguing the undisputed facts show their former employer unlawfully failed to compensate them for time they spent working during designated breaks.

  • November 07, 2024

    Polsinelli Adds Reed Smith Employment Litigator In DC

    Polsinelli PC has hired a new shareholder in Washington, D.C., who spent more than two decades with Reed Smith LLP, which included time as that firm's global labor and employment chair.

  • November 07, 2024

    AT&T Says Tolling Not Necessary In Workers' OT Suit

    Call center workers shouldn't be allowed to toll the statute of limitations in their collective suit claiming that AT&T failed to pay them overtime, the company told an Illinois federal court, arguing that nothing has precluded purported plaintiffs from chiming in.

  • November 07, 2024

    Library Of Congress Escapes 20-Year-Old Race, Pay Bias Suit

    The Library of Congress does not have to face an almost 20-year-old lawsuit in which African American employees alleged that the institution subjected them to workplace harassment and discriminatory practices in hiring and pay, a D.C. federal judge ruled, finding that the workers' Title VII claims lacked specificity.

  • November 06, 2024

    NC Agencies Say Forest Service Workers' OT Is Straight Time

    A North Carolina trial court correctly held that the overtime rate under state law for North Carolina Forest Service professional employees is a straight-time rate, two state agencies told the state's appeals court, arguing that a higher rate is not warranted.

  • November 06, 2024

    HP Applicant Gets Pay Posting Suit Sent Back To State Court

    A Washington federal judge sent back to state court a job applicant's proposed class action accusing HP of violating state law by failing to include salary ranges in job postings, saying the worker hasn't shown she has standing to pursue the dispute in federal court.

  • November 06, 2024

    LA Says Police Lt.'s Military Leave Support Still Deficient

    A retired police lieutenant still failed to support his claims that he was denied a promotion because of his military service despite the court giving him a chance to fix deficiencies in his allegations, the city of Los Angeles told a California federal court.

  • November 06, 2024

    Shuttered Bakery To Pay $900K To Settle Calif. Wage Suit

    A former wholesale bakery will pay over $900,000 to former employees who alleged they were not paid final paychecks or for unused vacation time when the shop abruptly closed in 2018, the California Labor Commissioner's Office said.

  • November 06, 2024

    Former Walmart Manager Can Proceed With OT Suit

    A former Walmart manager supported her claims for unpaid overtime in her misclassification suit, a Georgia federal judge said Wednesday, rejecting the retail company's bid to toss her lawsuit.

  • November 06, 2024

    Calif. Charter School Network Underpaid Workers, Suit Claims

    One of the biggest nonprofit free public charter school networks in the U.S., based in California, cheated employees out of wages and overtime, while also employing workers under the age of 16 in hazardous jobs, a Private Attorneys General Act suit claims.

  • November 06, 2024

    Domino's Drivers' Claims Should Be Arbitrated, Court Told

    A Domino's franchisee urged an Ohio federal court to ship to arbitration allegations from two former pizza delivery drivers who accused the company of underreimbursing them for vehicle-related expenses, saying they failed to opt out of its binding arbitration provision.

  • November 06, 2024

    MVP: O'Melveny's Mark W. Robertson

    Mark W. Robertson of O'Melveny & Myers LLP has spent the year defending Piedmont Airlines Inc. and American Airlines from proposed class actions and other litigation over overtime, sick leave and other employment issues, earning himself a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Transportation MVPs.

  • November 05, 2024

    Mass. Voters Reject Tipped Minimum Wage Proposal

    Massachusetts voters on Tuesday rejected a hotly contested measure that would have fundamentally changed how servers and other tipped workers are compensated, one of a collection of ballot initiatives dealing with employment rights, education and legalized hallucinogens.

  • November 05, 2024

    An Early Look At Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist

    With former President Donald Trump projected to win the 2024 presidential election and the Republicans' success in securing the U.S. Senate majority, Trump may now get the chance to appoint two more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, cementing the court's conservative tilt for decades to come.

Expert Analysis

  • Federal Salary History Ban's Reach Is Limited

    Author Photo

    Though a newly effective Office of Personnel Management rule takes important steps by banning federal employers from considering job applicants' nonfederal salary histories, the rule's narrow applicability and overconfidence in the existing system's fairness will likely not end persistent pay inequities, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • Tips For Employers As Courts Shift On Paid Leave Bias Suits

    Author Photo

    After several federal courts recently cited the U.S. Supreme Court's Muldrow decision — which held that job transfers could be discriminatory — in ruling that paid administrative leave may also constitute an adverse employment action, employers should carefully consider several points before suspending workers, says Tucker Camp at Foley & Lardner.

  • Employer Lessons From Mass. 'Bonus Not Wages' Ruling

    Author Photo

    In Nunez v. Syncsort, a Massachusetts state appeals court recently held that a terminated employee’s retention bonus did not count as wages under the state’s Wage Act, illustrating the nuanced ways “wages” are defined by state statutes and courts, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.

  • Employment Verification Poses Unique Risks For Staffing Cos.

    Author Photo

    All employers face employee verification issues, but a survey of recent settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section suggests that staffing companies' unique circumstances raise the chances they will be investigated and face substantial fines, says Eileen Scofield at Alston & Bird.

  • Amazon Holiday Pay Case Underscores Overtime Challenges

    Author Photo

    The recent Hamilton v. Amazon.com Services LLC decision in the Colorado Supreme Court underscores why employers must always consult applicable state law and regulations — in addition to federal law — when determining how to properly pay employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek, says James Looby at Vedder Price.

  • What To Know About New Employment Laws In Fla.

    Author Photo

    Florida employers should familiarize themselves with recent state laws, and also federal legislation, on retirement benefits, teen labor and heat exposure, with special attention to prohibitions against minors performing dangerous tasks, as outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act, say Katie Molloy and Cayla Page at Greenberg Traurig.

  • 5th Circ. DOL Tip Decision May Trigger Final 80/20 Rule Fight

    Author Photo

    A recent Fifth Circuit decision concerning a Labor Department rule that limits how often tipped employees can be assigned non-tip-producing duties could be challenged in either historically rule-friendly circuits or the Supreme Court, but either way it could shape the future of tipped work, says Kevin Johnson at Johnson Jackson.

  • Earned Wage Access Laws Form A Prickly Policy Patchwork

    Author Photo

    Conflicting earned wage access laws across the country, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently issued rule, mean providers must adopt a proactive compliance approach and adjust business models where needed, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 5th Circ. Shows Admin Rules Can Survive Court Post-Chevron

    Author Photo

    The Fifth Circuit's textual analysis of the Fair Labor Standards Act, contributing to its recent affirming of the U.S. Department of Labor’s authority to set an overtime exemption salary threshold, suggests administrative laws can survive post-Chevron challenges, say Jessi Thaller-Moran and Erin Barker at Brooks Pierce.

  • What 7th Circ. Collective Actions Ruling Means For Employers

    Author Photo

    With the Seventh Circuit’s recent Fair Labor Standards Act ruling in Vanegas v. Signet Builders, a majority of federal appellate courts that have addressed the jurisdictional scope of employee collective actions now follow the U.S. Supreme Court's limiting precedent, bolstering an employer defense in circuits that have yet to weigh in, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Behind 3rd Circ. Ruling On College Athletes' FLSA Eligibility

    Author Photo

    The Third Circuit's decision that college athletes are not precluded from bringing a claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act raises key questions about the practical consequences of treating collegiate athletes as employees, such as Title IX equal pay claims and potential eligibility for all employment benefits, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What To Know About Ill. Employment Law Changes

    Author Photo

    Illinois employers should review their policies in light of a number of recent changes to state employment law, including amendments to the state’s Human Rights Act and modifications to the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • Court Denial Of $335M UFC Deal Sets Bold Antitrust Precedent

    Author Photo

    A Nevada federal court’s recent refusal to accept a $335 million deal between Ultimate Fighting Championship and a group of former fighters to settle claims of anticompetitive conduct was a rare decision that risks the floodgates opening on established antitrust case law, says Mohit Pasricha at Lawrence Stephens.