Mealey's Employment : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Employment

November 08, 2023
Baltimore Police Department Told To Supplement Discovery In Title VII Suit

BALTIMORE — Finding that the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) complied with some of the discovery requests from an officer suing it for discrimination and retaliation and noting the department’s inability to produce some requested documents, a Maryland federal magistrate judge directed the defendant to supplement its responses in some categories and to provide further explanations and documentation in others.
November 07, 2023
High Court Won’t Hear UPS Driver’s ADA Appeal Concerning Essential Job Functions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 6 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari by a United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) delivery driver who claimed that the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals improperly upheld the denial of his request for a smaller vehicle while he was injured and sought a ruling on “[w]hether an employer’s selection of the equipment used to perform a job precludes a court from considering whether modifications of such equipment would still allow a union employee to perform the essential functions of his job under the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act].”
November 06, 2023
11th Circuit Denies En Banc Review Request In TV Meteorologist’s Race Bias Case

ATLANTA — A television meteorologist who was fired after co-workers filed harassment complaints failed to show that an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority incorrectly considered the inclusion of his race in the documents reviewed by the person who authorized his firing as well as the race of his replacement, the 11th Circuit ruled, denying the meteorologist’s petition for rehearing en banc.
November 06, 2023
Cleaning Franchisees Seek Preliminary Approval Of $30M Classification Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — Cleaning service franchisees who allege that they have been misclassified filed a motion in a federal court in California seeking preliminary approval of a class settlement under which Jan-Pro Franchising International Inc. will pay $30 million and make changes to its business practices that the plaintiffs state will benefit California franchisees.
November 06, 2023
3rd Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of Railroad Worker’s Age Bias Suit

PHILADELPHIA — A railroad worker who was fired after a train mishap while a younger worker who was driving the train was given demerits but retained his job failed to show that his termination was due to age, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court’s dismissal of the complaint.
November 02, 2023
Alaska Native Corporation Is Not An ‘Employer’ Under Title VII, Federal Judge Says

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A former employee of an Alaska Native corporation who says she was discriminated against by the company failed to state her claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because such corporations are expressly excluded from the statute, a Texas federal judge found in adopting a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation.
November 01, 2023
5th Circuit: Trial Court Must Reconsider Army Hospital Surgeon’s Retaliation Claim

NEW ORLEANS — A trial court properly rejected age bias allegations by an Army hospital surgeon in his 70s who was removed from his post as chief of surgery but erred in finding that that the surgeon failed to establish a prima facie case of retaliation in connection with some of his actions taken after his clinical privileges were placed in abeyance, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, remanding for the lower court to consider whether the Army provided a legitimate and non-pretextual reason for the action.
October 31, 2023
Domino’s Seeks U.S. High Court Ruling On Local Delivery Drivers And FAA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Domino’s Pizza LLC truck drivers (D&S drivers), found by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to be exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) in their class case alleging unreimbursed business expenses and violation of California’s unfair competition law, filed in the U.S. Supreme Court a waiver of their right to respond to Domino’s petition for writ of certiorari in which the pizza franchise argues that circuits are split on whether local delivery drivers are engaged in interstate commerce.
October 30, 2023
U.S. High Court: Solicitor General May Argue In Title VII Job Transfer Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 30 granted a motion by the solicitor general for leave to participate as amicus curiae and for divided arguments in an appeal concerning whether a lateral transfer constitutes discrimination and is actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
October 30, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear Maine Health Workers’ COVID-19 Vaccine Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of certiorari by Maine health care workers fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine citing religious beliefs was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 30.
October 27, 2023
Amazon Seeks U.S. Supreme Court Review Of Arbitration Denial In Drivers’ Tips Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal appellate courts “are intractably divided” over whether local delivery drivers are exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), and intervention by the nation’s highest court “is urgently needed” as “[t]he existing 3-2 circuit split cannot repair itself,” Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Logistics Inc. (together, Amazon) argue in a petition for a writ of certiorari.
October 27, 2023
California Panel: Sovereign Immunity Protects Tribe From Employment Claims

SAN DIEGO — Sovereign immunity protects the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians and two of its employees who were alleged to have violated state law and the U.S. Constitution when they informed a man recently hired by the band that he would have to maintain a gaming license that required him to pay child support to work at the tribe’s hotel, a California appellate court panel found in affirming a trial court’s judgment.
October 27, 2023
5th Circuit: Amicus Texas NAACP Can’t Participate In FedEx Retaliation Argument

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion by Texas State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Texas NAACP) to participate as amicus curiae in oral argument in an appeal in which FedEx Corporate Services Inc. argues that a trial court erred in entering final judgment for a former employee on her retaliation claims and should reverse the award of more than $366 million.
October 26, 2023
NLRB Issues Final Rule On Standard For Determining Joint-Employer Status

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Labor Relations Board on Oct. 26 issued its final rule on the standard for determining joint-employer status and in doing so rescinded the 2020 final rule that was promulgated by the prior board.
October 26, 2023
7th Circuit Approves Make-Whole Remedy In NLRB Pandemic Response Case

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals approved a stipulation and proposed consent order in a pandemic response case between the National Labor Relations Board and a Wisconsin salon business under which the business will make the charging party whole and pay the NLRB’s attorney fees and expenses.
October 26, 2023
5th Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of Former LSU Director’s RICO Claims

NEW ORLEANS — Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims by a former Louisiana State University (LSU) assistant athletic director who alleged that she was retaliated against for reporting sexual harassment by the school’s former football coach failed as they were both time-barred and causation was not shown, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court’s dismissal of the claims.
October 25, 2023
COMMENTARY: Neurotechnology In The Workplace: A Futuristic Reality

By Jeremy Ben Merkelson, Wendy Kearns, Michael Borgia and Tanner Harris
October 25, 2023
Bank Workers Fired For Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine Appeal Summary Judgment

NEW YORK — Two former employees of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) who were fired after refusing to follow a COVID-19 vaccination policy based on religious beliefs filed a notice on Oct. 24 that they are appealing a ruling by a federal judge in New York granting summary judgment to FRBNY.
October 25, 2023
Del. Court: Worker Contracted COVID-19 On The Job, But Disease Isn’t Occupational

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Perdue Farms Inc. employee showed that he contracted COVID-19 at the Perdue plant but failed to show that his illness was an occupational disease pursuant to the Delaware Worker’s Compensation Act (WCA), a Delaware judge ruled, affirming a decision by the Industrial Accident Board denying the worker’s petition to determine compensation due.
October 24, 2023
2 Amici File Briefs Supporting Southwest In Worker’s Protected Speech Case

NEW ORLEANS — Two nonprofits filed separate amicus curiae briefs in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals supporting an airline’s arguments that a jury and trial court erred in finding that a flight attendant was fired for sending social media messages about abortion and in ordering the airline’s attorneys to attend religious liberty training from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF); meanwhile, ADF filed its own amicus brief in support of neither side defending its ability to “provide comprehensive and professional legal training about the religious liberty requirements of Title VII” of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
October 24, 2023
9th Circuit: Wrong Review Applied In Wage Case, But Error Was Harmless

DENVER — A federal court in Colorado applied the wrong standard when it reviewed a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation regarding an emergency motion sought by workers seeking to halt a nationwide wage and hour settlement in another court that would impact their claims, but “the error was harmless,” a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming the denial of the workers’ injunction motion.
October 23, 2023
Kan. Federal Judge Dismisses Some Of Native American Woman’s Discrimination Claims

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Native American woman who says she was subject to racial harassment and discrimination by her employer failed to allege facts in support of her hostile work environment claim and failed to bring her retaliatory harassment claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a Kansas federal judge found Oct. 20 in partly granting the employer’s motion to dismiss.
October 23, 2023
9th Circuit Wage Appeal Remanded For Consideration Of $3.5M Settlement

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 20 granted a motion for limited remand of an appeal following a jury verdict in a wage-and-hour case for two cheese manufacturers for the limited purpose of approving the parties’ $3.5 million class settlement agreement that would settle the case and several similar cases.
October 23, 2023
Military Members’ Vaccine Cases Dismissed After Undisclosed Costs Settlement

TAMPA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida in an Oct. 20 docket entry dismissed with prejudice two complaints by military members challenging a COVID-19 vaccine mandate; the order was filed one day after the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal after reaching an undisclosed settlement on costs.
October 23, 2023
Housekeeper Files Class Suit Against DoubleTree Under Los Angeles 2022 Ordinance

LOS ANGELES — A hotel housekeeper filed a class complaint in a California court accusing her employer of violating the Los Angeles Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance; her attorneys say it’s the first case to be filed under the 2022 ordinance intended to protect hotel workers from sexual assault.