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Mealey's Employment

  • April 03, 2020

    6th Circuit Reinstates Public School Administrator’s Federal Age, Sex Bias Claims

    CINCINNATI — A former public school administrator may proceed with his claims for age and gender bias under federal law after showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to pretext for all of the school district’s reasons a younger female candidate was chosen for a newly created position (Gregory Stokes v. Detroit Public Schools, No. 19-1773, 6th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 10451).

  • April 02, 2020

    NLRB Announces It Will Resume Representation Elections

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Labor Relations Board on April 1 announced that it will not extend its suspension of representation elections, including mail ballot ones, due to the novel coronavirus beyond April 3.

  • April 02, 2020

    Colorado Shuttle Service Sued By EEOC For Age Discrimination

    DENVER — A Telluride, Colo., shuttle service company violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) when it told a 79-year-old applicant that he would not be hired because he was too old to be covered as a driver under the company’s commercial auto insurance policy, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleges in a March 31 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. San Miguel Mountain Ventures, LLC, No. 20-881, D. Colo.).

  • April 02, 2020

    N.J. High Court: Employee May Proceed With Bias Suit Over Firing For Marijuana Use

    TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court in a March 10 per curiam opinion affirmed an appellate panel’s reinstatement of a funeral director’s lawsuit accusing his former employer of violating the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) by firing him for using medical marijuana, ruling that the employee brought forth sufficient claims to survive a motion to dismiss (Justin Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, et al., No. 082836, N.J. Sup., 2020 N.J. LEXIS 299).

  • April 01, 2020

    Arbitration Denied In Massachusetts Wage Law Suit; Lyft Will Appeal

    BOSTON — A ride-sharing company filed a notice of appeal on March 27, the same day a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that its arbitration agreement is not subject to the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) as its drivers are exempt and that the agreement’s class action waiver is not enforceable under Massachusetts law (Melody Cunningham, et al. v. Lyft, Inc., et al., No. 19-11974, D. Mass., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53653).

  • April 01, 2020

    Federal Magistrate Judge Trims Class In Goldman Sachs Gender Bias Suit

    NEW YORK — A federal magistrate judge in New York on March 26 narrowed the class of female employee suing Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (collectively, Goldman) for gender bias, finding that arbitration agreements entered into by some class members leave individual arbitration as their only remedy (H. Cristina Chen-Oster, et al. v. Goldman, Sachs & Co., et al., No. 10-6950, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53302).

  • April 01, 2020

    Magistrate Won’t Compel Production Of Employee Pay Data In Specific Format

    WICHITA, Kan. — The failure of the plaintiff in an overtime pay dispute to request the production of electronically stored information (ESI) in a desired format led a Kansas federal magistrate judge on March 30 to deny her request to compel her former employer to re-produce employee pay data in another format, stating that the “dispute could have been avoided altogether had the parties adequately conferred” prior to the discovery process (Peggy Lynn Lundine v. Gates Corp., No. 6:18-cv-01235, D. Kan., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54637).

  • March 31, 2020

    Employee Fails To Add GEICO To Discrimination Suit Against Its Franchisee

    NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal magistrate judge on March 25 denied an employee’s motion to add Government Employees Insurance Co. (GEICO) to his discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against a franchised third-party vendor of GEICO because there are no specific allegations that GEICO asserts control over the franchisee (Nasser Saleh v. Egglinger Insurance Agency, LLC, et al., No. 19-13944, D. N.J., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51350).

  • March 31, 2020

    $3.2 Million Settlement Of Correction Officers’ Wage Claims Granted Approval

    FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge on March 26 granted preliminary approval of a $3.2 million settlement that would end wage-and-hour claims by California correctional officers who brought two class complaints seeking pay for missed meal and rest breaks and time spent going through security checks, but directed the parties to further explain incentive payments for the named plaintiffs that “appear . . . to be somewhat disproportionate” at the final approval stage (Jose Gonzalez, et al. v. CoreCivic of Tennessee, LLC, et al., No. 16-1891, E.D. Calif., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52840).

  • March 31, 2020

    NLRB Issues Finalized Amendments To Rules Regarding Union Elections

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on March 31 announced that it finalized a series of amendments to its rules and regulations governing NLRB-conducted representation elections and proof of majority support in construction-industry collective bargaining relationships.

  • March 30, 2020

    3rd Circuit:  Employer’s Letter Disavowing CBA Ended The Contract

    PHILADELPHIA — A newspaper company’s letter to the union representing its employees stating its intention to disavow the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) when it expired was clear, so the trial court erred when it found that an implied-in-fact contract existed as it expired and granted the union’s request for a preliminary injunction requiring the employer to maintain the status quo under the CBA, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled March 25 (Newspaper, Newsprint, Magazine and Film Delivery Drivers, Helpers and Handlers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local Union No. 211 v. PG Publishing Co., Inc., No. 19-3966, 3rd Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 9318).

  • March 30, 2020

    Split New York High Court: Postmates Courier Is Employee Eligible For Unemployment

    ALBANY, N.Y. — A former Postmates Inc. courier who was prevented from accepting new jobs after receiving poor reviews from customers is an employee who is eligible for unemployment benefits, a split New York Court of Appeals ruled March 26, finding that there was substantial evidence supporting such a determination by the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (In the Matter of the Claim of Luis A. Vega v. Postmates Inc., No. APL-2018-00143, N.Y. App., 2020 N.Y. LEXIS 655).

  • March 30, 2020

    Panel Affirms Take-Nothing Judgment In Employment Discrimination Coverage Suit

    HOUSTON — A Texas appeals panel on March 26 affirmed a lower court’s ruling that an insurer owes no coverage for an underlying $87,598 default judgment entered against its hospital insured in an employment discrimination lawsuit because the hospital failed to timely report the claim (Junious R. Valentine v. Federal Insurance Company, No. 14-18-00438, Texas App., 14th Dist., 2020 Tex. App. LEXIS 2537).

  • March 27, 2020

    Class Certification Reversed In Workers’ Suit Over Fitness-For-Duty Policy

    OMAHA, Neb. — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 24 reversed a trial court’s class certification order in a suit by workers alleging that their employer’s use of a fitness-for-duty policy constitutes disability discrimination, finding that the policy involves individual assessments and is not appropriate for class treatment (Quinton Harris, et al. v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, No. 19-1514, 8th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 9118).

  • March 27, 2020

    Magistrate Judge Denies Dismissal Of Former Tribal Employee’s RICO Action

    BILLINGS, Mont. — A Montana federal magistrate judge on March 23 turned back two requests by the individual operators of a Native American nursing home to dismiss a former employee’s claim that she was fired in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (Tammy Wilhite v. Paul Littlelight, et al., No. 1:19-cv-20, D. Mont., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51127).

  • March 27, 2020

    Nike Must Provide Employee Names, Data In Sex Bias Class Action, Magistrate Rules

    PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon federal magistrate judge on March 23 granted a motion by a group of former Nike Inc. employees to compel the sporting goods giant to produce employee names and identifying information associated with certain documents that it has already provided in discovery in a sex bias suit against it, with the magistrate finding that a prior ruling and a protective order will guard the employees’ privacy interests (Kelly Cahill, et al. v. Nike, Inc., No. 3:18-cv-01477, D. Ore., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49838).

  • March 26, 2020

    Federal Judge Dismisses Employees’ Antitrust Case Against Burger King

    MIAMI — Without sufficient allegations that Burger King Corp. and its franchisees “are separate economic actors for antitrust purposes,” a federal judge in Florida on March 24 dismissed employees’ antitrust lawsuit against the hamburger fast food chain and its franchisees (Jarvis Arrington, et al. v. Burger King Worldwide, Inc., et al., No. 18-24128, S.D. Fla.).

  • March 25, 2020

    Grocery Store Agrees To $60,000 Settlement With EEOC In Race Bias Suit

    ATLANTA — A federal judge in Georgia on March 24 signed off on an agreement between a Georgia grocery store and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under which the store will pay $60,000 and provide bias training to end a racial harassment and retaliation lawsuit (Equal Employment Opportunity v. G.N.T., Inc., No. 17-3545, N.D. Ga.).

  • March 25, 2020

    Extended Time Granted For Filing In Antitrust Suit Due To COVID-19

    SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington on March 24 granted a joint motion filed by the parties in a lawsuit challenging the city of Seattle’s ordinance concerning the unionizing of taxi and ride-share drivers seeking a 14-day extension for the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America to produce documents belonging to its members (Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. Seattle, et al., No. 17-370, W.D. Wash.).

  • March 24, 2020

    COVID-19 Causes Motion To Extend Time For Filing In Antitrust Suit

    SEATTLE — The parties in a lawsuit challenging the city of Seattle’s ordinance concerning the unionizing of taxi and ride-share drivers filed a joint motion on March 20 in a Washington federal court seeking a 14-day extension for the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America to produce documents belonging to its members (Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. Seattle, et al., No. 17-370, W.D. Wash.).