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Mealey's Employment

  • January 15, 2021

    Cosmetology School Operators Seek Rehearing After 6th Circuit FLSA Ruling

    CINCINNATI — The majority of a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel erred when it reversed a trial court’s summary judgment ruling for cosmetology students seeking pay for time spent cleaning and performing other janitorial services in their schools’ salons and remanded for proper consideration of the ruling in Solis v. Laurelbrook Sanitarium & School, Inc., the school operators argue in a Jan. 14 petition for rehearing en banc.

  • January 15, 2021

    Delivery Providers: U.S. High Court Shouldn’t Consider FAA Class Exemption

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court shouldn’t grant a petition by Amazon.com Inc. to review a divided Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling on the Federal Arbitration Act’s (FAA) exemption for classes of workers engaged in interstate commerce because the majority’s ruling was correct, there is no circuit split and the case is a poor vehicle, individuals providing delivery services argue in a Jan. 13 respondent brief.

  • January 14, 2021

    Domino’s Appeals Arbitration Denial In Truck Drivers’ Expenses Class Lawsuit

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — A pizza company with more than 17,000 franchised and company-owned stores in the United States and internationally filed a notice of appeal on Jan. 5 in a federal court in California after its motion to compel arbitration of a putative class complaint over truck drivers’ cell phone expenses failed.

  • January 14, 2021

    California High Court Holds That Dynamex Applies Retroactively To Nonfinal Cases

    SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court’s ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court concerning classifying workers as employees or independent contractors “applies retroactively to all nonfinal cases that predate the effective date” of that decision, a unanimous California Supreme Court ruled Jan. 14.

  • January 14, 2021

    Nonemployee Asks U.S. High Court To Consider His Title VII Retaliation Question

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court must decide whether the family member of an employee may be a “person aggrieved” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and may sue the employer for retaliation, a man who was employed by a third-party wholesaler alleges in his Dec. 10 petition for a writ of certiorari.

  • January 14, 2021

    Teacher’s Gender-Biased Pay Claims Reinstated By 7th Circuit

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 5 reversed a summary judgment ruling for a high school accused of discriminatory pay and remanded, finding that questions remained regarding the school’s alleged nondiscriminatory explanations after the teacher was told she didn’t need more pay because her husband worked.

  • January 13, 2021

    Former Hotel Director’s Pay Discrimination Claim Reinstated By 5th Circuit

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 7 reinstated a pay discrimination claim by a female formerly employed as a hotel director, ruling that the summary judgment ruling on that claim for the employer was an error as there was sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case, but upheld the District Court’s ruling as to the promotional discrimination and retaliation claims.

  • January 13, 2021

    Remand Ordered In Non-Class Action Bringing UCL, State Claims Removed Under CAFA

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California on Jan. 7 opined that after he reviews October 2020 settlement communications he will grant a motion to remand a non-class action consolidated complaint involving more than 1,200 named plaintiffs bringing two California state law claims, including one for violating the unfair competition law (UCL), finding that the amount in controversy for each individual plaintiff has not been met.

  • January 13, 2021

    Union, Drivers, Consumer File Emergency Petition Challenging California Prop 22

    SAN FRANCISCO — A union, three drivers and a consumer in a Jan. 12 emergency petition for writ of mandate in the California Supreme Court request that the court exercise its original jurisdiction and declare Proposition 22, the November ballot measure classifying app-based drivers as independent contractors, invalid and unenforceable.

  • January 13, 2021

    Notice Of Class Settlement Filed In USERRA Suit Against Walmart

    BOSTON — Walmart Inc. and an employee accusing the retailer of violating the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) filed a joint notice of a proposed class action settlement of at least $10 million on Dec. 31 in a federal court in Massachusetts.

  • January 13, 2021

    Split 5th Circuit Issues Substitute Opinion In Daily Rate FLSA Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — A split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 21 in an opinion replacing one issued in April reversed summary judgment for an employer in a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit brought by an “executive” who was allegedly paid a daily rate and sought unpaid overtime, finding that that form of pay does not pass the salary basis test and that the two conditions necessary to exempt the worker from overtime were not met.

  • January 13, 2021

    9th Circuit Reinstates Bank Worker’s Bias Suit Due To Customer Harassment

    PORTLAND, Ore. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 31 reversed a trial court’s summary judgment ruling for a bank accused of being liable for a customer’s harassment, opining that there were genuine issues of material fact concerning the employer’s actions.

  • January 12, 2021

    5th Circuit Reverses Judgment For Former University Coach On Privacy Invasion Claim

    NEW ORLEANS — A federal court in Mississippi erred when it found a university liable for releasing certain communications between it and a fired coach to the press because the termination was partially due to allegedly misusing public funds, which “is a matter of legitimate concern to the public,” a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Jan. 6.

  • January 12, 2021

    U.S. Tells High Court California Union Access Law Violates U.S. Constitution

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States filed an amicus curiae brief on Jan. 7 in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting arguments by two agricultural employers challenging the dismissal of their lawsuit over the constitutionality of a California regulation that permits union organizers access to agricultural worksites.

  • January 12, 2021

    Agents’ UCL, Wage Class Claims Settled By Insurer For $5.75 Million

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal magistrate judge in California on Jan. 7 granted final approval to a $5.75 million settlement agreement reached between an insurance company and a class of agents and trainees who alleged various wage claims in violation of California’s unfair competition law and state wage laws, resolving the operative complaint as well as two related cases.

  • January 12, 2021

    Wal-Mart Ordered To Provide Seat Inventory After Failed Sanctions Motion

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California on Jan. 6 denied a sanctions motion filed by individuals who say they are members of a class of intended third-party beneficiaries of a settlement reached in a seating dispute with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in March 2019 for $65 million, but ordered the retailer to provide class counsel and the court with an inventory of the number of stools available for front-end cashiers at each California store.

  • January 12, 2021

    Former United Way Employee Asks U.S. High Court To Weigh In On Race Bias Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former employee of a United Way Worldwide (UWW) member who claims that she was fired after alleging that her employer was violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Section 1981 of the U.S. Civil Rights Act filed a petition for a writ of certiorari on Dec. 28, seeking a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on whether UWW may be liable for her firing under Section 1981.

  • January 11, 2021

    Judge: Use Of Pandemic Sick Leave Act Exclusion Doesn’t Require Notice

    PADUCAH, Ky. — The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) as written doesn’t require an employer to notify employees when it chooses an exclusion available for health care providers, a federal judge in Kentucky ruled Dec. 15, dismissing a certified nursing assistant’s (CNA) lawsuit alleging that she was wrongfully fired for taking sick leave to get tested for COVID-19, which is caused by the novel coronavirus.

  • January 11, 2021

    Rehearing Sought After 5th Circuit Reinstates Age Bias Claim

    NEW ORLEANS — A health care services company filed a petition for rehearing en banc on Jan. 6, two weeks after a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that the company’s hiring of an older replacement doesn’t negate an age bias claim by a fired social worker.

  • January 08, 2021

    Female Librarian Supervisors Awarded Nearly $200,000 In EEOC Pay Bias Suit

    BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland on Dec. 23 entered judgment for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a pay discrimination lawsuit and awarded five female librarian supervisors back pay, liquidated damages and an adjustment of retirement benefits consistent with that award.