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

Mealey's Employment

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.
October 20, 2023
Arkansas, 15 Other States As Amici: Job Transfers Not Actionable Under Title VII

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A lateral transfer does not constitute discrimination and is not actionable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Arkansas and 15 other states argue in an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of arguments made by St. Louis in a case brought by a police sergeant who alleges that her forced job transfer was based on her gender and thus discriminatory.
October 20, 2023
Dollar General Will Pay $1M To Settle EEOC Disability Bias, GINA Lawsuit

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A variety store chain will pay $1 million and provide other relief to settle a case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a federal court in Alabama alleging that its hiring practices violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA), the EEOC announced Oct. 20.
October 20, 2023
Interim Class Counsel Appointed In Amazon COVID-19 Screenings Case

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge in California appointed Hodges & Foty LLP interim class counsel in a case by employees accusing Amazon.com Services LLC of failing to pay workers for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts.
October 19, 2023
Air, Space Force Members Argue For Denial Of Certiorari In Vaccine Mandate Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should not grant a petition for a writ of certiorari by the Air Force secretary and others seeking vacatur of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that left in place class certification and a classwide injunction in a vaccine mandate case where the mandate has since been rescinded, members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons argue in an Oct. 18 opposition brief, asserting that the appeal is not moot.
October 18, 2023
Acting DOL Secretary’s Motion For Liquidated Damages After $22M Wage Verdict Denied

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An award of liquidated damages following a $22 million verdict in a back wages case against a battery manufacturer is not appropriate as the employer, East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc., showed good faith and “that it was objectively reasonable in its belief that it complied with the” Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Oct. 18, denying a motion by the acting secretary of Labor.
October 17, 2023
Supreme Court Asks For Response From Food Sales Reps To FLSA Exemption Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court asked food sales representatives who were paid by commission to respond to a petition by their employer that requests that the high court justices decide a question concerning the evidence necessary for an exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
October 17, 2023
Former Twitter Employees File Amended ERISA Suit For Severance Benefits

SAN FRANCISCO — Adding a new Employee Retirement Income Security Act claim and allegations of “a campaign of deception” and benefits accruing to the company and Elon Musk instead of participants, former Twitter employees filed an amended complaint in California federal court over severance benefits they claim a putative class was promised.