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US SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON NLRA PREEMPTION OF TORT-BASED SUITS

We frequently confront the issue of whether to institute tort-based suits in state or federal court, on behalf of an employer, seeking to recover damages suffered as a result of picketing, strikes and other activities by labor unions. Currently, that issue sits before the U.S. Supreme Court in Glacier Northwest Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 174, 500 P.3d […]

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JM
Of Counsel

Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Law – Recent Developments

2020 brought employment law practitioners several federal court decisions that proved to be interesting, instructive and, at times, entertaining. Some decisions were victories for employees, and others were victories for employers. No matter the outcome, however, all the opinions continue to shape the employment landscape. Here are summaries of nine of these key cases, along with […]

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Supreme Court Confirms LGBTQ Employees Are Protected Under Title VII

Courts have struggled to uniformly decide whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate because of a person’s “sex,” protects employees from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or transgender status. Specifically, courts have not consistently interpreted Title VII’s prohibition on discrimination “because of . […]

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RB
Former Associate

Fort Bend County v. Davis: SCOTUS Bends Employers’ Defense to Title VII Claims, But Doesn’t Break It

On June 3, 2019, the United States Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”) unanimously held in Fort Bend County v. Davis that federal courts may be able to hear claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) without the complainants having first brought their claims to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission […]

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United States Supreme Court Continues Its Trend of Enforcing Individual Employment Arbitration Agreements

Approximately one year ago, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis, 548 U.S. ___ (2018), holding that class action waivers contained in arbitration agreements, including agreements between employers and their employees, are permissible and enforceable. See here. That decision left open, however, the question of: what if the arbitration […]

BH
Of Counsel

Public-Sector Employees Are Making Lemonade Out of Lemmons

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held in Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“the Act”) applies to state and local government employers, regardless of their size. The Act defines “employer” as “a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has twenty or more […]

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Extraction of Agency Fees from Non-Consenting Public Employees is Unconstitutional

In Janus v AFSCME , U.S. No. 16-1466, the Supreme Court held on June 27, 2018 that  States and public sector unions  may no longer extract agency fees from non-consenting employees. Such extractions violate the employees’ First Amendment  right to free speech. The decision, delivered by Justice Alito and joined by Justices Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas […]

JM
Of Counsel

Tolling of Statute of Limitations in Class Action Realm Narrowed

In 1974 the United States Supreme Court in American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah held that the timely filing of a class action tolls the applicable statute of limitations for all persons encompassed by the class complaint. This holding was clarified in 1983 in Crown, Cork & Seal Co. v. Parker to provide that […]

Supreme Court Blesses Employers’ Use of Class Action Waivers

As previously reported on October 13, 2017, see here, the Federal Courts of Appeal were evenly divided on the question of whether class action waivers contained in otherwise enforceable employment arbitration agreements were permissible.  Three Courts of Appeal, i.e., the Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, had accepted the position advocated by the National Labor Relations […]

BH
Of Counsel

Limiting the Scope of Anti-Retaliation Measures: The Supreme Court Narrows the Definition of the term “Whistleblower” Under the Dodd-Frank Act

In Digital Realty Trust Inc. v. Somers, the Supreme Court in stated the “Dodd-Frank’s text and purpose leave no doubt” about who the term “whistleblower” applies to, holding that whistleblower protection in the Dodd-Frank Act only covers employees who first report securities laws violations to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). For a […]

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BM