324 results for 'cat:"Employment" AND cat:"Labor"'.
J. Sessions denies a construction and excavation business, and its board members motion to dismiss in this Fair Labor Standards Act dispute brought by the Department of Labor alleging unlawful retaliation against employees that received back wages from a settlement. The employees alleges that the board members made false and retaliatory statements on the social media platform Facebook. The DoL plausibly alleged the conduct was a retaliation threat based on coercion making it plausibly unprotected. Discovery may proceed and the Labor Department’s motion to amend is also denied.
Court: USDC Vermont, Judge: Sessions, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv560, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: employment Retaliation, labor
J. Shea grants the employer's motion to compel arbitration, ruling the contract at issue in this case is between two business entities and, therefore, is not covered by any exemption to the Federal Arbitration Act, including the exemption involving workers engaged in interstate commerce, such as the delivery drivers who brought the suit. Additionally, the fee-shifting provision of the arbitration clause does not render it unconscionable because the drivers have not shown arbitration costs would be prohibitive, while the bold and large type on the contract negates any argument the agreement was deceptive.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1695, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Arbitration, employment, labor
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J. Pepper grants the insurance company's motion to intervene, bifurcate and stay in a lawsuit against the mechanical contractor from an employee claiming she was not paid any overtime wages. As the contractor's commercial insurer, the insurance company will be allowed to intervene in the lawsuit and bifurcate its issues of coverage from the merits of the case. Because it properly balances potential prejudices against the company and the employee, proceedings in the lawsuit are stayed until the insurance coverage issues are resolved.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Pepper, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv38, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: employment, Insurance, labor
J. Walton partially grants the employer's motion to dismiss the employee's suit alleging nonpayment of wages, failures to pay correct overtime rates for overtime hours and employee misclassification. The employee's misclassification claims under the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act fail because the Act does not create a private right of action for such claims, but her claims independent of that Act survive.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Walton, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv3094, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: employment, labor
J. McKeown grants the National Labor Relations Board’s application for enforcement of its order directing Starbucks in Seattle to cease and desist from failing and refusing to recognize and bargain with a union. The Board held that by refusing to recognize and bargain with the union, Starbucks engaged in unfair labor practices. Starbucks refused to recognize and bargain with the union, claiming that the regional director should have ordered an in-person election instead of a mail-in vote. The Board correctly applied its own law in determining that the regional director appropriately exercised its discretion to hold a mail-ballot election. The certification of the union’s representative was proper, and the Board correctly found that Starbucks committed a violation by refusing to bargain.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: McKeown, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 22-1969, Categories: employment, labor / Unions
J. Boasberg denies the union's former national secretary-treasurer's motions for a new trial and attorney fees in his suit against the union alleging that he was improperly disciplined for sending a campaign email to members in his run for the union's presidency. The jury's verdict, which found the union liable for the secretary-treasurer's first removal from office but not his second and awarded him no damages, does not represent an impermissible compromise since there is no inherent conflict between the liability finding and the decision not to award damages. The court also did not err in issuing an instruction requiring that he prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the union removed him from his position because of protected speech, and the court's decision not to issue a nominal-damages instruction did not preclude a finding of nominal damages. That issue was also not preserved. Evidence of reputational harm was not improperly excluded, or indeed excluded at all. Finally, attorney fees are not appropriate because, whether or not he could be counted as "successful" in this suit, members of the union were not benefited by that victory and the secretary-treasurer has repeatedly engaged in vexatious litigation behavior.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Boasberg, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 1:17cv1867, NOS: Labor/Management Relations - Labor, Categories: employment, labor / Unions
J. Seybert grants a construction worker’s motion for reconsideration, but again finds he lacks standing to bring claims for wage statement and notice violations against his employer under the Wage Theft Prevention Act. The court subsequently enters default judgment in his favor on his unpaid regular and overtime wages claims and awards him $17,217 in unpaid wages, plus that amount in liquidated damages, as well as pre- and post-judgment interest.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Seybert, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv4959, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: employment, Damages, labor
J. Gillmor dismisses a complaint by a former government accusing her union of filing a grievance on her behalf when she was fired over Covid-19 vaccination requirements. The employee does not make any direct claims of religious or otherwise discrimination that led to the union not filing. The employee’s complaint is more focused on her actual employer, who is not a defendant, and barely addresses the union’s role.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv335, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Covid-19, employment Discrimination, labor / Unions
J. Nelson grants Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su's motion that the court take notice that Su filed pending motions against the United States Postal Service, as Su is also accusing USPS of firing an employee after she reported her workplace injury in violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Su filed five other cases against USPS that also relate to allegations that USPS filed its employees under dubious circumstances, such as firing one probationary employee 14 days after they reported an injury.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Nelson, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv1454, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: employment, labor
J. Talwani denies a real estate services company’s motion to transfer a class action brought against it by former employees to the Eastern District of Michigan, or to dismiss the claims of any members of the class not from Michigan. The forum selection clause of the company’s severance agreement only applies to claims related to the severance agreement, not to state laws regarding proper overtime pay.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Talwani, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv11639, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Labor"&_page=1'>employment, Workers' Compensation, labor
J. North grants a request by two employees who prevailed in an overtime-pay suit against their employer at a residential heating, air conditioning, and ventilation installer, awarding them $23,000 in attorney fees and costs. The requested $37,000 in fees and costs is reduced, in part, by a reduction in hourly rates.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: North, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv3953, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: employment, Attorney Fees, labor
J. Arterburn finds the district court properly denied the union’s motion for declaratory judgment and its application to vacate an arbitration award resulting from the labor dispute. The dispute arose from certain positions being reclassified, resulting in the employees being required to work holidays they previously had off. The arbitrator found the human services agency could change the holiday schedule if it negotiated with the union in compliance with the labor agreement. The arbitrator did not award the union's request to return to the previous holiday schedule but did specify steps to be taken before implementing the change. This is a final ruling, and the union’s assertion that the arbitrator failed to rule is without merit. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Arterburn , Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: A-23-603, Categories: Civil Rights, employment, labor / Unions
J. Stras finds a lower court properly ruled in favor of the National Labor Relations Board on bad faith claims against a meat processor. The meat processor argued that it properly negotiated with the union. However, the board sufficiently showed in court that the meat processor attempted to strong arm workers to support a collective bargaining agreement that may have been unreasonable. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Stras, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 23-1895, Categories: employment, labor / Unions
J. Milkey affirms a state commission’s finding that a union discriminated against a woman who applied for a job as a forklift operator based on her sex, after it hired an underqualified male over her for the position, then — when attempting to defend its decision — the union treasurer said the women the union typically hired didn’t complain and “knew their place.” The union didn’t offer any credible explanation for the discrepancy in how the woman was treated in comparison to the less-qualified male applicant who was chosen. Affirmed.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Milkey, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 23-P-83, Categories: employment, employment Discrimination, labor / Unions
J. Volk grants the coal miner's post-trial motion to file a retainer agreement under seal, and the order awarding attorneyfees and expenses in the successful class action brought against the two management and three coal companies for violations of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The companies failed to provide notice to the full-time employees of the Burke Mountain Mine Complex in McDowell County of an impending lay-off of more than 50 employees in October 2019. The court amends its judgment order to include the language "This judgment applies to the 164 miners to whom Rule 23(c)(2) notice was directed, none of whom has requested exclusion, and whom the Court finds to be members of the certified class in this matter" and reflect a total award of $1,738,743, a statutory fee award of $110,992 and $45,593 in expenses, and $15,000 to the miner as class representative service fee, with an order to file an amended notice of class judgment by April 15. Additionally, the court denies the companies' renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law or in the alternative a new trial.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Volk, Filed On: March 31, 2024, Case #: 5:20cv165, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: employment, Class Action, labor
J. Hall rules in favor of a Brooklyn nightclub and dismisses a bartender’s labor law complaint alleging claims for unpaid wages, unlawful deductions, wage statement and notice violations and retaliation. The complaint fails to provide any documentation showing the nightclub earned more than $500,000 in annual revenue, therefore it is not a covered employer under Fair Labor Standards Act.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Hall, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv2842, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: employment, labor
J. Tiscione grants summary judgment to an octogenarian and his son, who were sued by the woman they paid to take care of the elder man at his home for four years. She says they failed to pay her overtime, but the court finds she was covered by the companionship services exception to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which applies to jobs that primarily involve light housework for older or infirm clients.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Tiscione, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv550, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: employment, labor