Only a few months after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which prohibited affirmative action in higher education, workplace inclusion, equity, and diversity (“IE&D”) programs are feeling the impact. Although the ruling is inapplicable to private employers, companies nonetheless are considering the decision as Read More
Illinois Court Rules that Employee Data Theft May Not Be “Gross Misconduct” Precluding COBRA Coverage
In Johnson v. City of Kewanee, 2023 WL 8091963 (C.D. Ill. 2023), a married couple filed suit after the city fired them for allegedly stealing data and deleting over 55,000 files from the city computer system. The couple claimed that the city failed to provide COBRA election notices as required by law. In response, the city alleged that since the employees had committed “gross misconduct” in stealing and deleting Read More
Big Labor Victories Likely to Lead to More Organizing in 2024
After big deals were reached in 2023 by the United Auto Workers (UAW) with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, and the Teamsters with UPS, big labor is likely to proceed with more labor organizing efforts in 2024. Kaiser Permanente employees also successfully unionized, which could lead to the unionization of other healthcare workers. Currently, the Teamsters are looking to organize nonunion logistics companies and Read More
Federal Court Dismisses Ex-Workers’ ESOP Suit Against Seafood Co.
A Georgia federal court recently dismissed an ERISA proposed class action suit filed by former Inland Fresh Seafood Corp. of America Inc. workers concerning alleged mismanagement of the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The judge granted the motions to dismiss from Inland, its ESOP committee, a group of company executives, and the trustee of the company ESOP based on the plaintiffs’ failure to exhaust their Read More
United Behavioral Health Files Cert Petition Over Mental Health Coverage Loss
United Behavioral Health (UBH) and the Alcatel-Lucent Medical Expense Plan, an employee health plan now owned by Nokia, have filed a petition for a writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court. They are seeking to overturn a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirming Utah’s court ruling against them for failing to cover a middle school student’s inpatient mental health treatment and Read More
How to Handle Employee Absenteeism
While employee absences are a part of any workplace, unexcused or chronic absenteeism can quickly become problematic when employers fail to address it. This situation can lower employee morale as other team members must take on additional work, and the lack of staffing can lead to missed deadlines, poor work quality, and an inability to meet incentives or goals. As a result, employers must take concrete steps to Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Cert in ERISA Class Action Suit Against Hilton
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Hilton Hotels’ petition for certiorari seeking review of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that reinstated retirement plan participants’ request for class certification in an Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case. The case is Hilton Hotels Retirement Plan et al. v. Valerie White et al., case number 23-166, U.S. Supreme Court. A panel of Read More
Employers Must Pay Overtime Pay Under FLSA for Known Work Even if Employees Fail to Request It Specifically
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently ruled that an employer must compensate an employee for all work that it is aware that an employee performs, regardless of whether the employee requests overtime compensation. Although whether an employee reports overtime work may be relevant to whether an employer is aware that the employee has worked overtime, it does not diminish the responsibility to pay Read More
Sprint, Former Employees Urge Kansas Federal Court to Approve $3.5M Deal to Resolve Benefit Calculation Suit
Three former Sprint Communications employees asked a Kansas federal court to approve its multimillion-dollar proposed class action against Sprint, which the parties reached through mediation. According to the former employees, the settlement will permit them to end their suit without testing their novel legal theory while still increasing their pension benefits for life and the benefits for their Read More
5 Important ERISA Decisions Rounded Out 2023
Federal appellate courts issued various decisions involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the latter half of 2023. Here are five important ERISA decisions that benefits attorneys should know. Cunningham et al. v. Cornell University et al., case number 21-88, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion affirming the Read More
