The U.S. Supreme Court has set aside court decisions from the Fifth, Sixth, and D.C. Circuits challenging vaccine requirements for federal employees. The high Court agreed with the Biden administration that the issue was now moot, as President Biden had already rescinded the executive order mandating COVID-19 vaccines for federal employees. The administration rescinded the executive order in May 2023 due to the Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled that the strict “but for” legal standard applies retaliation claims under the Family and Medical and Leave Act (FMLA). The case is Lapham v. Walgreen Co., No. 21-10491 (11th Cir. 2023). In Lapham, an employee took intermittent FMLA leave to care for her disabled son. After her employer terminated her, she sued and, in one of her claims, alleged that the Read More

A jury has ordered Kaiser Permanente, a California health care provider, to pay a former charge nurse more than $41 million in damages for her age and disability discrimination, harassment, whistleblower, retaliation, and wrongful termination lawsuit. The verdict consists of $11.49 million in compensatory damages, including $9 million for emotional distress and $30 million in punitive damages. Kaiser intends to Read More

During the 2023 federal fiscal year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) received a three percent increase in union petitions over the previous fiscal year and a ten percent increase in unfair labor practices. As a result, various labor strikes and NLRB decisions significantly affected labor relations throughout the year, as shown by the following events. Big Labor Strikes Major Deals, Focuses on Union Read More

A California appeals court recently overturned a trial court's dismissal of an employee's age discrimination claim, finding that his job transfer may have constituted a demotion. Although the employer claimed that the man had voluntarily accepted a new position, some evidence indicated that the man had been involuntarily demoted. The case is Ilaga v. The Permanente Medical Group, Calif. Ct. App., No. A165273 (Nov. Read More

Although managers are typically well-trained on harassment, discrimination, and bullying in the workplace, reverse bullying - which occurs when subordinates are intimidating and defiant toward their managers – is a less-discussed subject. Sometimes, managers become unwilling or fearful to hold employees accountable for their actions, creating an unwelcoming work environment for everyone involved. When reverse Read More

As part of the Biden administration’s Fall 2023 Regulatory Plan, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) have released their 2024 regulatory agendas. EEOC Regulatory Agenda The EEOC identified nine pending items in its Fall 2023 Regulatory Agenda; five are at the proposed rule stage, and four are at the final rule stage. The EEOC pointed to one item Read More

Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7th, incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia in the United States have increased dramatically. According to the Anti-Defamation League (“the ADL”), the number of antisemitic incidents has increased 337% since October 7th, which is the highest number in any two months since the ADL began tracking these incidents in 1979. Between October 7th and December 7th, the ADL Read More

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

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