A U.S. magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted the defendant’s request that Superior Court Judge Deborah M. Gross-Quatrone undergo an independent medical exam (IME) in her workplace discrimination claims against Bergen County Superior Court officials. The case is Deborah Gross-Quatrone v. Bonnie Mizdol et al., case number 2:17-cv-13111, U.S. District Court for the District Read More

An outdoor guide company and a trade association representing several such companies have filed suit challenging the authority of President Joe Biden through the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to implement a federal minimum wage hike for federal contractors. This wage increase would extend to guides and outfitters on federal lands. Duke Bradford, owner of Arkansas Valley Adventure LLC d/b/a AVA Rafting and Read More

In See's Candies Inc. et al. v. Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles, filed in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District, a California appeals court in early January 2022 refused to grant See's Candies Inc.’s demurrer in a case involving the death of an employee’s husband from the coronavirus. The lawsuit alleges that See’s insufficient safety protocols led to a Read More

In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ranew's Management Co. Inc. et al., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has alleged that a Georgia-based fabrication, coating, and assembly company illegally discriminated against its chief financial officer by firing him after he sought treatment for severe Read More

In Ross v. Sherman Hemp LLC et al., a case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the operators of two CBD shops in Texas were sued in a proposed class action by a former sales associate who says the businesses illegally avoided paying overtime wages by sharing staff and paying them with separate paychecks. The shops are CBD USA Plus franchises.  In a complaint filed as the new year Read More

In early January, a Pennsylvania federal judge approved a $4.2 million settlement between Pittsburgh-based grocery chain Giant Eagle and employees who were “team leaders" at its grocery stores and GetGo convenience stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In Andrew Fitch et al. v. Giant Eagle Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, team leaders made allegations of misclassification Read More

A New York federal judge seemed skeptical that a former Amazon worker could sufficiently show that he was fired for whistleblowing on allegedly discriminatory COVID-19 policies. U.S. District Judge Rachel P. Kovner said that the ex-employee's seemingly deficient pleadings and his workplace conduct could undermine his case. In Smalls et al. v. Amazon Inc., a 2021 case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Read More

Government contractors were affected by many policy changes in 2021. A vaccine mandate that applies to nearly every federal contractor employee across the country, and a planned False Claims Act crackdown on cybersecurity, are among the most impactful changes. Here is a look at five areas of government contracting policy that agencies have changed or scrutinized in the latter half of 2021. Broad Vaccine Read More

The New Jersey Legislature has opened a two-year window for filing previously time-barred civil lawsuits based on allegations of sexual abuse. The legislature’s action has created an intense interest in New Jersey legal standards for vicarious liability. The primary significance of the new filing window for sexual abuse litigants in New Jersey relates to the law that determines the liability of employers for the Read More

In early December 2021, a Pennsylvania federal judge referred a dispute over the termination of a biopharmaceutical and former medical cannabis company’s ex-CEO, Raza Bokhari, to arbitration in Canada. In July 2021, the company, FSD Pharma Inc.(“FSD”), announced that its board of directors had terminated Bokhari for cause. A special committee and international law firm claimed the company’s then CEO had engaged in Read More