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

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

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

Former FBI Agent Files Discrimination Claim Alleging Sexual Harassment and Hostile Work Environment

A former FBI agent has filed suit in an Indiana federal court claiming sexual harassment and a hostile work environment while working in the Indianapolis field office. The case is Rachwalski v. Garland et al., case number 1:23-cv-02138, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. According to the suit, Alexis Rachwalski worked at the FBI's Indianapolis field office in January 2020. A supervisor made Read More

NJ Hospital Urges State Supreme Court to Overturn $26M Verdict

Valley Hospital recently argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court to overturn a $26 million verdict that a jury awarded the North Jersey Brain and Spine Center (NJBSC) and its 11 neurosurgeons following a four-week trial. According to the hospital, the neurosurgeon group failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and the trial court should have dismissed the case before it ever went to trial before Read More

10th Circuit Seems Wary of Amazon’s Holiday Pay Arguments

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Tenth Circuit recently heard oral arguments in a proposed class action lawsuit involving Amazon warehouse workers and the computation of overtime pay. The judges appeared skeptical of Amazon’s arguments against the workers’ claims that their employer wrongfully failed to pay them overtime pay for weeks in which they received holiday incentive pay. The case is Hamilton v. Read More

As COVID Vaccine Injury Lawsuits Increase, Liability Questions Arise

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has posted an employment ad seeking eight attorneys to work in its Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). The LinkedIn ad appeared soon after the filing of a lawsuit in Louisiana last month by six plaintiffs who allege injuries from the COVID-19 vaccine against the federal government. These individuals are seeking to overturn the immunity that the feds granted big Read More

Isolated Incidents of Allegedly Inappropriate Behavior Insufficient to Establish Sexual Harassment Claim

A California appellate court has upheld the trial court’s dismissal of a county employee’s sexual harassment claim. The court found that isolated, minor instances of alleged harassment were insufficient to sustain the worker’s claim. The case is Robinson v. County of Los Angeles, Calif. Ct. App., No. B317521 (Nov. 8, 2023). The employee worked as a student professional worker in a county public defender's office, Read More

Court Finds in Favor of Veteran Whose Employer Denied His Disability Accommodation Request

A former Texas state trooper recently won a $2.4 million verdict against the Texas Highway Patrol under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). In his lawsuit, the former law enforcement officer alleged that the state agency failed to accommodate a disability that he sustained during military service. Although a Texas appellate court ruled in 2018 that the state had immunity from the Read More

Weis Markets Faces Lawsuit for Allegedly Misusing EAP Benefit

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Weis Markets, a Pennsylvania supermarket chain. In the lawsuit, the EEOC alleges that a supervisor subjected an employee to sexual harassment, and the employer fired her after she refused to comply with its unlawful directive to participate in the company employee assistance program (EAP). The employee reportedly reported her Read More