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Mealey's Employment

March 05, 2024
Franchisees Seek Final Approval Of $30M Classification Settlement With Jan-Pro

SAN FRANCISCO — California cleaning franchisees who sued Jan-Pro Franchising International Inc. alleging misclassification as independent contractors filed a motion in a federal court in California seeking final approval of a class settlement under which the franchisor will pay $30 million and make changes to its business practices.
March 05, 2024
7th Circuit Upholds USERRA Ruling For Volvo After 2nd Trial

CHICAGO — A trial court did not abuse its discretion when it found in a former Volvo Group North America LLC employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) case that the initial jury verdict on the ADA claim was “grossly excessive and irrational” and ordered a new trial on the USERRA claim alone after determining that the worker failed to show that she was a qualified individual under the ADA as the whole verdict was “tainted,” the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, affirming the trial court’s refusal to alter or amend its judgment after the second trial ended in a verdict for Volvo.
March 04, 2024
Ferry Workers Ask 1st Circuit To Reverse Injunction Denial In Vaccine Case

BOSTON — A trial court erred its standard of review selection and abused its discretion when it denied for a second time a request for preliminary injunction by employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority who sued after their requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied, the workers argue in their appellant brief filed in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
March 04, 2024
U.S. High Court Won’t Hear Age Bias, Ministerial Exception Appeals In Same Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 4 denied petitions for writ of certiorari filed by the estate of a former Liberty University Inc. professor and the university after the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a summary judgment ruling for the school in the professor’s age bias lawsuit.
March 01, 2024
Termination Over COVID-19 Policy Was Not Tied To Man’s Native American Heritage

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey county and local union are entitled to summary judgment on claims brought against them by a man who says he was terminated from his employment with the county because of his Native American “cultural” opposition to a COVID-19 vaccination policy because the man failed to show that the termination was related to his race or national identity, a New Jersey federal judge found Feb. 29 in granting the county’s and union’s summary judgment motions.
February 29, 2024
11th Circuit Denies Rehearing After Ruling On Title VII Discrimination Framework

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a per curiam order denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FDJJ) after a panel ruled that the McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green framework is not “a stand-in for the ultimate question of liability in Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964] discrimination cases.”
February 27, 2024
U.S.: Supremacy Clause Stops Wage Statute From Applying To Immigration Detainees

SAN FRANCISCO — Application of the Washington Minimum Wage Act (WMWA) to voluntary work programs for federal immigration detainees housed in facilities run by a for-profit company is precluded pursuant to the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause and the intergovernmental immunity doctrine, the United States argues in an amicus curiae brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in two appeals by a Washington state detention center owner and operator challenging a minimum wage verdict for a class of immigration detainees and an unjust enrichment award for Washington.
February 27, 2024
AI Interview Company Can’t Escape Illinois Biometric Law Class Action

CHICAGO — The use of a company’s artificial intelligence-based virtual interview program within Illinois gives jurisdiction over the case and the allegations fall within the purview of Illinois law governing biometric data, a federal judge in Illinois said Feb. 26, dismissing only claims that the company profited from the sale of such data.
February 27, 2024
Drivers To U.S. High Court: Case Must Be Stayed Until Arbitration Concluded

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Section 3 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires a district court to stay litigation involving an arbitrable claim until arbitration is over, delivery drivers for Intelliserve LLC argue in their petitioner brief filed Feb. 26 in the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging a ruling by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that courts have the discretion to dismiss rather than stay such a case.
February 27, 2024
Man’s Claim Over CVS AI Screening Tool Disclosure Proceeds, Judge Says

BOSTON — A man who claims that his ultimately unsuccessful employment interview included an undisclosed artificial intelligence (AI) screening that constituted a lie detector test under Massachusetts law may proceed with his claim because his alleged injury is exactly the type protected by the law, a federal judge in the state said in denying a motion to dismiss.
February 26, 2024
Federal Judge In Texas Stays Effective Date Of NLRB Joint Employer Rule

TYLER, Texas — A federal judge in Texas issued a one-page order in a case seeking permanent injunctive relief from the National Labor Relations Board’s final rule on the standard for determining joint employer status and stayed the effective date, scheduled to be Feb. 26, by 14 days.
February 26, 2024
U.S. High Court Denies Age Bias Petition Over Unsealing Arbitration Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 26 denied a petition by a former International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) employee challenging a decision by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that kept her age discrimination arbitration award sealed.
February 26, 2024
Starbucks Presents Standard For NLRB Injunctive Relief Request To U.S. High Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — District courts must use the traditional four-factor test rather than the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ two-part test when evaluating requests by the National Labor Relations Board for an injunction under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) while an NLRB adjudication is pending, Starbucks Corp. argues in its petitioner brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court.
February 23, 2024
Gig Economy Company Agrees To Settlement Including Worker Reclassification

SAN FRANCISCO — A gig economy staffing company accused of violating California’s unfair competition law, the state’s labor code and San Francisco ordinances by misclassifying its workers as independent contractors has agreed to a settlement in a lawsuit in California court to convert its misclassified California workers to employees, according to a final judgment and injunction filed Feb. 22.
February 23, 2024
$5.5 Million Settlement Reached In Amazon COVID-19 Screenings Cases

FRESNO, Calif. — California employees who brought class complaints that were later consolidated accusing Amazon.com Services LLC of failing to pay workers for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts filed a motion in a federal court in California seeking preliminary approval of a $5.5 million settlement.
February 23, 2024
Walmart’s $2.5M Settlement In COVID-19 Screening Case Preliminarily Approved

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona granted preliminary approval of a $2.5 million settlement to be paid by Walmart Inc. and Wal-Mart Associates Inc. (together, Walmart) to end a class complaint seeking compensation under Arizona law for time spent undergoing mandatory COVID-19 screening before each shift.
February 22, 2024
NLRB Majority: Home Depot’s Barring Of BLM Marking On Aprons Violated NLRA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A home improvement chain’s instruction that an employee remove the Black Lives Matter (BLM) initials on his apron worn during work or not come to work violated Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), a split National Labor Relations Board ruled Feb. 21.
February 21, 2024
Petition Seeking Ruling On Arbitration Clause Barring Age Bias Claim Denied

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by former International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) employees seeking to appeal a ruling that they were barred from bringing untimely age bias claims under the “piggybacking rule” based on signed arbitration agreements.
February 21, 2024
U.S. High Court Denies Union Fees, Other Employment-Related Petitions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 issued orders denying petitions by employees and job applicants in a number of employment-related cases, including ones addressing union fees, a veteran’s disability rating, overtime eligibility, national origin bias and sexual harassment.
February 21, 2024
U.S. Representatives’ Petition Over Mask Violation Fines Deducted From Pay Denied

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by three members of the U.S. House of Representatives who argued that the deduction of fines from their pay after they refused to follow a resolution adopted in response to the coronavirus pandemic that required the wearing of masks violated the U.S. Constitution.
February 20, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Delivery Drivers And FAA’s Exemption

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 heard arguments on the reach of the carveout in Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) for workers engaged in interstate commerce and whether it applies to independent distributors bringing wage-and-hour putative collective and class claims against a baked goods company and its subsidiaries.
February 20, 2024
Rail Workers’ FMLA Interference Petition Denied By Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by rail-based freight transportation workers after the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment and dismissal ruling for the employer in a discrimination and retaliation case in which the workers alleged that they were wrongly found to have sought treatment for bogus or exaggerated injuries.
February 20, 2024
Petition By Wrestlers’ Attorney Challenging Sanctions Denied By U.S. High Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by an attorney and his firm who represent allegedly injured wrestlers in a class tort complaint and a mass action against World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and Vincent K. McMahon (together, WWE) and asking the justices to consider the appropriateness of attorney fees and costs as sanctions that they have been ordered to pay.
February 20, 2024
Expert Cannot Opine On Legal Conclusions In Overtime Spat In Ariz. Federal Court

PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge on Feb. 16 ruled that testimony from an expert witness that “attempts to substitute [the expert’s] own judgment for that of the jury’s” is barred, granting a motion to exclude filed by an operator of a fleet of chauffeured transportation services facing allegations of wage violations from a class of drivers.
February 20, 2024
Oil, Gas Company’s Petition Concerning Arbitration Pact Nonsignatories Denied

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by an oil and gas company after the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that an arbitration agreement between a worker who sued for misclassification and overtime and the third party that helped place him in the job does not extend to nonsignatories.