Mealey's Employment : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Employment

July 09, 2024
Air Force, Space Force Members Tell 6th Circuit COVID-19 Vaccine Case Not Moot

CINCINNATI — A class complaint by members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons in which a classwide preliminary injunction was vacated as moot by the U.S. Supreme Court must be permitted to proceed as “the case, unlike the preliminary injunction, is not moot,” the service members argue in an appellant brief filed July 8 in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
July 09, 2024
8th Circuit Reinstates Health Worker’s Religious Bias Vaccine Mandate Case

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — A physical therapist who accuses her employer of discrimination related to requirements for workers who were granted religious exemptions from the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate may proceed with her claims as “all reasonable inferences” must be granted in the employee’s favor and the court “cannot assume at this early juncture that religious discrimination did not occur because one subset of potential comparators also faced disparate treatment,” an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled.
July 08, 2024
8th Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Religious Bias Claims

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A 3M Co. worker who cited his religious beliefs when he opposed the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate but later abandoned the argument failed to show that he was discriminated against due to his religion, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled July 5.
July 08, 2024
Ferry Authority To 1st Circuit: Workers Likely Won’t Succeed With Vaccine Claims

BOSTON — A trial court properly denied a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction filed by employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority who sued after their requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied as the workers failed to show any likelihood of success on the merits of their claims, the authority and its director of Human Resources argue in an appellee brief filed in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
July 05, 2024
Judge Postpones Effective Date Of FTC’s Noncompete Rule As Applied To Plaintiffs

DALLAS — A federal judge in Texas on July 3 granted motions for a preliminary injunction filed by a global tax services firm, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America and three other entities and postponed the effective date of the Federal Trade Commission’s new rule banning noncompete agreements as applied to the movants.
July 05, 2024
Expert On Drug Testing Regulations Cannot Offer Legal Conclusions, Judge Says

PHILADELPHIA — An expert retained by a practicing Muslim who is suing Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) for violating his constitutional rights by insisting that he drink water during Ramadan to undergo a drug test cannot offer legal conclusions, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled, limiting the expert’s testimony.
July 01, 2024
COMMENTARY: Non-Competes No More? What Businesses Should Do To Protect Trade Secrets And Confidential Information Now

By Geri Haight and Danielle Bereznay
July 03, 2024
AbilityOne Government Contractor Will Pay $1M To End EEOC Bias Lawsuit

GREENBELT, Md. — A government contractor that hires disabled individuals and is accused of failing to accommodate deaf and hard-of-hearing employees and terminating employees who requested medical leave but did not qualify for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) will pay more than $1 million to end the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s lawsuit, according to a consent decree signed by a federal judge in Maryland.
July 03, 2024
Divided U.S. High Court Denies Petition Challenging OSHA’s Safety Standards Power

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided U.S. Supreme Court on July 2 declined to consider a challenge to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) power to enforce workplace-safety standards.
June 28, 2024
COMMENTARY: Courts Must, As Recently Reminded, Follow The Law In Rule 702 Expert Testimony Determinations

By Erin Sheley
July 02, 2024
High Court Grants Employer’s Petition, Vacates NLRB Complaint Withdrawal Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on July 2 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by an employer seeking a ruling on whether an agency officer’s definite term of office bars without-cause removal of the officer and whether the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel may withdraw an administrative complaint after a motion for summary judgment has been filed, vacated the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal’s ruling for the NLRB and remanded for further consideration in light of the recent ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.
July 02, 2024
Split 8th Circuit Reinstates Manager’s Claims From Firing After Diabetic Episode

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A fast food restaurant manager may proceed with her disability bias and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) lawsuit, a split Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled July 1, opining in part that a jury may conclude that the manager’s diabetic episode that caused her to miss work for two days without notice “was not independent from her firing” that followed.
July 01, 2024
Uber and Lyft Will Guarantee Drivers’ Wages To Settle Mass. Attorney General’s Suit

BOSTON — Two rideshare companies under a settlement agreement filed in a Massachusetts court will ensure that starting in mid-August, drivers will receive no less than $32.50 per hour, and will pay a total of $175 million to the state to resolve allegations that they violated the state’s wage-and-hour laws.
June 28, 2024
California Berry Farm Settles 2022 EEOC Sex Harassment Suit For $200,000

LOS ANGELES — A Camarillo, Calif., raspberry farm agreed to pay $200,000 and provide injunctive relief to end a complaint by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that it subjected male and female workers to offensive sex-based remarks and unwanted touching, according to a consent decree signed by a federal judge in California on June 27.
June 28, 2024
High Court Overrules Chevron Deference, Changes Standard For Regulatory Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 voted 6-3 to overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference as incompatible with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations, changing governing precedent for federal courts reviewing agencies’ regulatory actions.
June 28, 2024
Alabama Labor Secretary: Unemployment Exhaustion Requirement Not Preempted

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Alabama’s unemployment benefits statute’s exhaustion requirement is not preempted by 42 U.S. Code Section 1983, the Alabama secretary of labor argues in a respondent brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, opposing arguments by unemployment benefits applicants who allege that their complaint over delays in processing the large amount of applications filed due to the coronavirus pandemic was improperly dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
June 28, 2024
FedEx Waives Response To Contractual Limitation Petition In Race Bias Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — FedEx Corporate Services Inc. waived its right to respond to a former employee’s petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court in part to decide whether a contractual provision cutting the limitation to sue under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 is enforceable; the petition challenges the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ reduction of a more than $366 million jury verdict against FedEx in the employee’s retaliation case to $248,619.57.
June 27, 2024
Former Juul Employee Must Arbitrate Gender Bias Claims, Judge Says

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted a motion by Juul Labs Inc. (JLI) to compel arbitration of a former employee’s claims that she faced gender discrimination after returning to work from maternity leave, finding that the former employee was bound by the arbitration agreement and failed to plead an exemption because she did not allege that sexual harassment occurred.
June 27, 2024
Pilot, Airlines Reach Settlement In USERRA Payless Leave Class Suit

SPOKANE, Wash. — Alaska Airlines Inc. and Horizon Air Industries Inc. and a commercial airline pilot and military reservist who brought a class complaint in a federal court in Washington alleging failure to pay pilots during short-term military leaves while providing pay during other types of leaves filed a joint status report stating that they expect to file a motion for preliminary approval of a class settlement within a month.
June 27, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Uber Driver’s Race Bias Class Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A survey of Uber Technologies Inc. drivers conducted by attorneys representing a former driver who brought a racial discrimination putative class complaint “fail[ed] to provide any plausible basis for finding a ‘disproportionately adverse effect on minorities,’” the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals opined in affirming a trial court’s dismissal of the case.
June 26, 2024
Unpaid Leave Subclass Certified In Vaccine Mandate Suit Against United Airlines

FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge in Texas partially granted a motion for class certification filed by United Airlines employees suing over the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, opining that the proposed subclass of employees who requested religious accommodations and were placed on unpaid leave satisfied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3)’s superiority requirement, as well as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)’s commonality and typicality requirements.
June 25, 2024
EEOC Approves $15M Settlement Of U.S. Marshals’ Class Race Bias Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission granted final approval of a $15 million class settlement in a 30-year-long complaint accusing the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) of discriminating against African Americans when it came to recruitment, hiring and promotions related to deputy U.S. Marshal positions, the USMS announced June 24.
June 25, 2024
Transportation Company Appeals Rulings For EEOC In Disability Bias Case

OMAHA, Neb. — Werner Enterprises Inc. and a subsidiary, Drivers Management LLC, (together, Werner) filed a notice of appeal in a federal court in Nebraska following an amended judgment for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a case in which the employer was found by a jury to have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it failed to hire and accommodate a deaf applicant.
June 25, 2024
Music Industry’s AI Suit Will Play In California After Transfer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Music publishers sued a California-based artificial intelligence company in Tennessee and must live with the fact that they have not shown that the fact that the company employs a few individuals who chose to work from home in Tennessee satisfies the jurisdiction hurdle, a federal judge in Tennessee said June 24.
June 25, 2024
Split Vermont High Court: Whistleblower Verdict For DOC Employer Must Be Vacated

MONTPELIER, Vt. — A Vermont trial court erred when it denied the Vermont Department of Corrections’ (DOC) motion for judgment as a matter of law filed during a whistleblower trial for a former superintendent who claimed that he was fired for reporting potential costs savings and understaffing, a divided Vermont Supreme Court ruled.