Mealey's Employment
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November 18, 2024
Former Jailed Worker Waives Response To Maryland County’s Wage-And-Hour Petition
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former detainee who brought collective and class wage-and-hour claims against a Maryland county waived his right to respond to Baltimore County’s petition for a writ of certiorari that asks the U.S. Supreme Court to decide “[w]hether inmates working in furtherance of public works projects for the government charged with their custody and care” are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
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November 14, 2024
2nd Circuit Won’t Review Dismissal Of Whistleblower Suit Against Reinsurer, Others
NEW YORK — Saying in part that there is “substantial evidence” for the conclusion that the petitioner “did not subjectively believe that” the conduct he cited in a whistleblower retaliation complaint “constituted criminal fraud or violated any securities law provisions,” a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a Nov. 13 summary order declining to review dismissal of the complaint.
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November 14, 2024
NLRB Majority: Union Views During Captive-Audience Meetings Are Unlawful
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An employer violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) if it expresses views on unionization during meetings where employees are compelled to attend “on pain of discipline or discharge,” a divided National Labor Relations Board ruled Nov. 13 in a case presenting a number of issues arising out of Amazon.com Services LLC’s opposition to a union organizing campaign.
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November 14, 2024
Employers Of Chauffeurs File Cross-Appeal After $2.5M Wage Settlement OK’d
PHOENIX — The employers of chauffeur drivers who brought a class and collective action wage-and-hour complaint in a federal court in Arizona filed a notice of cross-appeal as to judgment and nine orders issued over the course of four years; the filing followed final approval of a $2.5 million settlement between the drivers and the employers.
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November 13, 2024
Panel: Jury’s Finding Of Defamation Established Willful Act, No Coverage Owed
PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 12 affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of an insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for a $4,941,071 judgment in a defamation action brought by its former employee, finding that the underlying jury's finding of defamation per se established a willful act under California Insurance Code Section 533.
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November 13, 2024
Jury Awards Over $12M To Employee Fired For Refusing COVID Vaccine Due To Religion
DETROIT — A Michigan federal jury awarded the former employee of a medical insurer nearly $3 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages after finding the insurer liable for discrimination for failing to accommodate her religious objection to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
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November 12, 2024
Transit Agency Says $7.8M Verdict Against It In COVID Vaccine Case Cannot Stand
SAN FRANCISCO — A transit agency moved for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, for a new trial after a California federal jury awarded six former employees in excess of $1 million each for a total of more than $7.8 million for failing to accommodate their religious objections to being vaccinated for COVID-19, contending that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence and that opposing counsel was allowed to repeatedly make prejudicial comments.
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November 11, 2024
Final OK Given To $5.5M Amazon COVID-19 Screenings Pay Class Settlement
FRESNO, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted final approval of a $5.5 million settlement between California workers and Amazon.com Services LLC, ending two cases in which the workers allege that they were denied pay for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts.
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November 08, 2024
Judge Stands By Determination That ERISA Governs Deferred Compensation Plans
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has declined to alter or withdraw an Employee Retirement Income Security Act determination that financial services firm Morgan Stanley and related defendants said caused issues in derivative arbitrations; the unchanged November 2023 holding in the putative class action is that ERISA governs the compensation incentive and equity incentive plans at issue.
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November 07, 2024
5th Circuit: Officer’s Claims Over Suspension After Facebook Posts Were Untimely
NEW ORLEANS — A police officer who sued four police chiefs and the city that employed him alleging that his suspension over Facebook posts constituted First Amendment violations under 42 U.S. Code Section 1983 failed to show that the clock on his claims was stalled while he challenged his suspension or that the applicable one-year prescriptive period was interrupted by two state court petitions, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court’s judgment.
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November 06, 2024
Judge Denies Bid To Dismiss Unlawful Discharge Claim In Former Twitter Execs’ Suit
OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge has denied a motion in which Elon Musk and related defendants sought dismissal of one of six Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims asserted against them by four former Twitter Inc. officers or executives who are seeking severance benefits, equitable relief and statutory penalties.
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November 06, 2024
Employer Seeks Rehearing After Default Judgment Upheld In Wage-And-Hour Suit
ATLANTA — A steel fabricator moved for rehearing or rehearing en banc after an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a trial court did not err when it entered default judgment against the employer in a collective wage-and-hour lawsuit as a sanction following a finding of bad faith during discovery.
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November 05, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments On FLSA Exemption Standard
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The preponderance-of-the-evidence standard, which is the default standard for civil cases, should be applied to all 34 exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the attorney representing a food distributor and the company’s CEO argued Nov. 5 before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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November 05, 2024
Lyft Will Pay $2.1M Civil Penalty To End Misleading Earnings Statement Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — Lyft Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.1 million civil penalty and to a permanent injunction to end a complaint filed in a federal court in California by the United States alleging that the rideshare company made false and misleading statements about how much its drivers would earn.
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November 05, 2024
11th Circuit: Equitable Tolling Entitlement Not Shown In VA Worker’s Race Bias Case
ATLANTA — A Department of Veterans Affairs worker failed to show that she was entitled to equitable tolling of the 15-day deadline to file a formal administrative complaint with the VA, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in a race bias and retaliation case, affirming dismissal but finding that the case cited by the trial court did not control as the issues were different.
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November 05, 2024
Worker, DOT And Amici File High Court Briefing On Differential Pay For Reservists
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Coast Guard reservist tells the U.S. Supreme Court in his reply brief that he is entitled to differential pay when performing active duty both during a national emergency and where his service is not found to be a part of a contingency operation.
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November 05, 2024
Federal Jury Finds Granite Installer Fired For Age; Judgment Entered For Worker
PITTSBURGH — The same day a jury awarded a granite installer compensatory damages and front and back pay on age bias claims and found that the bias was willful, a federal judge in Pennsylvania entered judgment for the worker in the amount of $79,148.50.
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November 04, 2024
NLRB Waives Response Petition On Deferring NLRA Interpretation To NLRB
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Labor Relations Board waived its right to respond to a petition for writ of certiorari filed in the U.S. Supreme Court by two hospitals who ask the justices to decide whether deferring an interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it comes to terminating a dues checkoff provision following the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to the NLRB violates Loper Bright Enterprises, Inc. v. Raimondo.
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November 04, 2024
University Manager Seeks En Banc Review Of 6th Circuit’s Vaccine Ruling
CINCINNATI — A former University of Kentucky department manager filed a motion seeking en banc review after a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a summary judgment ruling for the university’s board of trustees in a dispute over a COVID-19 test-or-vaccinate policy.
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November 01, 2024
Calif. Jury: Age Of Pool Company Employee Was Not ‘Substantial’ Reason For Firing
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A California jury returned a verdict for a pool and spa company, finding that the age of a fired worker, 62, was not “a substantial motivating reason” for his termination.
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October 30, 2024
Interlocutory Appeal Filed After Dismissal Ruling In NYC Workers’ Vaccine Case
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — New York City workers who filed a putative class lawsuit after they were placed on leave for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine or claim that they were “coerced” into getting the vaccine filed a notice of interlocutory appeal after a federal judge in New York largely dismissed their claims.
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October 29, 2024
Religious Bias Claims By 30 Dismissed In Mass Action Over Airline’s Vaccine Mandate
HONOLULU, Hawaii — A federal judge in Hawaii granted an airline’s motion to partially dismiss discrimination claims made by workers in a mass action filed after a vaccine policy was implemented in August 2021 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
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October 29, 2024
En Banc 5th Circuit Majority: Ordering Deletion Of Union Tweet Violated Constitution
NEW ORLEANS — A post on social media by the CEO of Telsa Inc. regarding the loss of stock options if workers unionized did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), a split en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in a per curiam opinion, vacating an order by the National Labor Relations Board and remanding for the NLRB to reconsider whether Tesla’s firing of a union-supporting worker violated the NLRA as the decisionmaker was not shown to have anti-union animus.
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October 29, 2024
Initial OK Given To $525,000 Settlement Of Philadelphia Inquirer Data Breach Suit
PHILADELPHIA — Granting an unopposed motion to preliminarily approve the settlement of a putative class action brought by past and present employees against the Philadelphia Inquirer over a 2023 data breach, a Pennsylvania federal judge deemed the proposed agreement, which includes a $525,000 settlement fund, to be “fair, reasonable and adequate.”
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October 29, 2024
6th Circuit Denies Rehearing Sought By Contractor After At-Will Removal Ruling
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a road construction contractor’s petition for rehearing en banc filed after the panel ruled that the U.S. president has the authority at will to remove and replace the National Labor Relations Board general counsel.