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Mealey's Employment

October 07, 2024
Contractor Seeks Rehearing After 6th Circuit At-Will Removal Ruling

CINCINNATI — A road construction contractor filed a petition for rehearing en banc or panel rehearing following a ruling by a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that the U.S. president has the authority at-will to remove and replace the National Labor Relations Board general counsel.
October 04, 2024
Panel Affirms No Coverage Owed For Class Actions Alleging Employees Were Underpaid

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 3 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that an insurance policy’s “wage and hour violation” exclusion barred coverage for two underlying class lawsuits alleging that the insured conducted an unlawful scheme of underpaying some of its employees.
October 04, 2024
U.S. High Court Takes Up Question On Showing In Straight Worker’s Bias Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether a heterosexual worker claiming bias based on her sexual orientation must present sufficient “background circumstances” was granted by the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4.
October 04, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Grants Petition In Age Bias Suit Over Reopening Dismissed Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4 agreed to take up a question asking whether a former employee’s Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41 voluntary dismissal of his age bias suit pending arbitration was a final judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b).
October 04, 2024
Army Reservist Asks U.S. High Court To Answer USERRA Disability Questions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Illinois erred when he “elevat[ed]” the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) over the protections provided by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and refused to alter or amend judgment following the second trial in a USERRA case that resulted in a verdict for the employer, a former Volvo Group North America LLC employee and Army reservist argues in a petition for a writ of certiorari filed in the U.S. Supreme Court.
October 01, 2024
FBI Agrees To Pay $22.6M To Settle Some Basic Training Gender Bias Class Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Current and former female employees of the FBI moved Sept. 30 in a federal court in the District of Columbia for attorney fees and to certify for the purposes of a $22.6 million settlement a class of workers who allege that they were subjected to gender bias during basic training.
September 30, 2024
Judge Reprimands Counsel, Says Only Use Of AI Explains Briefing Errors

DALLAS — While plaintiff’s attorneys in a proposed employment class action acknowledged and apologized for miscited case law, quotes and other errors, their claim of poor procedures and lack of proper oversight explain only a portion of the mistakes, a federal judge in Texas said in reprimanding counsel after concluding that despite protests to the contrary, artificial intelligence must have been used to craft the response brief.
September 30, 2024
Businessman Appeals New Trial Ruling Following $900M Sexual Assault Verdict

LOS ANGELES — A Cypriot-British businessman and actor accused by a former employee of sexual assault filed a notice of appeal in a California state court after a judge conditionally granted the businessman’s motion for a new trial on compensatory and punitive damages unless the former employee accepted a reduction to $90 million from the $900 million in damages awarded by the jury.
September 27, 2024
Airlines’ $4.75M USERRA Payless Leave Class Pact For Pilots Preliminarily OK’d

SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington granted preliminary approval of a $4.75 million settlement between Alaska Airlines Inc., Horizon Air Industries Inc. and a class of commercial airline pilots who allege that they were denied pay during short-term military leaves while pay was provided to pilots taking other types of leaves.
September 27, 2024
6th Circuit Denies En Banc Rehearing In Coca-Cola Employee Drug Testing Case

CINCINNATI — A petition for rehearing en banc filed by Coca-Cola Bottling Co. (CCBC), now known as Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc., after a split Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a former employee who is Black and was terminated for failing a drug test may proceed with his race discrimination and retaliation claims was denied Sept. 26.
September 25, 2024
Sales Reps Tell U.S. High Court Heightened Standard Needed For FLSA Exemption

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An employer must provide clear and convincing evidence that its employees are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum and overtime wage requirements, sales representatives argue in a respondent brief filed Sept. 24 in the U.S. Supreme Court.
September 24, 2024
Texas Federal Jury Awards Former Police Captain $21.35M For Retaliatory Termination

SHERMAN, Texas — A former police captain who claimed that he was fired after submitting an affidavit supporting a motion to change venue filed by the jail administrator charged with permitting an inmate to escape was awarded $21.35 million in compensatory and punitive damages by a federal judge in Texas.
September 24, 2024
Split 11th Circuit Panel Addresses Sex-Plus Claims, Mixed-Motive Theories

ATLANTA — A split 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in a decision affirming summary judgment for an employer in a gender and age discrimination and retaliation case by two former employees “clear[ed] up two other strands of our case law: sex-plus claims and mixed-motive theories of liability.”
September 23, 2024
Arizona Federal Judge Limits Testimony In Firefighter’s Discrimination Case

PHOENIX — An expert retained in an age discrimination and retaliation case can testify on the new fitness requirements for firefighters but cannot offer expert opinions on statements that are understood by an average juror, an Arizona federal judge ruled, also finding that the man suing for discrimination can have his expert testify on his economic damages.
September 19, 2024
MrBeast Game Show Contestants File Wage, Harassment Class Complaint

LOS ANGELES — Five unnamed contestants of Beast Games, a game show produced in part by MrBeast and Amazon Alternative LLC, filed a class complaint in a California court accusing Amazon and others of wage-and-hour violations, harassment and unfair business practices after they say they were told they would be competing with 1,000 people for a $5 million prize but the odds of winning were actually far less when they began competing.
September 19, 2024
Maryland State Police Officers’ Race Bias Class Claims Trimmed By Federal Judge

GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge in Maryland partially dismissed putative class claims of racial discrimination by three Maryland state police officers who accuse the Maryland Department of State Police (MSP) and individual officials of ongoing discrimination against officers of color, leaving in place the officers’ claims for bias and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Maryland law against MSP only.
September 16, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Seeks Response To 1st Amendment Union Representation Question

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court requested a response by Oct. 15 to a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by City University of New York (CUNY) professors who allege that their First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution rights are being violated as they are required to belong to a bargaining unit represented by Professional Staff Congress/CUNY (PSC) which they accuse of engaging in anti-Semitic and anti-Israel conduct.
September 16, 2024
Stay Granted Pending Settlement In Computer Operation FLSA Suit

LAS VEGAS — A federal judge in Nevada granted a joint motion to stay pending court approval of a settlement in a collective Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) case by Las Vegas call center employees seeking compensation for time spent turning on and off their computers; the motion and order come just over a month after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a mandate finding triable issues in the case.
September 16, 2024
Massachusetts High Court Rules On Benefits Accrual Under Paid Family Leave Act

BOSTON — Denying state troopers who take paid leave under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA) the accrual of benefits doesn’t violate the act and discriminate against female employees, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Sept. 13, affirming a trial court judge’s dismissal of a complaint by female troopers.
September 13, 2024
Attorney Fees Judgment Stayed In Jack In The Box Workers’ Wage Suit

PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon in a docket entry granted an unopposed motion by Jack in the Box Inc. to approve a supersedeas bond and stay the enforcement of judgment for attorney fees in a wage-and-hour suit by workers pending resolution of post-trial motions and appeal.
September 12, 2024
8th Circuit Grants Rehearing After Reinstating Manager’s Disability Bias Claims

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A petition for rehearing en banc was granted to the operator of a number of Hardee’s restaurants in the Midwest after a split Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel employed a new test for the pretext prong of the McDonnell-Douglas Corp. v. Green and reinstated a former manager’s disability bias and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) claims, and the case was set for oral argument in October.
September 12, 2024
Rehearing Denied After 6th Circuit Reinstates Worker’s Pandemic Bias Claims

CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in a one-page order denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by Lampo Group LLC, the company of radio personality Dave Ramsey, after a panel partially reversed a trial court’s dismissal of claims by an employee who alleges that the company failed to take precautions against the spread of COVID-19 during the initial days of the coronavirus pandemic.
September 11, 2024
10th Circuit Reinstates Bias Claims Of Fired Administrator Who Opposed School Play

DENVER — An assistant principal who was fired after citing religious beliefs when disagreeing with a play that was to be put on by students may proceed with his discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Sept. 10, opining that the former employee “provide[d] a plausible link between his termination and a discriminatory motive.”
September 11, 2024
3rd Circuit: ADA Amendments Act Expanded Scope Of Disability Coverage

PHILADELPHIA — The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) expanded the scope of disability coverage under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Macfarlan v. Ivy Hill SNF, LLC, which applied a pre-ADAAA standard to allegations that arose prior to the amendments, does not control claims that arose after the amendments, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in a precedential opinion, partially vacating, partially reversing and partially affirming a trial court’s ruling in an employee’s disability bias case.
September 09, 2024
Coca-Cola Seeks Rehearing After Split Panel Reverses Summary Judgment In Drug Case

CINCINNATI — Coca-Cola Bottling Co. (CCBC) filed a petition for rehearing en banc after a split Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a former employee who is Black and was terminated for failing a drug test may proceed with his race discrimination and retaliation claims after showing that there was a genuine dispute over whether he waived his claims that accrued prior to the negotiation of a last chance agreement (LCA) and presenting sufficient evidence that a similarly situated white male was given an additional chance after also failing a drug test.