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Mealey's Employment

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.
September 09, 2024
4th Circuit Upholds Ruling For Employer In Hemp-Derived Products ADA Suit

RICHMOND, Va. — An employee who alleged that she was discriminated against and improperly fired for her use of hemp-derived products failed to show that she was disabled, that the products she used were legal and that her employer’s reason for her firing was not lawful, a partially split Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled.
September 09, 2024
Pennsylvania In-Home Care Agency Appeals $1M Summary Judgment In DOL Wage Case

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania in-home care agency accused by the acting secretary of Labor of failing to pay workers minimum and overtime wages filed a notice of appeal in a federal court in Pennsylvania three weeks after a judge granted summary judgment to the secretary and ordered the agency to pay $1,059,540.18 in back wages and liquidated damages to nearly 200 workers.
September 09, 2024
6th Circuit: Elevated Pleading Standard In COVID-19 Vaccine Case Was Erroneous

CINCINNATI — A trial court’s dismissal of a worker’s claim that her employer failed to accommodate her religious beliefs when it came to refusing the COVID-19 vaccine wrongly employed the elevated pleading standing of requiring a prima face case, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, partially reversing the ruling and remanding for further proceedings.
September 09, 2024
Care Gig Platform, FTC Reach $8.5M Agreement In Case Over Wages, Cancellations

AUSTIN, Texas — Care.com, a child and older adult care gig platform, will pay $8.5 million to end claims by the Federal Trade Commission that it has systematically deceived caregivers about wages available for potential jobs and at the same time failed to give families looking for care an easy way to cancel their paid memberships.
September 06, 2024
1st Circuit Denies Rehearing After Finding Sales Reps Were Misclassified

BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing and petition for rehearing en banc filed by an industrial product wholesaler after a panel in August affirmed a trial court’s ruling that the wholesaler’s inside sales representatives (ISRs) were misclassified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
September 06, 2024
Mass. High Court Answers 2nd Certified Question In 7-Eleven Franchisee Dispute

BOSTON — Answering the second question certified by the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an employment classification case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Sept. 5 that 7-Eleven Inc. franchisees who “perform various contractual obligations under the Franchise Agreement” and provide 7-Eleven with a percentage of their gross profits do not “‘perform[] any service’ for 7-Eleven within the meaning of” Massachusetts’ independent contractor statute.
September 04, 2024
Judge Denies Motion To Deny Class Certification In Moderator Suit Against TikTok

SAN FRANCISCO — Stating that “the Court is confused as to why this motion was filed at all,” a California federal judge denied a motion to deny class certification by TikTok Inc. and its parent company in a putative class action regarding the defendants’ alleged negligence in failing to protect content moderators from harm, finding that the defendants failed to show why excluding from the class those who signed arbitration agreements “should defeat class certification.”
September 03, 2024
6th Circuit: No Bargaining Need For Nursing Home’s Pandemic Hiring, Pay Decisions

CINCINNATI — A nursing home owner’s hiring and pay decisions in response to staffing shortages at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 were made due to exigent circumstances and did not require bargaining with the union representing two groups of employees, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, partially affirming and partially reversing a decision by the National Labor Relations Board.
September 03, 2024
ERISA-Based Injunction Bid Fails In Federal Suit Over N.J. Temp Worker Law

CAMDEN, N.J. — Denying a preliminary injunction motion concerning New Jersey’s Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights (TWBR), a New Jersey federal judge on Aug. 30 said she “is hard pressed to imagine a situation that would upset the status quo more and detrimentally impact public interest.”
August 30, 2024
9th Circuit: No Attorney Fees For Employee In Mooted Disability Benefits Case

PHOENIX — A worker who sued her employer and its insurer for disability benefits has no grounds to seek attorney fees incurred in a federal district court after she was paid the full amount of compensation she sought because her case was mooted by the voluntary payment, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Aug. 29.
August 30, 2024
Radio Personality’s Company Seeks Rehearing After Religious Bias Claims Reinstated

CINCINNATI — Lampo Group LLC, the company of radio personality Dave Ramsey, filed a petition in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for rehearing en banc 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.
August 30, 2024
Final Approval Of $10.8M Settlement Sought In Wage Suppression Case

NEWARK, N.J. — Individuals who worked for a tax preparation franchisor or franchisees who brought a class complaint in a federal court in New Jersey alleging that there was a conspiracy to suppress compensation via no-poach agreements filed motions for final approval of a $10.8 million settlement and for approval of attorney fees, expenses and service awards.
August 29, 2024
6th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of Misclassification Suit Involving ERISA Benefits

CINCINNATI — Reversing dismissal of a putative class action in which insurance agents assert Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims over alleged misclassification and denial of benefits, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that the lower court erred by relying on documents regarding which “there are legitimate questions” of whether they “are a full set of the relevant, governing plan documents.”
August 29, 2024
7th Circuit Orders Injunctive Relief Reconsideration After Wal-Mart Bias Verdict

CHICAGO — A Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld a jury’s finding of liability as to Wal-Mart Stores East L.P. as well as punitive and compensatory damages in a disability bias case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after a longtime employee with Down syndrome was fired but vacated the trial court’s denial of injunctive relief sought by the EEOC and remanded for reconsideration.
August 29, 2024
Asphalt Paving Company To Pay $1.25M To Settle EEOC Race Harassment Suit

TAMPA, Fla. — An asphalt paving company with offices in five states will pay $1.25 million and provide injunctive relief to end a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the company subjected a dozen Black former employees and a class of other Black employees to frequent, severe harassment due to their race, according to a consent decree signed by a federal judge in Florida.
August 28, 2024
Judge Denies Attorney Fees In First Impression Withdrawal Liability Case

HAMMOND, Ind. — On remand following reversal of a Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) ruling in a withdrawal liability dispute, an Indiana federal judge entered final judgment totaling $4,026,324.18 plus post-judgment interest for an employer but denied its opposed request for $217,249 in attorney fees.
August 28, 2024
Judge Dismisses Putative Class Suit Over Alleged Data Breach For Lack Of Standing

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Granting dismissal of a putative class action against a private contractor over an alleged data breach, an Ohio federal judge said the plaintiff “has not adequately pleaded that any of his PII [personally identifiable information] was improperly accessed, let alone stolen.”
August 28, 2024
U.S. As Amicus Tells High Court No Heightened Standard To Prove FLSA Exemption

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The preponderance-of-the-evidence standard applies where employers are proving that employees are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime requirements; the heightened standard of clear and convincing evidence applies only where “the individual interests at stake in a proceeding are particularly important,” the United States argues in an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a food distributor and its CEO.
August 28, 2024
9th Circuit Says CERCLA Does Not Limit FTCA’s Misrepresentation Exception

SAN FRANCISCO — The United States is entitled to sovereign immunity from claims brought by employees of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) who allegedly were harmed by radioactive contamination at a former U.S. Navy base that was leased to the SFPD because the claims were based on misrepresentations made by the Navy and are therefore exempt under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a trial court’s order and rejecting the employees’ assertion that the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) limited the exemption at issue.
August 27, 2024
Arizona Pet Stores Will Pay $340,000 To Resolve EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona granted a joint motion for entry of a consent decree filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the owners and operators of two Arizona pet stores in a lawsuit alleging that female workers were subjected to pervasive sexual harassment and retaliation.
August 27, 2024
Airlines Will Settle Pilot’s USERRA Payless Leave Class Suit For $4.75M

SPOKANE, Wash. — Alaska Airlines Inc. and Horizon Air Industries Inc. have agreed to pay $4.75 million to 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, according to motion for preliminary settlement approval filed in a federal court in Washington.
August 26, 2024
Former Employees Reach Settlement With Philadelphia Inquirer Over Data Breach

PHILADELPHIA —Three employees or former employees of the Philadelphia Inquirer LLC moved for preliminary approval of a $525,000 class action settlement reached with the newspaper to settle claims for damages caused by a data breach that the newspaper did not disclose to subscribers and employees for nearly a year.
August 26, 2024
5th Circuit Vacates DOL’s Tip Credit Rule, Finds It ‘Contrary’ To FLSA’s Text

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 23 reversed a trial court’s summary judgment order for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in a case challenging the agency’s final rule restricting when employers may claim a “tip credit” for “tipped employees,” vacated the final rule and rendered summary judgment for the two associations challenging the rule, opining that the rule was “arbitrary and capricious” and “contrary” to the clear text of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
August 23, 2024
Hospitality Business Workers’ Human Trafficking Claims Settled for $730,000

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal magistrate judge in Oklahoma on Aug. 22 granted final approval of a $730,000 settlement between hospitality businesses based in that state and workers from the Philippines who allege that they were induced to travel to the United States to work based on false promises.