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Mealey's Employment

January 22, 2024
Calif. Jury Awards Occupational Therapist More Than $9M In Protected Leave Suit

SAN DIEGO — A California jury returned a verdict of $9,372,000 for an occupational therapist in a California Family Rights Act (CFRA) retaliation case in which the worker alleged that after taking protected leave to care for her son she returned to find that she had been transitioned from to a per diem position and had been replaced with a less-qualified employee who was 41 years her junior.
January 19, 2024
Former Workers Win $2.4M In ERISA Severance Case Involving WARN Act Claim

ABINGDON, Va. — On remand of a case involving a severance plan and the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, a Virgina federal judge granted two unopposed motions and entered a $2,407,471.90 judgment for class members.
January 18, 2024
Calif. Supreme Court Won’t Review Denial Of Arbitration In Uber, Lyft Wages Suits

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court on Jan. 17 denied petitions for review filed by Uber Technologies Inc. and its subsidiaries and Lyft Inc. seeking to challenge the denial of their attempt to compel arbitration of claims brought against them by the state for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.
January 17, 2024
High Court Told ‘Chaos’ Will Ensue ‘In A World Without Chevron’ Deference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court was told Jan. 17 that “chaos” will ensue “in a world without Chevron” deference by government attorneys, who urged it to apply stare decisis and uphold Chevron, which is being challenged in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations.
January 17, 2024
BOA’s $1.89M Wage-And-Hour Settlement Granted Final Approval

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal magistrate judge in California granted final approval of a $1,890,000 settlement to be paid by Bank of America, National Association (BOA) ending two wage-and-hour class complaints by current and former California employees who alleged that they were denied pay for certain off-the-clock work, meal and rest breaks and reimbursement for expenses.
January 17, 2024
$4.5M Overtime Settlement Granted Preliminary Approval In 13-Year-Old Case

TRENTON, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey granted preliminary approval of a $4.5 million settlement to be paid by Sleepy’s LLC to end a case that began in March 2010 when three delivery workers sued alleging that they were misclassified as independent contractors and denied overtime wages.
January 16, 2024
U.S. High Court Denies Alaska’s Petition In Public Sector Union Dues Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 16 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Alaska and several state officials seeking review after the state’s highest court ruled that neither Janus v. American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees, Council 31 nor the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires Alaska to alter union dues deduction practices and collect from union members their clear consent before collecting dues.
January 16, 2024
Sealed Appendix Allowed For Certiorari Petition Concerning FMLA Interference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 16 granted CSX Transportation (CSXT) workers’ motion for leave to file their supplemental appendix to a certiorari petition under seal in a case where the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled for the railway company and its officers and managers on claims asserted under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
January 16, 2024
Former Federal Employee To U.S. High Court: MSPB Deadline Is Not Jurisdictional

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 60-day deadline for petitions seeking review of a final decision by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is not jurisdictional as there is no clear statement by Congress stipulating that it is, a former federal employee tells the U.S. Supreme Court in his Jan. 12 petitioner brief.
January 16, 2024
U.S. High Court Will Decide Exhaustion Requirements In Pandemic Unemployment Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 granted a petition by Alabama unemployment benefits applicants who argue that their lawsuit over the delays in processing the large amount of applications filed due to the coronavirus pandemic was improperly dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
January 16, 2024
Supreme Court Will Decide If Dismissal Is Appropriate After Arbitration Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by delivery drivers whose wage-and-hour claims were sent to arbitration and who asked the justices to decide whether a stay pending arbitration must be granted “or whether district courts have the discretion to dismiss when all claims are subject to arbitration.”
January 12, 2024
U.S. High Court Will Review Standard For NLRB Injunctive Relief Request

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Starbucks Corp. asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide what standard courts should use to evaluate 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 was granted Jan. 12 by the justices.
January 12, 2024
$335,682 Judgment Entered For EEOC After $36M Verdict In Disability Bias Case

OMAHA, Neb. — A federal judge in Nebraska slashed a jury’s punitive damages award from $36 million to $300,000 in a lawsuit accusing Werner Enterprises Inc. and a subsidiary, Drivers Management LLC (together, Werner), of failing to hire and accommodate a deaf applicant in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), finding that the statutory cap applies.
January 12, 2024
Ferry Workers Appeal 2nd Preliminary Injunctive Relief Denial In Vaccine Case

BOSTON — Employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority who sued after their requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied filed a notice of appeal after a federal judge in Massachusetts on remand denied for a second time a preliminary injunction request.
January 11, 2024
US Foods Seeks Rehearing After Summary Judgment Reversal In Age Bias Suit

CHICAGO — An employer accused of age discrimination by a fired warehouse supervisor filed a petition for rehearing en banc after a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a trial court’s summary judgment ruling, finding that the former employee “presented significant evidence to establish an inference of discrimination.”
January 11, 2024
Wrestlers’ Attorney Petitions High Court After Sanctions In CTE Class, Mass Cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — 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) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to consider the appropriateness of attorney fees and costs as sanctions that they have been ordered to pay.
January 11, 2024
9th Circuit Reverses Class Denial For Rest Break Claim Against Kirkland’s

PASADENA, Calif. — A trial court erred when it denied class certification to a worker who sued over her employer’s alleged policy of requiring workers to remain in its retail stores during their rest breaks as “it incorrectly found that Kirkland’s [Stores Inc.] applied its rest break policy inconsistently during the proposed class period,” a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, partially reversing an order denying class certification on a rest break claim and a bag check claim and remanding for further assessment.
January 10, 2024
Parties Wrangle Over ERISA Conclusion Regarding Deferred Compensation Plans

NEW YORK — Parties in a putative class action over deferred compensation are wrangling over a New York federal court’s conclusion that the compensation incentive and equity incentive plans at issue are Employee Retirement Income Security Act plans, with former Morgan Stanley financial advisers arguing in a Jan. 9 filing that “there is no basis for clarification or reconsideration.”
January 10, 2024
2nd Circuit: New York City’s Wrongful Discharge Law Isn’t Preempted By Federal Law

NEW YORK — New York City’s Wrongful Discharge Law, which protects fast-food workers from arbitrary firings and reduced hours, is not preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) or unconstitutional, as argued by two restaurant groups, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court decision.
January 10, 2024
Judge: Complainant Failed To Establish Equitable Tolling To Save Late EEOC Charge

PHOENIX — An Arizona federal court granted the motion of a behavioral health care center to dismiss a complaint by a former employee alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act as well as contract and tort claims, ruling that the employee failed to plead facts supporting the equitable tolling of the 180-day limit to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
January 10, 2024
Federal Judge Again Denies Injunctive Relief In Ferry Workers’ Vaccine Case

BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts denied a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction filed by employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority whose requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied after the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partially vacated the trial court’s preliminary injunctive relief denial.
January 10, 2024
Rehearing Petition Extension Granted After Wage Class Communication Bar Upheld

PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a docket entry gave a mortgage company until Jan. 19 to file a petition for rehearing after a divided panel in a wage-and-hour dispute affirmed a trial court’s restriction on communication between the employer and employees during which workers were discouraged from joining any collective or class and were encouraged settle their claims individually.
January 10, 2024
Employee Seeks Rehearing After Causation Standard For Retaliation Claims Ruling

ATLANTA — A former Walgreen Co. employee petitioned the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for rehearing after the panel ruled that the proper causation standard for retaliation claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Florida’s Private Sector Whistleblower Act (FWA) is the but-for causation and the majority affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment ruling for Walgreen.
January 10, 2024
Railroad Argues Against High Court Review Of Service Dog Accommodation Denial

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition by a conductor whose request to bring a service dog aboard moving freight trains as an accommodation to help his posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and migraines as a result of prior military service was denied has failed to show that review is needed by the U.S. Supreme Court as the worker did not properly preserve the question he presented and the decision by the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is consistent with other circuits and the views of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Union Pacific Railroad Co. argues in its brief in opposition.
January 09, 2024
Labor Department Announces Final Independent Contractor Rule

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Jan. 9 announced the final rule on classifying workers as employees or independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which the DOL states “restores the multifactor analysis used by courts for decades” and rescinds the 2021 Independent Contractor Rule.