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

Mealey's Employment

January 14, 2025
U.S. High Court Hears Arguments On Age Bias Case Status After Voluntary Dismissal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Jan. 14 on whether voluntary dismissals under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41 are “final” and may be reopened under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b).
January 14, 2025
Florida Furniture Retailer Will Pay $1.48M To Settle EEOC Gender Bias Class Claims

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida-based furniture retail company will pay $1,482,748 and provide equitable relief to end a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the company had a policy of not hiring female applicants for driver and warehouse positions, according to a consent decree signed by a federal judge in Florida.
January 14, 2025
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Professors’ 1st Amendment Representation Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed City University of New York (CUNY) professors who argued that their First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution rights are being violated as they are required to belong to a bargaining unit they accuse of engaging in anti-Semitic and anti-Israel conduct.
January 14, 2025
Walmart’s $5.2M Class Settlement Approved In Workers’ COVID-19 Screening Case

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted final approval of a $5.2 million class settlement to be paid by Walmart Inc. to end a case by workers who alleged that the retailer’s policy requiring nonexempt workers in that state to undergo a COVID-19 screening each shift without pay violated state and federal wage-and-hour laws, as well as California’s unfair competition law.
January 14, 2025
Arguments On Disability Bias Rights Of Former Employee Heard By U.S. High Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Jan. 13 on whether a retired employee of a Florida city has the right to sue under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for discrimination related to the distribution of fringe benefits that took effect after her employment ended.
January 13, 2025
Damages Capped In EEOC Bias Case; Permanent Injunction Partially Granted

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York, ruling on motions from both sides following a jury’s $1,675,000 verdict for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a case in which the agency accused a distribution company of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it failed to interview and hire a deaf applicant, applied the $300,000 statutory cap to the compensatory and punitive damages and partially granted the EEOC’s motion for a permanent injunction.
January 13, 2025
3rd Circuit Rules On Unfair Practices, Jurisdiction To Consider ALJ Removal

PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to consider an employer’s challenge of removal protections for an administrative law judge (ALJ) but that “substantial evidence” supported the National Labor Relations Board’s finding that Starbucks Corp. committed unfair labor practices when it terminated two baristas who were involved in labor organizing.
January 13, 2025
10th Circuit: Worker Collective Failed To Show Age Bias With Policy Changes, RIF

DENVER — Workers laid off from an aerostructure manufacturer as part of a reduction in force (RIF) failed to show that the company’s policy changes and statements and the manner in which the RIF was carried out constituted age discrimination, a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a trial court’s summary judgment ruling for the employer on the employee’s collective action claims.
January 13, 2025
Appellees To 9th Circuit: Uphold Dismissal Of ERISA Suit Over Severance Benefits

SAN FRANCISCO — Urging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm dismissal of a putative class case filed by former Twitter employees and reject arguments that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) makes as amicus curiae, Elon Musk and related entities argue in part in a Jan. 10 brief that precedent supports the ruling that the workers didn’t plausibly allege that a purported severance plan is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
January 10, 2025
10th Circuit Accepts Employee’s Late Rehearing Bid In COVID Vaccine Refusal Case

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a request to accept an untimely petition for rehearing en banc submitted by a former nursing center employee seeking review of a panel judgment affirming the dismissal of her First Amendment free exercise claim stemming from her termination for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as mandated by a state health board emergency rule.
January 09, 2025
4th Circuit Vacates Certification Of Bojangles Wage Class For Abuse Of Discretion

RICHMOND, Va. — A trial court abused its discretion when it certified two classes of Bojangles’ Restaurants Inc. shift managers in a wage-and-hour complaint as “it employed an inappropriately high level of generality when” it identified the policies allegedly related to the claim and when it created “overly broad class definitions,” a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, vacating the certification order and remanding.
January 08, 2025
Decade-Long Amazon Wage-And-Hour MDL Dismissed After $11.1M Settlement Approved

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge in Kentucky dismissed with prejudice a multidistrict litigation accusing Amazon.com Inc. and related parties of failing to pay workers for time spent undergoing mandatory security screenings stating that all matters had been resolved; the order was filed a little over two weeks after an $11.1 million settlement between the online retailer and California workers was granted final approval.
January 08, 2025
Home Depot’s $9.5 Million Meal, Rest Period Settlement Granted Final Approval

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington in a pair of orders granted final approval of a $9.5 million class settlement by The Home Depot Inc. and Home Depot USA Inc. (together, Home Depot) in a complaint by workers who alleged that the companies owed unpaid wages and compensation for rest and meal breaks the workers were denied and approved the requested attorney fees, costs and incentive awards.
January 08, 2025
Class Certification Denied In Amazon Driver’s Expenses, Misclassification Case

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington denied a renewed motion for class certification filed by an Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Logistics Inc. (together, Amazon) driver who alleges that he and other have been misclassified and were made to pay for business expenses and dismissed the driver’s Massachusetts Wage Act claim “for failure to state a viable claim.”
January 08, 2025
Wal-Mart Applicant Seeks Rehearing After Dismissal Of Cannabis Use Suit Upheld

PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority erred in upholding a ruling finding that a New Jersey law prohibiting the firing of workers for cannabis use does not create a private cause of action as the “novel question of state law” needed to be certified to the New Jersey Supreme Court, the majority’s analysis of the case “conflicts with decisions of the Supreme Court and” the Third Circuit and the majority’s “interpretation effectively nullifies core employment protections that the New Jersey Legislature enacted, agues a job applicant whose job offer was rescinded after testing positive for cannabis in a petition for rehearing.
January 08, 2025
United Airlines Settles EEOC Race, National Origin Bias Case For $99,000

DENVER — United Airlines Inc. will pay $99,000 to end a complaint by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the company allowed an Asian American employee of Mongolian ancestry to be called a racial slur, physically assaulted and have his employment threatened and then delayed an investigation, according to a consent decree signed by a federal judge in Colorado.
January 08, 2025
3rd Circuit Affirms Back Pay Award, Denial Of Liquidated Damages In DOL Suit

PHILADELPHIA — An employer must pay its workers for the true time they spend completing tasks and not the time the employer determines is “reasonable” and bears the burden of proving that such time is de minimis when using that defense, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, leaving untouched a $22 million back wages verdict in a case brought by the secretary of Labor and upholding the trial court’s denial of liquidated damages.
January 07, 2025
Jewish Organization Worker To Seek Rehearing After Ministerial Exception Ruling

PASADENA, Calif. — A former employee of a Jewish organization filed a motion on Jan. 6 for an extension of time to seek a rehearing after a split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed with the district court that the worker’s employment-related claims were barred by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution’s ministerial exception.
January 07, 2025
Class Certified In Worker’s WARN Act Case Against Digital News Company

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York certified a class of workers terminated by a now-defunct news organization, The Messenger, who allege that the mass layoff by JAF Communications Inc. violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
January 06, 2025
More Than $60M In Settlements Preliminarily OK’d In No-Poaching Class Case

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut on Jan. 3 granted preliminary approval of more than $60 million in settlements reached in a class case by workers who accuse aerospace engineering firms and executives of conspiring to not solicit, recruit, hire without prior approval or otherwise compete for engineers and other skilled employees.
January 06, 2025
Ex-Employee Fired For Refusing COVID Vaccine Amends Discrimination Complaint

PORTLAND, Ore. — A former employee of a sportswear company who was terminated after declining a company-mandated COVID-19 vaccination filed an amended complaint alleging that her employer failed to make a good faith effort to accommodate her religious beliefs, dropping a medical disability-based claim that was dismissed by an Oregon federal judge pursuant to the employer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
January 06, 2025
U.S. As Amicus Supports Vacatur Of Judgment In Sexual Orientation Bias Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “imposes the same evidentiary burdens on all plaintiffs,” and the evidentiary standards in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green “do not vary,” the United States argues in an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting vacatur of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judgment in a heterosexual worker’s case alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation.
January 03, 2025
Expressive Association Claims Reinstated In Case Over Reproductive Choice Labor Law

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a Jan. 2 opinion vacated dismissal of expressive association claims brought by three employers in a case challenging a New York act that prohibits “discrimination based on an employee’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making” and remanded for the trial court to decide whether any of the employers made a plausible claim in light of Slattery v. Hochul.
January 03, 2025
RTX’s $34M Settlement In No-Poaching Class Case Brings Total To More Than $60M

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Workers who accuse aerospace engineering firms, senior executives and managers of conspiring to not solicit, recruit, hire without prior approval or otherwise compete for engineers and other skilled employees filed a motion in a federal court in Connecticut seeking preliminary approval of a $34 million settlement with RTX Corp., Pratt & Whitney Division.
January 02, 2025
Amicus, Company To High Court: Dismissal Pending Arbitration Was Not End Of Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An employee’s voluntary dismissal of an age bias suit pending arbitration is not a “final” proceeding, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America argues in amicus brief supporting an energy company’s position that a trial court lacked jurisdiction over the employee’s Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) motion.