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Mealey's Employment

  • April 30, 2024

    Employee Who Refused COVID Tests Appeals Dismissal Of Constructive Discharge Case

    MINNEAPOLIS — A former Minnesota county public defender filed a notice of appeal to the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 29, seeking review of a Minnesota federal court’s dismissal of the public defender’s complaint alleging that she was constructively discharged from her position and resigned under duress after she refused to submit to COVID-19 testing in lieu of vaccination as the county transitioned back to an in-office working environment.

  • April 30, 2024

    Judgment Denied In Suit Against DME Supplier Subject To $24.2M In FCA Liability

    HUNTINGTON, W.Va.  — A West Virginia federal judge denied in part a durable medical equipment (DME) supplier’s motion for summary judgment in a suit alleging retaliation, retaliatory discharge and outrage regarding a former employee’s reporting to supervisors alleged overbilling by a supplier that settled a separate False Claims Act (FCA) suit for $24.2 million, finding that disputed material facts remain regarding whether she was terminated for retaliatory reasons.

  • April 30, 2024

    Ohio Trucking Companies To Pay $460,000 To End EEOC Sex Orientation Harassment Suit

    CLEVELAND — Two Ohio trucking companies will pay $460,000 and provide other relief to settle a lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that they permitted gay mechanics to be harassed and fired due to their sexual orientation, according to the consent decree signed by a federal judge in Ohio.

  • April 30, 2024

    Judge Gives Initial Nod To $9.4M White Castle Finger Scan Class Action Settlement

    CHICAGO — A $9.4 million settlement between White Castle System Inc. and an employee who sued the fast food company for its finger scan policy received preliminary approval from an Illinois federal judge, who deemed the estimated $968 per class member payment to be “substantial relief” for the purported violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by their employer.

  • April 29, 2024

    U.S. High Court Won’t Consider Military Chaplains’ Vaccine Mandate Challenge

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 29 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by military chaplains who sued over the denial of their religious accommodation requests when it came to the COVID-19 vaccine and argued that their lawsuit remains live despite the revocation of the mandate.

  • April 29, 2024

    U.S. Supreme Court Denies Employee’s Petition In Suspension With Pay Appeal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 29 denied a September 2022 petition by a former employee who contended that the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred when it concluded that a suspension with pay was not an adverse employment action; the denial came just over a week after the justices issued the opinion in Muldrow v. St. Louis, a case that the United States had argued should have been heard together with the present case.

  • April 29, 2024

    9th Circuit Agrees Starbucks Must Recognize, Bargain With Reserve Roastery Union

    SEATTLE — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted the National Labor Relations Board’s application for enforcement of its decision finding that Siren Retail Corp., doing business as Starbucks, violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it refused to recognize and bargain with a union elected via mail-in ballots after arguing that an in-person election should have been ordered.

  • April 26, 2024

    AI Hiring Company Sufficiently Targeted Illinois For Jurisdiction, Class Says

    CHICAGO — The intentional contacts an artificial intelligence hiring platform company created with Illinois provide for jurisdiction, and the court should reject the company’s attempts to downplay the reality of those connections, class action plaintiffs say in an April 25 opposition.  Previously, the company asked the court to reconsider its ruling finding jurisdiction in the state.

  • April 26, 2024

    Chamber Of Commerce, Other Groups Seek Stay Of FTC’s Noncompete Rule

    TYLER, Texas — A motion for a stay of the effective date of the Federal Trade Commission’s new rule banning noncompete agreements and preliminary injunction was filed in a Texas federal court by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America and two other groups on the same day they sued the FTC over the rule; the complaint is one of several filed in the days after the rule banning the issuance of new noncompete agreements nationwide and largely banning the enforcement of existing agreements was announced.

  • April 26, 2024

    State Courts Lack Jurisdiction To Hear Tribal Police Wrongful Termination Case

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — State courts did not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear a wrongful termination case brought by two former police officers with the Pueblo of Santa Ana Police Department because tribal sovereign immunity bars the claims, a New Mexico panel found in affirming a trial court’s judgment.

  • April 25, 2024

    EEOC’s Race Bias Case Filed Against DHL In 2010 Settles For $8.7 Million

    CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on April 24 signed a consent decree between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and DHL Express (USA) Inc. requiring the shipping company to pay $8.7 million to end a lawsuit that originated in 2010 and alleges that it assigned Black drivers to less desirable and more dangerous work.

  • April 25, 2024

    Las Vegas Casino And Hotel Will Settle EEOC’s Disability Bias, Retaliation Case

    LAS VEGAS — A hotel and casino in Las Vegas agreed to pay $720,000 to end a disability bias and retaliation lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing it of failing to provide accommodations and firing an employee because he wore an ostomy bag, the EEOC announced April 25.

  • April 25, 2024

    Workday Opposes EEOC Brief Saying AI’s Use Doesn’t Redefine Employment Agency

    SAN FRANCISCO — Workday Inc. opposed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s motion to participate in a discrimination case involving artificial intelligence employment software as amicus curiae, portraying the brief as an improper second opposition to a motion to dismiss.  Earlier, the EEOC said the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in screening and sorting job candidates offers a “more sophisticated means” of performing employment agency tasks but does not differentiate the company from traditional employment agencies.

  • April 25, 2024

    Ariz. Federal Judge: Expert Can Estimate Unpaid Wages In Suit By Class Of Drivers

    PHOENIX — A forensic accounting expert retained by the operator of a fleet of chauffeured transportation services can testify, an Arizona federal judge ruled, denying a motion filed by a class of drivers who sued for wage violations.

  • April 25, 2024

    FTC Issues Final Rule Banning Noncompetes

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule banning the issuance of new noncompete agreements nationwide and largely banning the enforcement of existing agreements.

  • April 24, 2024

    U.S. High Court Denies Petition In Appeal Over Jury Trial For ADA Retaliation

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former employee who argues that he was entitled to monetary damages and a jury trial after his claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were reduced to one claim of retaliation based on his firing.

  • April 23, 2024

    Starbucks, NLRB Present Arguments To High Court On Test For NLRB Injunctive Relief

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorneys representing Starbucks Corp. and M. Kathleen McKinney, a National Labor Relations Board regional director, appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 23 to present arguments on the appropriate standard for reviewing injunctive relief sought by the NLRB; in the case on appeal, the relief sought was the reinstatement of seven fired employees who engaged in pro-union activities.

  • April 23, 2024

    NLRB Urges 9th Circuit To Enforce Bargaining Without Election Framework

    SAN FRANCISCO — A new framework for determining when an employer has violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by refusing to bargain with a majority union without an election “will better advance the core statutory policies of effectuating employee choice and deterring unlawful conduct” and “is consistent with decades of precedent,” the National Labor Relations Board argues in an April 22 brief asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to enforce its August 2023 decision.

  • April 23, 2024

    Calif. High Court Answers 9th Circuit Question, Finds Inmate Class Not Owed Wages

    SAN FRANCISCO — A class of nonconvicted inmates in a California county jail who perform services for a for-profit company that supplies meals have no claim for minimum wages and overtime under current state law, the California Supreme Court ruled April 22, answering a question certified by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an interlocutory appeal.

  • April 23, 2024

    Red Robin Will Pay $600,000 To End EEOC Sexual Harassment Suit

    SEATTLE — Red Robin International Inc. will pay $600,000 and provide other injunctive relief to end a complaint by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging sexual harassment, retaliation and constructive discharge according to an order by a federal judge in Washington approving a consent decree between the parties.

  • April 23, 2024

    Jury Awards Zurich Workers $75M In Punitive Damages After Time ‘Theft’ Verdicts

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California jury awarded three workers $25 million each in punitive damages one day after issuing verdicts for the three on claims that they were the subject of defamatory statements and wrongly fired for allegedly stealing time from the company after being awarded and using “off the record” paid time off (PTO).

  • April 23, 2024

    Researcher Says Amazon Fired Her For Taking Maternity Leave During AI Race

    LOS ANGELES — Worried that it was losing the race to develop artificial intelligence and panicked by the release of ChatGPT, Amazon.com Services LLC played catch-up in part by barring employee leave, an AI researcher alleges in a complaint claiming that the company mistreated her for taking legally protected maternity leave and fired her when she complained about her treatment.

  • April 23, 2024

    Uber, Lyft Ask High Court To Review Arbitrability Of California Wage Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Uber Technologies Inc. and its subsidiaries and Lyft Inc. filed petitions for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a California appellate court ruling affirming the denial of their attempt to compel arbitration of claims brought on behalf of workers by state officials who accused the companies of misclassifying drivers in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • April 23, 2024

    Arguments On Staying Or Dismissing Pending Arbitration Heard By U.S. High Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorneys representing delivery drivers and the individual owners and managers of Intelliserve and related corporate entities (together, Intelliserve) presented oral arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court on April 22 in a dispute over the dismissal rather than the stay of a case alleging wage-and-hour violations where both sides agreed that the claims were subject to arbitration.

  • April 22, 2024

    U.S. High Court Denies Domino’s FAA Petition In Truck Drivers’ Expenses Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 22 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by Domino’s Pizza LLC after the company’s truck drivers (D&S drivers) were found by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to be exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) in their class case alleging unreimbursed business expenses and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).