Wage & Hour
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January 03, 2025
Panera Stiffed Catering Staff Out Of OT Pay, PAGA Suit Says
Panera cheated some employees out of overtime wages and reimbursement for the use of their cars and cellphones working with catering clients, and also manipulated records to inaccurately log break times in violation of California labor laws, according to a representative action lodged Thursday in California state court.
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January 03, 2025
FTC Dems Eye Merger Review, Noncompete Legacy
Federal Trade Commission Democrats started the new year with legacy on the brain, urging the soon-to-be Republican majority in a pair of statements to preserve their more "stringent approach" to merger review and their currently blocked ban on employment noncompete agreements, despite heavy criticism both received from their GOP peers.
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January 03, 2025
Apple Affiliate Operators Accused Of Evading Wage Judgment
The operators of an Apple-affiliated repair company are shirking their duties to pay a nearly $840,000 judgment to workers who secured a jury trial win in their wage and hour lawsuit and have threatened to claw back any money workers receive, a filing in North Carolina federal court said.
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January 03, 2025
Budtender Says Tip Pool Suit Can Dodge Arbitration
A budtender accusing a cannabis company of mishandling tips told a Michigan federal court that the arbitration clause in his employment agreement lacks mutuality and doesn't cover his claims, arguing that his case should stay in court.
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January 03, 2025
Staples Faces Another Unpaid OT Pay Class Action In Calif.
Staples forced employees to work through breaks and regularly required them to do tasks like helping shoppers before clocking in and without being compensated, according to a proposed wage class action removed to California federal court Thursday, echoing similar wage violation claims alleged by Staples workers filed in the last year.
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January 03, 2025
Freelance Writers Ask 11th Circ. To Dump Ind. Contractor Rule
Four freelance writers told the Eleventh Circuit that the U.S. Department of Labor's final rule determining whether workers are independent contractors creates uncertainty that clearly hurts them, seeking to flip a Georgia federal court's decision tossing their challenge to the rule.
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January 03, 2025
Calif. Panel Says PAGA Suits Always Have Individual Claims
A delivery worker's individual claims against Target's shipping partner under California's Private Attorneys General Act belong in arbitration, a state appellate panel said, disagreeing with a trial court's decision that her suit only had representative claims.
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January 03, 2025
Delivery Drivers Win Class Status In Misclassification Suit
An Illinois federal judge greenlighted a 130-member class of truck delivery drivers who accuse a logistics company of misclassifying them as independent contractors, saying the workers are sufficiently similar even if some of them hired helpers.
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January 02, 2025
Wage Suit Against Flowers Foods Will Wait For High Court
A lawsuit accusing Flowers Foods of misclassifying distributors as independent contractors will be on hold while the baking company turns to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Tenth Circuit kept the case out of arbitration, a Colorado federal judge ruled Thursday.
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January 02, 2025
Long-Running Amazon Misclassification Suit Can't Get Cert.
A Washington federal judge refused to greenlight a class in a seven-year-long suit accusing Amazon of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, ruling that the class would unfairly group together workers who took different approaches to the flexibility of the job.
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January 02, 2025
9th Circ. Says Religious Carveout Sinks Kosher Worker's Suit
A religious exception shielding religious entities from certain claims applies to jobs at an Orthodox Jewish organization ensuring that food is kept kosher, the Ninth Circuit ruled, upholding the dismissal of a worker's lawsuit claiming he missed out on thousands of dollars in overtime pay.
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January 02, 2025
Ex-Coach Wants Bias Suit Against Univ. Of Ark. Kept Alive
A Black softball coach on Thursday urged an Arkansas federal court to reject the University of Arkansas' bid to toss her lawsuit alleging she was paid less than white coaches, saying the university is holding her allegations to too high a standard at this stage in the litigation.
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January 02, 2025
Security Co. To Pay $340K To End DOL OT, Retaliation Suit
A security company in California will pay $340,000 to halt a U.S. Department of Labor suit alleging it stiffed workers on overtime premiums and obstructed the agency's probe by intimidating workers, according to court papers filed Thursday.
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January 02, 2025
Saxton & Stump Adds Employment Atty In 2-Pronged Position
A veteran employment attorney will pull double duty in her new role at Saxton & Stump as part of the Pennsylvania-based firm's employment team and as an adviser for its affiliate human resources consulting company.
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January 02, 2025
Worker Says Hospital System Fails To Provide Lunch Breaks
A hospital system requires hourly paid employees to work through their lunch breaks but deducts 30 minutes from their paychecks each day and shorts them on overtime wages, a worker alleged in a proposed class and collective action filed in Kentucky federal court.
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January 02, 2025
Ex-Trader Joe's Exec Can't Revive Sex Bias Suit At 2nd Circ.
The Second Circuit backed the dismissal Thursday of a Trader Joe's executive's suit claiming she was fired out of sex bias, stating she failed to put forward proof that her termination resulted from discrimination rather than her decision to take a vacation during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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January 02, 2025
Gay DC Cop Says He Was Demoted For Taking Parental Leave
The Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., unlawfully refused to let a gay male police officer return to his position after he came back from parental leave, and instead transferred him to a schedule that exacerbated his Crohn's disease, according to a suit filed in federal court.
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January 02, 2025
DOL, Adult Disability Care Co. Strike $210K Deal In OT Suit
A Houston-based care company for adults with disabilities will pay $210,000 to end a U.S. Department of Labor suit alleging it paid workers straight-time rates for all hours worked, according to a federal court filing.
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January 02, 2025
Mortgage Co. Says Loan Officers Aren't Eligible For OT
A mortgage company urged a California federal court to throw out a suit by loan officers alleging they were misclassified as overtime-exempt, arguing the workers fall under an exemption in the Fair Labor Standards Act and are too dissimilar to proceed as a collective.
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January 01, 2025
Washington Cases To Watch In 2025
Washington's highest court will take a closer look this year at a Monsanto toxic tort verdict worth $185 million, a pay disclosure requirement that's triggered a wave of lawsuits against employers, and a new state gun law, while federal regulators forge ahead in district court with landmark antitrust litigation against Amazon.
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January 01, 2025
3 Biden-Era Wage Regs That Could Sink In 2025
The Biden administration's rules determining overtime eligibility, sorting out whether workers are independent contractors and raising federal contractors' minimum wage face uncertainty in 2025. Here, Law360 looks at how those three rules may change.
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January 01, 2025
Key W&H Legislative Trends For 2025
In 2025, states and cities will intensify their efforts to experiment with employment law in the shadow of a Republican-controlled federal government, be it by expanding overtime protections for workers or refining pay transparency obligations, attorneys say. Here, Law360 explores the legislative trends employment law practitioners should look out for in the new year.
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January 01, 2025
5 W&H Cases To Watch In 2025
In 2025, courts will evaluate foundational wage and hour issues, such as opt-in principles for Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions and whether amateur college athletes should be employees. Here, Law360 explores five cases to watch in 2025.
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January 01, 2025
California Legislation And Regulations To Watch In 2025
California legal experts anticipate a busy 2025 in regulatory and legislative affairs, particularly as lawmakers and regulators ready the Golden State for potential attacks from the incoming Trump administration on a number of issues including reproductive care, LGBTQ rights and environmental protections.
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January 01, 2025
Connecticut Cases To Watch In 2025: Ethics, Mergers & Actors
A suit over McCarter & English LLP's municipal loan advice and a Yale-owned heath network's legal battle over a beleaguered acquisition deal are just two multimillion-dollar cases that will keep Connecticut courts busy next year.
Expert Analysis
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Handbook Hot Topics: Workplace AI Risks
As generative artificial intelligence tools penetrate workplaces, employers should incorporate sound AI policies and procedures in their handbooks in order to mitigate liability risks, maintain control of the technology, and protect their brands, says Laura Corvo at White and Williams.
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Water Cooler Talk: Investigation Lessons In 'Minority Report'
Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper discuss how themes in Steven Spielberg's Science Fiction masterpiece "Minority Report" — including prediction, prevention and the fallibility of systems — can have real-life implications in workplace investigations.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.
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NYC Cos. Must Prepare For Increased Sick Leave Liability
A recent amendment to New York City's sick leave law authorizes employees for the first time to sue their employers for violations — so employers should ensure their policies and practices are compliant now to avoid the crosshairs of litigation once the law takes effect in March, says Melissa Camire at Fisher Phillips.
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Employer Trial Tips For Fighting Worker PPE Pay Claims
Courts have struggled for decades to reach consensus on whether employees must be paid for time spent donning and doffing personal protective equipment, but this convoluted legal history points to practical trial strategies to help employers defeat these Fair Labor Standards Act claims, say Michael Mueller and Evangeline Paschal at Hunton.
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Employer Lessons From NLRB Judge's Union Bias Ruling
A National Labor Relations Board judge’s recent decision that a Virginia drywall contractor unlawfully transferred and fired workers who made union pay complaints illustrates valuable lessons about how employers should respond to protected labor activity and federal labor investigations, says Kenneth Jenero at Holland & Knight.
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9 Tools To Manage PAGA Claims After Calif. High Court Ruling
In Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, the California Supreme Court recently dealt a blow to employers by ruling that courts cannot dismiss Private Attorneys General Act claims on manageability grounds, but defendants and courts can still use arbitration agreements, due process challenges and other methods when dealing with unmanageable claims, says Ryan Krueger at Sheppard Mullin.
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The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2023
Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2023, and explain how they may affect issues related to antitrust, constitutional law, federal jurisdiction and more.
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Where Justices Stand On Chevron Doctrine Post-Argument
Following recent oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four justices appear to be in favor of overturning the long-standing Chevron deference, and three justices seem ready to uphold it, which means the ultimate decision may rest on Chief Justice John Roberts' vote, say Wayne D'Angelo and Zachary Lee at Kelley Drye.
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Calif. High Court Ruling Outlines Limits On PAGA Actions
While the California Supreme Court’s ruling last week in Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills held that courts cannot dismiss Private Attorneys General Act claims on manageability grounds, the opinion also details how claims can be narrowed, providing a road map for defendants facing complex actions, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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NY Pay Frequency Cases May Soon Be A Thing Of The Past
Two recent developments in New York state have unfurled to suggest that the high tide of frequency-of-pay lawsuits may soon recede, giving employers the upper hand when defending against threatened or pending claims, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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A Focused Statement Can Ease Employment Mediation
Given the widespread use of mediation in employment cases, attorneys should take steps to craft mediation statements that efficiently assist the mediator by focusing on key issues, strengths and weaknesses of a claim, which can flag key disputes and barriers to a settlement, says Darren Rumack at Klein & Cardali.
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How To Start Applying DOL's Independent Contractor Test
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor finalized a worker classification rule that helpfully includes multiple factors that employers can leverage to systematically evaluate the economic realities of working relationships, says Elizabeth Arnold and Samantha Stelman at Berkeley Research Group.