Employment

February 24, 2025
CVS Says Union Vote Certifications Require NLRB Quorum

CVS has argued that National Labor Relations Board regional offices cannot certify the results of union representation elections while the agency lacks a quorum, advancing the latest argument employers have adopted seeking to block the board's actions.
February 24, 2025
GAO Sinks Protest Over Army Corps Solicitation Amendment

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has said the Army Corps of Engineers rightly changed a solicitation to remove the requirement that solicitors attach a project labor agreement, denying a construction contractor's protest of the change.
February 24, 2025
NLRB Stops Defending Job Protections For Members, Judges

National Labor Relations Board prosecutors will no longer defend board members and judges against claims that their job protections are unconstitutional, the prosecutors told a Missouri federal judge, switching positions after the acting solicitor general stated that administrative law judges' job protections violate the U.S. Constitution.
February 24, 2025
Buchanan Ingersoll Adds Ogletree Employment Ace In Tampa

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC announced Monday that it picked up a new shareholder in Tampa, Florida, for its labor and employment section from Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC.
February 24, 2025
Unions Seek To Block DOGE's 'Unprecedented' Access To Info

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency must be stopped from having "unprecedented" access to personal data from the Social Security Administration, two unions and a retiree advocacy group argued in Maryland federal court, becoming the latest lawsuit trying to stop DOGE from obtaining information at federal agencies.
February 24, 2025
Apple To Invest $500B In US Over 4 Years As Tariffs Mount

Apple said Monday that it would invest $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, weeks after President Donald Trump placed a 10% tariff on goods from China, where the company sources components for its products, and threatened tariffs on semiconductors.
February 24, 2025
NCAA Blasts Baseball Player's Bid For More Eligibility

The NCAA came out firing against a college baseball player's attempt to play at the University of Tennessee, asserting that its rules governing athletes' eligibility are not reviewable under federal antitrust law despite a recent court decision calling that position into question.
February 24, 2025
Museum Cleared To Fire Hurt Worker After 4 Leave Extensions

A California appeals court declined to revive a former HVAC technician's suit claiming the J. Paul Getty Trust illegally fired him while recovering from an on-the-job leg fracture, saying terminating him instead of granting a fifth request for indefinite medical leave was reasonable.
February 24, 2025
Retired Conn. Cops Can't Get Retro Pay Under New Contract

More than 30 retired New Haven police officers couldn't snag retroactive back pay a collective bargaining agreement laid out because they were not active employees when the contract was ratified, the Connecticut Appellate Court ruled, affirming a trial court's decision to toss the cops' suit.
February 24, 2025
Texas Atty Dinged For AI-Generated Fake Citations In Briefs

A Texas lawyer could face a $15,000 personal sanction and other potential discipline for filing three separate briefs using generative artificial intelligence that included fake citations in an Indiana ERISA case, according to a report and recommendation by a federal judge in the Hoosier State.
February 24, 2025
Prior Deal Bars Wage Suit Against Manufacturer, Panel Says

A California appeals court declined to reinstate a wage and hour suit against a flavor manufacturing company, saying the case is blocked by a prior settlement resolving identical claims against the staffing firm that placed workers with the company.
February 24, 2025
High Court Declines To Review Reach Of Trade Secrets Law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a petition from a Chinese company asking it to review whether the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 can apply extraterritorially.
February 24, 2025
Justices Nix Whistleblower Suit Over Arbitral Vacatur Limits

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a petition that raised questions about the standards under which courts can vacate or enforce arbitral awards, in a case brought by a whistleblower who sought to challenge an arbitral award favoring his former employer.
February 22, 2025
NY Judge Extends Block On DOGE's Treasury Access

A New York federal judge on Friday barred Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing U.S. Treasury Department data, handing a win to 19 state attorneys general who claimed giving the new entity access to citizens' personal information posed a massive cybersecurity risk.
February 21, 2025
Trump Blocked From Implementing Anti-DEI Orders, For Now

A Maryland federal judge on Friday temporarily barred the Trump administration from implementing the bulk of his executive orders aiming to slash diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the public and private sectors, ruling that the orders are likely unconstitutionally vague and illegally restrict free speech.
February 21, 2025
DOJ Hits Judge Weighing Trans Troops Ban With Complaint

The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday filed a misconduct complaint against the D.C. federal judge overseeing litigation challenging President Donald Trump's executive order ostensibly banning transgender troops from serving in the military, accusing her of bias after she hammered government attorneys for answers they provided during a hearing earlier this month.
February 21, 2025
Unions Lose Bid To Block Trump Admin Efforts To Gut USAID

A Washington, D.C., federal judge Friday refused to grant a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from placing U.S. Agency for International Development employees on leave, halting funding and taking other steps that federal employee unions say are meant to illegally dismantle the foreign assistance agency.
February 21, 2025
CFPB Shutdown Means 'Irreparable Harm,' 23 State AGs Say

Nearly two dozen attorneys general on Friday filed an amicus brief backing the union that represents Consumer Financial Protection Bureau workers in their lawsuit over the agency's shutdown, arguing they will suffer "several forms of irreparable harm" without a preliminary injunction.
February 21, 2025
Up Next At High Court: Straight Discrimination & Trial Rights

The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday to debate whether majority-group plaintiffs should be held to higher evidentiary standards when bringing workplace discrimination claims and whether prisoners are entitled to jury trials when questions about pre-suit requirements are intertwined with the merits of their claims.
February 21, 2025
11th Circ. Backs Ga. Military College In Race Bias Appeal

The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday backed Georgia Military College's early win in a race bias suit brought by a laid off former human resources professional, finding that the college "advanced legitimate, nondiscriminatory" reasons for eliminating her position amid a round of budget cuts.
February 21, 2025
Fla. Biz Owner Gets 4 Years In Prison For Worker Fraud Plot

A Florida federal judge sentenced a construction business owner to four years in prison and ordered him to pay millions of dollars in restitution after pleading guilty to fraud-related charges in connection with an elaborate worker scheme and violating safety standards that led to the death of an employee.
February 21, 2025
Employment Authority: NLRB Acting GC's Memo Walk Back

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with a look at the acting National Labor Relations Board general counsel's recission of his predecessor's memorandums, experts' take on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's unprecedented move in dropping lawsuits alleging mistreatment of transgender and nonbinary employees and coverage on the Federal Aviation Administration's guidance about in-flight pumping breaks.
February 21, 2025
Diddy Atty Says No Way He Can Continue As Defense Counsel

A defense attorney representing Sean "Diddy" Combs' in his criminal sex-trafficking case on Friday asked a Manhattan federal judge to allow him to quit, saying in a carefully worded court filing that "under no circumstances" could he continue to represent the disgraced hip-hop mogul.
February 21, 2025
Trump, NLRB Chairman Defend Wilcox's Removal As Lawful

President Donald Trump told a D.C. federal judge Friday that former National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox should not be reinstated, laying out his arguments for why a 90-year-old U.S. Supreme Court opinion does not apply to board members.
February 21, 2025
City Housing Agency Supervisor To Face Some Claims In Bias Suit

A North Carolina federal judge on Friday trimmed portions of a workplace retaliation and discrimination suit by a former Charlotte public housing authority coordinator, concluding that most of her punitive damage claims are barred by official immunity but that she can still pursue her ex-supervisor as an individual.

Expert Analysis

Series

Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.
7 Employment Contracts Issues Facing DOL Scrutiny

A growing trend of U.S. Department of Labor enforcement against employment practices that limit workers' rights and avoid legal responsibility shines a light on seven unique contractual provisions that violate federal labor laws, and face agressive litigation from the labor solicitor, says Thomas Starks at Freeman Mathis.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
How Deregulation Could Undermine Trump's Anti-DEI Agenda

While rolling back federal agency power benefited conservative policies during the Biden administration, it will likely undermine President Donald Trump's ability to wield agencies like the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives beyond the federal workforce and into the private sector, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.
Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark

All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
5 Notable Information Security Events In 2024

B. Stephanie Siegmann at Hinckley Allen discusses 2024's largest and most destructive data breaches seen yet, ranging from ransomware disrupting U.S. healthcare systems on a massive scale, to tensions increasing between the U.S. and China over cyberespionage and the control of U.S. data.
Opinion

Trump Should Pass On Project 2025's Disparate Impact Plan

The Trump administration should reject Project 2025's call to eliminate the disparate impact doctrine because, as its pro-business Republican creators intended, a focus on dismantling unnecessary barriers to qualified job candidates serves companies' best interests more successfully than the alternatives, says Susan Carle at American University.
Series

Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.
Opinion

No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.
The Compliance Trends And Imperatives On Tap In 2025

The corporate ethics and compliance landscape is rapidly evolving, posing challenges from conflicting stakeholder expectations to technological disruptions, and businesses will need to explore human-centered, data-driven and evidence-based practices, says Hui Chen at CDE Advisors.
How Trump Presidency May Influence NLRB's Next Phase

Attorneys at Paul Hastings discuss how last year’s key National Labor Relations Board developments may progress once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, including the wave of lawsuits challenging the board’s constitutionality and two landmark board decisions that upset decades of precedent.
Top 10 Noncompete Developments Of 2024

Following an eventful year in noncompete law at both state and federal levels, employers can no longer rely on a court's willingness to blue-pencil overbroad agreements and are proceeding at their own peril if they do not thoughtfully review and carefully enforce such agreements, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.
Celebs' Suits Show Limits Of Calif. Anti-SLAPP Laws

Two recent cases including Amanda Ghost v. Rebel Wilson and Leviss v. Sandoval highlight the delicate balancing act courts must perform in weighing free speech against privacy and reputational harm under California's robust anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation laws, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.