Labor

  • August 06, 2025

    Flint Will Pay $225K To End Ex-Fire Chief's Firing Suit

    The city of Flint has reached a $225,000 settlement with a former fire chief who has alleged he was fired for refusing to claw back his public recommendation to terminate firefighters for their alleged racist misconduct at a house fire, and the city council is poised to review the agreement at its August meeting.

  • August 05, 2025

    Teamsters Win Toss Of Member's Tom Hanks Film Hiring Row

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday threw out age bias and retaliation claims from a longtime Teamsters member who alleged his union and two production companies conspired not to hire him for a Tom Hanks film, finding the worker failed to show he experienced an adverse employment action.

  • August 05, 2025

    9th Circ. Holds Auto Dealer In Contempt In Bargaining Row

    The Ninth Circuit held a California car dealership in contempt for not complying with a panel's decision enforcing an NLRB order finding the company unlawfully refused to bargain with a machinists union, saying the company waived its argument that the order was invalid because the board is unconstitutionally structured.

  • August 05, 2025

    Foreign Service Union Seeks Early Win In State Dept. EO Case

    A union representing thousands of foreign service workers called on a D.C. federal judge to determine that President Donald Trump went too far with an executive order gutting collective bargaining rights for federal workers, alleging the directive violates the First Amendment.

  • August 05, 2025

    United Tech Says Airline, Union Dropped Ball On Raises

    A United Airlines technician who believes the company shorted him and his co-workers on raises filed a proposed class action against the airline and the Teamsters in California federal court, accusing the airline of violating its union contract's raise policy and the Teamsters of inadequately pressing the issue.

  • August 05, 2025

    Cattle Hide Co. Lawfully Demoted Worker, NLRB Judge Says

    A cattle hide processor in Minnesota did not violate federal labor law by demoting an employee who filed a grievance seeking extra compensation, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, finding the company lawfully reassigned the worker after he did not complete a task.

  • August 04, 2025

    Yellow Corp. Pension Fund Asks For 3rd Circ. Appeal In Ch. 11

    A pension fund for former Yellow Corp. employees who were members of a Teamsters local has requested permission to directly appeal to the Third Circuit a dispute in Delaware bankruptcy court over the insolvent trucking firm's fund withdrawal liabilities.

  • August 04, 2025

    Holtec Tells 6th Circ. Arb. Award Should Have Been Vacated

    Holtec International asked the Sixth Circuit on Monday to reverse a lower court's decision declining to vacate a union arbitration award the company argued should have named a subsidiary instead, saying the court used a doctrine meant to correct naming errors to upend the statute of limitations for modifying arbitration awards.

  • August 04, 2025

    11th Circ. Says Bakery Co. Can't Dodge $15.6M Pension Bill

    The Eleventh Circuit backed a pension fund's calculations that a wholesale bakery company may have to pay as much as $15.6 million after exiting the benefits plan, ruling it properly applied a credit outlined in the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act.

  • August 04, 2025

    NLRB Official OKs SEIU Vote For Pittsburgh Hospital Nurses

    Some nursing staff at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's women's hospital will decide whether they want to be represented by a Service Employees International Union affiliate, a National Labor Relations Board regional director found, determining certain charge nurses are not supervisors under federal labor law.

  • August 04, 2025

    Unions Reach Deal For Path Forward On REI Labor Contracts

    The United Food and Commercial Workers and Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union have agreed to a structure for bargaining at unionized REI stores, with the outdoor equipment retailer promising to provide raises and bonuses for the past two years and the unions dropping unfair labor practice cases.

  • August 04, 2025

    Rising Star: McDermott's Chris Braham

    Chris Braham of McDermott Will & Emery LLP helped Circle K defeat a Fair Credit Reporting Act case that went to a California appellate court and helped Darden Restaurants survive an advocacy organization's discrimination suit, earning him a spot among the employment law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 04, 2025

    USPS Must Let Union Query Supervisors, NLRB Judge Says

    The U.S. Postal Service violated federal labor law by not allowing a union to interview supervisors about another management official accused of harassing employees, a National Labor Relations judge ruled, concluding the union did not seek to question the supervisors in bad faith.

  • August 04, 2025

    Cos. Ask 5th Circ. To Rethink Captive-Audience Memo Ruling

    The Fifth Circuit should reconsider its June panel decision to toss a challenge to a 2022 memo by the National Labor Relations Board general counsel on standing grounds, a group of staffing companies argued, saying the court imposed too high a bar for proving standing.

  • August 04, 2025

    Arnold & Porter Expands On West Coast With K&L Gates Team

    Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP is continuing to grow on the West Coast, announcing Monday that it has added seven lawyers from K&L Gates LLP to its newly launched Seattle office and one to its Los Angeles location.

  • August 01, 2025

    9th Circ. Lifts Order Halting Trump From Curbing Fed Unions

    The Ninth Circuit on Aug. 1 granted the Trump administration's bid to halt an injunction blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump's executive order axing labor contracts covering agencies with "national security" aims, saying in a published opinion that the government was likely to succeed against six unions' First Amendment retaliation claim.

  • August 01, 2025

    Supreme Court Asked To Weigh In On Distillery-Union Row

    An Oregon distillery has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to revive its challenge of a National Labor Relations Board decision that dinged the liquor maker for unfair labor practices, saying clarity was needed for a legal standard that the distillery says has allowed NLRB decisions to escape judicial review.

  • August 01, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says NJ Contractor Didn't Void Union Contract

    A North Jersey contractor can't use the fact it hasn't employed union workers in years to duck its obligations under an automatically renewing contract with a Sheet Metal Workers local, a split Third Circuit ruled Friday, upholding a New Jersey federal judge's decision.

  • August 01, 2025

    Mich. Cos. Can't Get Atty Fees In Withdrawal Liability Dispute

    A Michigan furniture manufacturer and its shipping partner cannot get interest and attorney fees in a dispute with a Teamsters-affiliated pension fund, an Illinois federal judge ruled, finding the fund's bid to increase the amount of money the companies owed was not made in bad faith.

  • August 01, 2025

    NLRB Asks 9th Circ. To Revisit Union Work Dispute Rulings

    The Ninth Circuit should have preserved the National Labor Relations Board's decision to admonish a longshoreman's union for going after maintenance work in the Port of Seattle that had been awarded to the Machinists, board prosecutors said, asking the court to rethink a June ruling that overturned the decision.

  • August 01, 2025

    Ill. Court Finds Labor Board Erred In Supervisor Status Case

    An Illinois appeals court has reversed a state labor panel's decision adding workers at Illinois State University to an existing bargaining unit represented by an American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees council, saying the panel ignored precedent on which workers are union-ineligible supervisors. 

  • August 01, 2025

    Rising Star: Jones Day's Justin Martin

    Justin Martin of Jones Day has represented McDonald's and Google in high-profile litigation before the National Labor Relations Board in unfair labor practice cases that alleged the companies jointly employed workers with franchisees and contractors, earning him a spot among the employment practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 01, 2025

    Calif. Forecast: Toxicology Co. Wants Wage Claims Arbitrated

    In the coming week, attorneys should watch for arguments about whether a proposed wage and hour class action against a drug and alcohol testing company should be sent to arbitration or back to state court. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters on deck in California.

  • August 01, 2025

    NY Forecast: Judge Weighs Tossing Hospital Retaliation Suit

    This week, a New York federal judge will consider tossing a suit brought by a former administrator at Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital who claims she was fired for complaining about sexual harassment she faced from a co-worker.

  • July 31, 2025

    Trump College Sports Order Puts New Pressure On NLRB

    President Donald Trump issued an executive order last week instructing the National Labor Relations Board to "clarify" the status of college athletes, a move that experts called an unusual attempt by the White House to direct an independent agency's actions.

Expert Analysis

  • 8 Lessons Yellow Corp. Layoffs Can Teach Distressed Cos.

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    A Delaware bankruptcy court’s recent decision, examining trucking company Yellow Corp.’s abrupt termination of roughly 25,500 employees, offers financially distressed businesses a road map for navigating layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • 10 Key Worker-Friendly California Employment Law Updates

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    New employment laws in California expand employee rights, transparency and enforcement mechanisms, and failing to educate department managers on these changes could put employers at risk, says Melanie Ronen at Stradley Ronon.

  • 7 Employment Contracts Issues Facing DOL Scrutiny

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    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.

  • How Trump Presidency May Influence NLRB's Next Phase

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    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.

  • How Trump Admin May Approach AI In The Workplace

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    Key indicators suggest that the incoming Trump administration will adopt a deregulatory approach to artificial intelligence, allowing states to fill the void, so it is critical that employers pay close attention to developing legal authority concerning AI tools, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

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    General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2025

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    While companies must monitor for policy shifts under the new administration in 2025, it will also be a year to play it safe and remember the basics, such as the importance of documenting retention policies and conducting swift investigations into workplace complaints, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • NLRB Likely To Fill Vacuum After NMB Jurisdiction Ruling

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    The National Mediation Board's recent ruling in Swissport Cargo Services LP abandoned decades of precedent by concluding the Railway Labor Act doesn’t apply to airline service providers, likely leading the National Labor Relations Board to assert its jurisdiction instead and potentially causing more operational disruptions and labor strife, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Ring In The New Year With An Updated Employee Handbook

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    One of the best New Year's resolutions employers can make is to update their employee handbooks, given that a handbook can mitigate, or even prevent, costly litigation as long as it accounts for recent changes in laws, court rulings and agency decisions, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • 9 Things To Expect From Trump's Surprising DOL Pick

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    The unexpected nomination of Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., to lead the U.S. Department of Labor reflects a blend of pro-business and pro-labor leanings, and signals that employers should prepare for a mix of continuity and moderate adjustments in the coming years, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • Why State Captive Audience Laws Matter After NLRB Decision

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    As employers focus on complying with the National Labor Relations Board's new position that captive audience meetings violate federal labor law, they should also be careful not to overlook state captive audience laws that prohibit additional types of company meetings and communications, says Karla Grossenbacher at Seyfarth.

  • Pa. Ruling Highlights Challenges Of Employer Arb. Appeals

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    A Pennsylvania federal court's recent ruling in Welch Foods v. General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 demonstrates the inherent difficulties employers face when seeking relief from labor arbitration decisions through appeals in court — and underscores how employers are faced with often conflicting legal priorities, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • NLRB One-Two Punch Curbs Employer Anti-Organizing Tools

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    The National Labor Relations Board’s recent decisions in Siren Retail and Amazon, limiting employer speech about the impact of unionization and outlawing captive audience meetings, severely curtail employers' arsenal of tools to combat an organizing campaign — though this may soon change under a new administration, say attorneys at Benesch.

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