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Labor & Employment Law

Ross' Employment Law Blog

By Ross Runkel, Professor of Law Emeritus, arbitrator, and editor at LawMemo.Com - First in Employment Law.

Post Frequency: 4.8/day

Last Entry: March 29, 2011 at 20:01:45

Criminal prosecution for en mass resignation?

Posted on January 20, 2009
Yesterday I wrote about Vinluan v. Doyle (New York App Div 01/13/2009), which held that it would violate the 13th amendment to criminally prosecute a group of nurses who resigned in the belief that their contracts had been breached. Mitchell H. Rubinstein has written a whole article on this case already...

Jobless in Oregon: Unemployment rate = 9%

Posted on January 20, 2009
Today I had lunch in a fashionable local pastry and sandwich shop, where well-heeled folks drove forks into giant pieces of cake. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in my state has risen to 9 percent, as of December. In December 174,819 Oregonians were unemployed, the largest number since January 1983...

A radical proposal to nationalize workplace law

Posted on January 19, 2009
Jeffrey M. Hirsch, professor of law at the University of Tennessee College of Law, has just published Revolution in Pragmatist Clothing: Nationalizing Workplace Law. Nationalize employment law? No way. For all its faults, the state-by-state development of employment law has been part of the genius of our federal system...

Not a crime to resign an at-will nursing job - 13th amendment

Posted on January 19, 2009
How often do you see the 13th amendment (abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude) applied in an employment case? Facts: A group of nurses resigned their jobs at the end of their shifts. They claimed their contracts had been breached. They had been working at a nursing home, caring for children on ventilators...

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Employee Free Choice Act - Probably on hold

Posted on January 19, 2009
The labor movement, lots of Democrats, academics, and others have their hopes built up that the election of Barack Obama and the increase in the number of Congressional democrats will result in the early enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)...

David Yamada's "Minding the Workplace"

Posted on January 18, 2009
Here is a new blog that is worth reading: Minding the Workplace, the New Workplace Institute Blog, hosted by David Yamada. David Yamada is professor of law at Suffolk University Law School, and founder of the New Workplace Institute. Yamada is recognized as the expert in workplace bullying and the law...

Low interest rates are resulting in layoffs of legal aid lawyers

Posted on January 18, 2009
Some may rejoice at the fact that the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates to record lows. (The current target: between zero and 1/2 of one percent for the federal funds rate.) One of the sad results of low interest rates is a depletion in the funding for legal aid programs...

Would you hire Timothy Geithner?

Posted on January 17, 2009
Dear readers, I have done a complete about face on the appointment of Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury. My view now: His offer of employment should be withdrawn. Back when President-Elect Obama was making his decision on who would be the best candidate to fill this job, I thought it was a no-brainer...

LawMemo Employment Law Blog celebrates its fourth birthday

Posted on January 15, 2009
This week the LawMemo Employment Law Blog celebrates its fourth birthday.To each of you who reads this blog from time to time, you have my thanks. Writing entries for the blog has been a worthwhile experience for me. It has, like all public writing, forced me to be as clear as possible about my own thinking...

Will the Lilly Ledbetter Act of 2009 really matter? Ask George Jackson.

Posted on January 15, 2009
George Jackson sued claiming that the City of Chicago discriminated against him by denying him two promotions. Jackson v. City of Chicago (7th Cir 01/13/2009) He failed in his attempt to prove that he was as qualified as the two persons who were selected for the promotions, so he lost his case...

High-level discussion of proposed labor law reform

Posted on January 14, 2009
Follow-Up on Proposed Reform is something worth reading if you have an interest in possible reform of the traditional labor laws (that is, NLRB stuff). It is brought to you by Labor Law Blog. It's a discussion between the Labor Law Blog editor (whose true identity I cannot reveal) and Joe Brock, from Laboring Away at the Institute...

Study finds (well, duh) racial bias in the advertising industry

Posted on January 14, 2009
Probably no industry in the United States is free from racial bias. Yet a recent study indicates that the advertising industry really has a long way to go. In NEW DATA EXPOSES DRAMATIC RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN U.S. ADVERTISING INDUSTRY the NAACP summarizes the whole story...

Transgender employee fired for "violating dress code." Not a Title VII violation

Posted on January 14, 2009
Chief Judge Robert L. Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana ruled on January 5 that an employer who discharged a gender-transitioning (male-to-female) retail sales employee for letting her hair grow longer than the employer deemed appropriate for men and using make-up, had not violated the ban on sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a similar Indiana state law, because the employer was merely enforcing a non-discriminatory dress code...

Lawsuit delays E-Verify implementation date

Posted on January 14, 2009
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' E-Verify system was scheduled to become mandatory on January 15, 2009. The date has been changed to February 20, 2009. Why the delay? A lawsuit filed December 23, 2008 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Society for Human Resources Management, the American Council on International Personnel, and the HR Policy Association...

No-match letter no-discussion rule was unfair labor practice

Posted on January 12, 2009
Today's NLRB Law Memo reports on an interesting crossover between no-match letters and employer no-discussion rules. The federal government issues a "no-match letter" when an employee's name does not match up with the reported social security number...

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Of 2009 and Paycheck Fairness Act approved by the House

Posted on January 12, 2009
As many have predicted, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Of 2009 and Paycheck Fairness Act soon will become the law of the land. [Full text] The US House of Representative passed them both on January 9. The Senate will pass them soon. And the President (that is, President Obama) will sign them...

Paul Secunda drops blogging, Oh my

Posted on January 09, 2009
Today Paul Secunda announced that he has given up blogging on Workplace Prof Blog. Paul's blogging work has been excellent. He has a broad knowledge of the field, stretching from discrimination to ERISA. His posts have always been insightful and informative...

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Posted on January 09, 2009
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Auto Workers strike would trigger bailout default

Posted on January 09, 2009
I'm told that one of the provisions of the federal government's loans to GM and Chrysler is that a labor strike would automatically put the companies in default. If the union strikes, the loans default, and you know what that means. You might be thinking, "Wow, that gives the union huge power...

US Supreme Court takes Title VII case on municipality's refusal to implement promotion exam results

Posted on January 09, 2009
Ricci v. DeStefano (07-1428 and 08-328) Certiorari granted January 9, 2009 Details, briefs: http://www.lawmemo.com/supreme/case/Ricci/ The New Haven, Connecticut fire department administered civil service tests for applicants for positions as captain and lieutenant...

Guess? What? Deposition question created an unfair labor practice

Posted on January 08, 2009
Monday's NLRB Law Memo contains a reminder: An employer can commit an unfair labor practice during a deposition by asking an employee whether he voted for a union. Yes, even though the question may have been relevant, and even though the employer had no illegal motive in asking the question...

Pregnancy Discrimination Act - AT&T v. Hulteen - Recap of Supreme Court arguments

Posted on December 31, 2008
AT&T Corp v. Hulteen was argued at the US Supreme Court on December 10, 2008. [Details, briefs] The US Supreme Court is reviewing the 9th Circuit's judgment rendered in Hulteen v. AT&T Corp (9th Cir en banc 08/17/2007) (14-1). SCOTUSblog has an interesting recap of the oral arguments: Argument Recap: AT&T v...

Employer?s Rule 68 offer of judgment to sole plaintiff in FLSA case may have been effective preemptive strike to collective action

Posted on December 29, 2008
Today's Employment Law Memo email contained the following report on a complex issue involving the Fair Labor Standards Act's collective action provision and Civil Procedure Rule 68: Sandoz v. Cingular Wireless (5th Cir 12/23/2008) Sandoz sued the employer in a purported collective action, asserting a claim for violation of the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)...

Direct evidence needed for mixed motive analysis?

Posted on December 10, 2008
The US Supreme Court will decide whether a plaintiff must present direct evidence of discrimination in order to obtain a mixed-motive instruction in a non-Title VII discrimination case. The Court granted certiorari on December 5 in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc...

AT&T Corp v. Hulteen - Pregnancy Discrimination Act

Posted on December 09, 2008
A current violation? Improper retroactive application of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act? That's what the argument is about in AT&T Corp v. Hulteen, being argued at the US Supreme Court on December 10, 2008. [Details, briefs] The US Supreme Court is reviewing the 9th Circuit's judgment rendered in Hulteen v...

Don't fire the domestic violence victim

Posted on October 08, 2008
Ramona Danny sued in federal court asserting a claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. The federal court sent a certified question to the Supreme Court of Washington. Has the State of Washington established a clear mandate of public policy prohibiting an employer from discharging an at-will employee because she experienced domestic violence and took leave from work to take actions to protect herself, her family, and to hold her abuser accountable? The Washington court declined to answer that question, and instead reformulated it as: Has the State of Washington established a clear mandate of public policy of protecting domestic violence survivors and their families and holding their abusers accountable? The answer? "Yes...

Work Matters

Posted on September 01, 2008
It's a joy to welcome a new blog devoted to employment and labor law. Work Matters is written by Michael P. Maslanka, managing partner of Ford & Harrison's Dallas office. Mike is an experienced lawyer who also edits the Texas Employment Law Letter, writes the "Work Matters" column for the Texas Lawyer, and produces podcasts on a number of employment law and labor law topics...

$3 million verdict - wrongful discharge

Posted on August 16, 2008
A former deputy prosecutor has won a $3,000,000 verdict on her claim that she was wrongfully discharged in January 2004. The Seattle Times reports [here] that former senior deputy prosecutor Barbara Corey claimed that Pierce County, Washington, Prosecutor Gerry Horne targeted her after he heard she might run against him for prosecutor...

Profanity was good cause for discharge.

Posted on August 14, 2008
Montana's Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act (WDEA) defines ?good cause? for discharge as ?reasonable job-related grounds for dismissal based on a failure to satisfactorily perform job duties, disruption of the employer?s operation, or other legitimate business reason...

Jotting about Michael Fox

Posted on August 12, 2008
Happy 6th birthday to Michael Fox's Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer! Mike is a trailblazer in the field of employment law blogs. He started out in July 2002 when the rest of us were still trying to figure out what "blog" meant. Many have followed his lead by starting blogs of their own, yet his remains the best in the show...

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