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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 Recent Entries: 439
Go to Ross' Employment Law Blog, find other Labor & Employment Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Imposing class arbitration on parties who have not agreed to it violates Federal Arbitration Act (5-3)
Posted on April 27, 2010The US Supreme Court has decided Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalFeeds (US Supreme Ct 04/27/2010) The parties in this case are parties to an international maritime contract that contains an arbitration clause. The contracts are silent as to whether arbitration is permissible on behalf of a class, and the parties submitted that issue to arbitration...
1.5 million member Wal-Mart Title VII class action approved (6-5)
Posted on April 26, 2010The 9th Circuit today approved a sex discrimination class action against Wal-Mart, with a class estimated to have 1.5 million members. Dukes v. Wal-Mart (9th Cir 04/26/2010) Dukes and others sued claiming sex discrimination as to pay and managerial promotions in violation of Title VII...
DOL fact sheet on internship programs
Posted on April 22, 2010The US Department of Labor has issued a fact sheet on interns in the for-profit private sector. Here is the full text: Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act This fact sheet provides general information to help determine whether interns must be paid the minimum wage and overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act for the services that they provide to ?for-profit? private sector employers...
Lodestar attorney fee enhancement for superior performance limited to "rare" and "exceptional" circumstances
Posted on April 21, 2010Perdue v. Kenny A. (US Supreme Court 04/21/2010): 42 USC Section 1988 provides a "reasonable" attorney fee for prevailing parties in civil rights actions. In this case the trial court calculated the lodestar amount, and then enhanced that by 75 percent for superior work and results...
ERISA Plan administrator's interpretation is entitled to deference even after reversal for violating ERISA (5-3)
Posted on April 21, 2010Conkright v. Frommert (US Supreme Ct 04/21/2010): Xerox employees sued their ERISA retirement Plan and administrator challenging the method used by the Plan to calculate how their current benefits are offset to reflect prior distributions. The employees claimed that the Plan violated ERISA's provisions relating to summary plan description, notice, and anti-cutback rules...
SCOTUS will review "cat's paw" case
Posted on April 19, 2010This morning the US Supreme Court granted certiorari in Staub v. Proctor Hospital. [Details, briefs] The issue in this case: In what circumstances may an employer be held liable based on the unlawful intent of officials who caused or influenced but did not make the ultimate employment decision? The facts: Staub sued the employer, alleging that he was discharged in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)...
City of Ontario v Quon: Transcript of oral argument
Posted on April 19, 2010Details on this case are HERE. Transcript of today's argument is HERE. My view: This is a search and seizure case. Initial writings about the case have focused on whether police officers have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in text messages sent on City-provided pagers...
City of Ontario v Quon: Details and briefs
Posted on April 17, 2010On Monday, April 19, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in City of Ontario v. Quon. Here are the questions presented: 1. Whether a SWAT team member has a reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages transmitted on his SWAT pager, where the police department has an official no-privacy policy but a non-policymaking lieutenant announced an informal policy of allowing some personal use of the pagers...
New briefs in New Process v NLRB
Posted on April 16, 2010The US Supreme Court today ordered the parties to file short supplemental briefs on the following question: "What should be the effect, if any, of the developments discussed in the letter submitted by the Solicitor General on March 29, 2010, on the proper disposition of this case?" The Solicitor General's letter simply pointed out that the President has made two recess appointments (Craig Becker and Mark Pearce) to the NLRB...
Employers win medical marijuana case
Posted on April 15, 2010"We ... hold that, under Oregon's employment discrimination laws, [the] employer was not required to accommodate [the] employee's use of medical marijuana." Today, the Oregon Supreme Court resolved a question that has had Oregon lawyers wondering. Oregon has a medical marijuana statute that decriminalizes the use of marijuana for medical purposes, when prescribed by a physician...
NLRB Members sworn in
Posted on April 07, 2010Recess appointees Craig Becker and Mark Gaston Pearce were sworn in as new NLRB Members on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. The Board now has four Members: three Democrats and one Republican. There is one vacancy. [Press release] Craig Becker was sworn in as a Board Member on April 05, 2010, following his recess appointment by President Obama...
FLSA to require nursing mother breaks
Posted on April 01, 2010The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act amends the FLSA as follows: SEC. 4207. REASONABLE BREAK TIME FOR NURSING MOTHERS. Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207) is amended by adding at the end the following: "(r)(1) An employer shall provide? "(A) a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk; and "(B) a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk...
SCOTUS: Qui tam suit is barred by prior disclosure in county and state reports (7-2)
Posted on March 30, 2010Today the US Supreme Court decided Graham County Soil Dist v. US ex rel. Wilson (US Supreme Court 03/30/2010) Karen Wilson, former employee of the Graham County Soil and Water Conservation District, brought a qui tam suit under the federal False Claims Act against various entities alleging that they had made false claims against the United States...
$120,000 Kmart age bias settlement
Posted on March 30, 2010EEOC charged Kmart with age harassment, constructive discharge and retaliation against a 70-year-old pharmacist. EEOC claimed that over the course of four years, a pharmacy manager openly professed on several occasions that the pharmacist was ?too old,? ?should just retire,? and was ?greedy? for continuing to work at age 70...
DOL: Mortgage loan officers not FLSA exempt
Posted on March 30, 2010The Department of Labor has reversed itself, and now says that employees who perform the typical job duties of a mortgage loan officer do not qualify as bona fide administrative employees exempt under section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 USC § 213(a)(1)...
NLRB & EEOC recess appointments
Posted on March 27, 2010The President announced Saturday the following recess appointments: Craig Becker and Mark Pearce to be Members of the National Labor Relations Board. Jacqueline A. Berrien to be Chair, Chai R. Feldblum and Victoria A. Lipnic to be Commissioners, and P...
SCOTUS to decide whether oral complaint is protected conduct under FLSA ant-retaliation provision
Posted on March 22, 2010Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp (certiorari granted 03/22/2010) [Details, briefs] Kasten sued the employer, asserting a retaliation claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the employer...
SCOTUS oral argument on authority of two-Member NLRB to decide cases
Posted on March 22, 2010New Process Steel v. NLRB (oral argument 03/23/2010) [Details, briefs] The NLRB has had only two Members (instead of the normal five) since the end of 2007. Near the end of 2007, there were still four Members, and they delegated their powers to a group of three...
OSHA: $3,042,000 proposed penalty
Posted on March 10, 2010OSHA has cited BP North American Inc and BP-Husky Refining LLC's refinery in Oregon, Ohio, with 42 alleged willful violations, including 39 on a per-instance basis, and 20 alleged serious violations for exposing workers to a variety of hazards including failure to provide adequate pressure relief for process units...
$1.2 million for radiation exposure
Posted on March 10, 2010A Louisiana jury has awarded $1.2 million to 16 workers who claimed they were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation when they were cleaning used oil drilling pipes at an Exxon Mobil Corp facility. [Article]
Supreme Court will decide constitutionality of NASA background investigation.
Posted on March 08, 2010The US Supreme Court announced today that it will review a controversial decision from the 9th Circuit - National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA] v. Nelson. Nelson requested a preliminary injunction to prevent implementation of NASA's requirement for in-depth background investigations of "low risk" contract employees...
Briefs on lawfulness of 2-Member NLRB
Posted on March 07, 2010Read the briefs [here] in New Process Steel v. National Labor Relations Board, to be argued at the US Supreme Court on March 23. The NLRB has had only two Members (instead of the normal five Members) since the end of 2007. Near the end of 2007, there were still four Members, and they delegated their powers to a group of three...
EEOC sex harassment suit
Posted on March 07, 2010EEOC filed a class lawsuit Friday charging that Jay Medicar Transportation tolerated the sexual harassment of a number of female employees by one of its senior managers and retaliated against one employee after she complained about the harassment. EEOC said that a top manager at the company allegedly frequently made comments of a sexual nature to subordinate female employees and on at least one occasion demanded sexual favors from an employee in exchange for a pay raise...
$90,000 settles intellectual disability case
Posted on March 05, 2010EEOC claimed that an employee at a McDonald's franchise was harassed based on his intellectual disability, and was compelled to quit due to the unchecked verbal and physical abuse. The suit settled for $90,000 and other relief. [Press release]
$50,000 settles disability case
Posted on March 05, 2010EEOC claimed that a beverage distribution company failed to accommodate a class of disabled employees by terminating their employment because they needed medical leave. The suit settled for $50,000 and other relief. [Press release]
EEOC settles perceived disability cases
Posted on March 05, 2010EEOC claimed that a car dealership reneged on an offer to hire a salesperson only after a urine test revealed he was taking prescribed medication. EEOC said the dealership then erroneously perceived the applicant as too disabled to do the job despite normal medical test results and medical authorization to the contrary...
$33,000 settles sexual harassment case
Posted on March 05, 2010EEOC claimed that a female office clerk at HD Supply, Inc was sexually harassed and ridiculed by a male co-worker. The suit settled for $33,000 and other relief. [Press release]
$969,182 overtime payments
Posted on March 05, 2010Husky Energy Corp, a petroleum refinery located in Lima, has paid $969,182 in back wages to 173 workers for unpaid overtime compensation after the Department of Labor determined the company had violated FLSA overtime pay provisions. [Press release]
NLRB: 31 health care elections will proceed
Posted on March 05, 2010An NLRB regional director has ordered elections to proceed between two rival unions in 31 health care facilities in northern California. The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) seeks to displace Service Employees International /United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW) at these locations...
$11.7 million settles Walmart sex discrimination suit
Posted on March 05, 2010Walmart has agreed to pay more than $11.7 million to settle a suit by EEOC. EEOC claimed that a Walmart distribution center denied jobs to female applicants from 1998 through February 2005, regularly hiring male entry-level applicants for warehouse positions, but excluding female applicants who were equally or better qualified...
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Can a former employee use photographs of jobs completed whie working for me in marketing material for a new business?
There are several issues here
1. Sub contractor started up a compe...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
I was fired on June 3, 2002 in Massachusetts because I reported discriminatory behavior by the employer towards a particular nationality. In July I filed a discrimination/retaliation complaint against the employer with t
It seem sin your case that the fact you filed the complaint prior to being dissa...
How can an employer defend themselves for firing an employee who contends the company exposed him to hazardardous atmospheres although medical testing has been negative?
You'll need to contact OSHA to determine your responsibility as far as the work ...
Does failure to provide health insurance benefits at the time promised constitute harm to the employee?
Yes. Failure to provide health insurance benefits is a violation of Labor Law ob...
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