New Agency Reins 'Dangerous' For NLRB, Ex-Chair Says

The president's assertion that he can control independent agencies thrusts the National Labor Relations Board into a "fundamentally different level of politicization" from the usual partisanship its critics decry, former Chairman Lauren McFerran told Law360 in an exclusive interview on her tenure and the board's future.

An older blond white man wearing a suit and tie gestures with his hands while sitting in a chair

Employment Lawyers' Weekly DEI Cheat Sheet

The Fourth Circuit unblocked executive orders issued by President Donald Trump that seek to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion programs, while Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP became the latest firm singled out by Trump over its legal work and diversity measures. Here, Law360 catches you up on DEI-related developments from the past week.

Flying Food Group, a company that delivers catered meals to airlines that operate out of Los Angeles International Airport, says it included language in a 2021 collective bargaining agreement, averring that the contract fulfilled and superseded all L.A. Living Wage Ordinance requirements. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

LA Lands Deal With Airline Caterer To End Wage Law Dispute

An airline caterer accused of violating a Los Angeles city ordinance through its pay practices told a California federal court it resolved its dispute with the city, which had launched an investigation, after the caterer settled claims with a class of employees, according to City Council meeting records.

Expert Analysis

Justices' Revival Ruling In Bias Suit Exceeds Procedural Issue

Christopher Sakauye

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Waetzig v. Halliburton allowed the plaintiff in an age discrimination la... (more story)

Water Cooler Talk: 'Late Night' Shows DEI Is More Than Optics

Tracey Diamond and Emily Schifter

Amid the shifting legal landscape for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Troutman's Tracey Diamon... (more story)

9 Considerations For Orgs Using AI Meeting Assistants

Joseph O’Keefe, Gary Weinstein and Jessica Gallagher

When deciding to use artificial intelligence meeting assistants, organizations must create and implement a written... (more story)

Labor More

Md. Judge Joins Calif. In Reversing Federal Workers' Firing

A Maryland federal judge has ordered the reinstatement of thousands of probationary employees who were abruptly fired from 18 federal agencies, saying the Trump administration's lack of required notice left st... (more story)

Waffle House Cleared Of Police Call Claim, NLRB Judge Says

A National Labor Relations Board judge cleared Waffle House of a majority of claims including a claim that a manager threatened to call police on workers during a protest at a South Carolina restaurant, while ... (more story)

Former NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo had hoped to use a case involving Exxon Mobil as a vehicle to overrule a 1986 board decision that said employers can hire temporary workers during a lockout as a way to exert bargaining pressure. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Acting NLRB GC Withdraws Exxon Temp Replacement Fight

The National Labor Relations Board's acting general counsel has withdrawn a bid to overrule a nearly 40-year-old precedent in a case involving a labor dispute at Exxon Mobil over employers' ability to hire tem... (more story)

Conn. City, Worker Settle Teamsters Union Membership Suit

A Connecticut city has settled a public works employee's claim that he was fired for joining a local Teamsters union after pressure from the mayor and other bosses to invoke a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court case that... (more story)

7th Circ. Backs Arbitrator Finding COVID Is No 'Act Of God'

A distribution service provider failed to support its argument that an "act of God" exemption in a contract it had with a Teamsters chapter allowed the company to reduce workers' hours during the coronavirus p... (more story)

NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Weighs Scope Of Marital Bias Law

This week, the Second Circuit will weigh whether New York City law prohibits discrimination on the basis of marriage to a specific person, as it considers a suit brought by Wendy Williams' ex-husband over clai... (more story)

Calif. Forecast: Full 9th Circ. To Weigh LA Schools Vax Policy

In the coming week, attorneys should watch for a Ninth Circuit rehearing en banc in a challenge to a Los Angeles Unified School District COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Here's a look at that case and other labor... (more story)

Discrimination More

Trump Revokes Paul Weiss Security Clearances

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP became the third law firm to have workers' security clearances suspended by President Donald Trump, who signed the executive order Friday, citing the firm's DEI hiring... (more story)

4th Circ. Lets White House Anti-DEI Efforts Proceed

The Fourth Circuit on Friday lifted a temporary injunction blocking President Donald Trump's administration from implementing the bulk of his executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs... (more story)

A billing specialist who alleges he experienced sex and race discrimination on the job didn't name in a presuit charge with the EEOC one of the entities he later sued. The commission had urged the Fourth Circuit to recognize the identity-of-interest exception, a judicially crafted carveout to Title VII's general rule that workers can't sue parties not named in EEOC charges. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
4th Circ. Reluctant To Loosen EEOC Charge Requirement

A Fourth Circuit panel seemed hesitant Friday to revive a bias case from a worker whose presuit U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge didn't specifically name one of the entities he hauled into c... (more story)

Black Tech Worker's $535K Retaliation Verdict Scrapped

A Georgia federal judge vacated a Black former technology company employee's $535,000 jury verdict in his lawsuit alleging he was terminated for complaining that he hadn't received a raise because of his race,... (more story)

3rd Circ. Won't Revive Ex-J&J Worker's COVID Testing Suit

The Third Circuit refused Friday to reopen a former Johnson & Johnson employee's lawsuit claiming the company wouldn't accommodate her Christian faith by excusing her from its COVID-19 testing requirement, rul... (more story)

Worker Sues NBA's Suns For Age Discrimination, Retaliation

A 46-year-old video engineer filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the NBA's Phoenix Suns, alleging the organization coerced him into changing his employment status to contractor and forced him to work i... (more story)

Sheetz Can't Shrink Timeframe In EEOC Criminal Screen Case

Convenience store chain Sheetz can't reduce the time period targeted by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a race bias suit over the company's screening of job applicants for criminal convicti... (more story)

Wage & Hour More

Ex-Mich. Players Defend $50M NIL Suit Against NCAA, Big Ten

Former University of Michigan football players are fighting to keep a proposed class action seeking $50 million in compensation for their names, images and likenesses in Michigan federal court and fend off wha... (more story)

Texas Restaurant Offered Worker $1K, Seeks To End Tip Suit

A Houston-area restaurant told a Texas court Friday that it offered $1,000 to a former server who claimed it failed to inform her that she would have to pay for her uniforms, saying the worker's proposed colle... (more story)

A telecommunications technician who is part of an overtime suit says certifying a collective is particularly important to inform workers of their rights, because defendants have already made stern comments to him and have engaged in "brazen" retaliation against him. (Photo: Patrick Pleul/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)
Frontier Technicians Seek Collective Cert. In Overtime Suit

A telecommunications technician told a Florida federal court Friday that they showed that Frontier Communications and a staffing contractor failed to pay them and other workers overtime, urging the court to gr... (more story)

Ohio Addiction Center OT Theft Suit Heads To Tenn. To Settle

An Ohio addiction treatment center and the proposed class of its workers who alleged unpaid overtime and wrongfully deducted wages came together Friday and asked a Buckeye State federal judge to send their dis... (more story)

NYC Asylum Shelter Co. Illegally Fired Workers, Suit Says

A New York City contractor that provided shelter for asylum-seekers illegally laid off more than 200 employees without notice a class action filed in federal court said.

Buehler's Managers Say Grocery Chain Flouts OT Laws

Grocery chain Buehler's Fresh Foods is accused of failing to pay overtime wages to catering, produce, kitchen and bakery managers who put in more than 40 hours per workweek but were wrongly classified as exemp... (more story)

Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund Beats Accountant's Bias Suit

The Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund defeated Thursday a former accountant's lawsuit claiming he was passed over for promotions and ultimately fired because he was a Black man in his 60s, with an Illinois federa... (more story)