Employment Law Blog

District court improperly granted summary judgment against a human resource manager's FLSA retaliation claim.  There was evidence the supervisors who terminated her understood or reasonably should have understood that she was asserting rights protected by the FLSA and calling for their protection, because FLSA compliance was not part of her job portfolio.  Rosenfield v. Globaltranz...

District court improperly granted summary judgment dismissing union's petition to compel arbitration, because statute of limitations did not begin to run until employer made it clear it refused to arbitrate, even though the employer has earlier stated the matter was neither grievable nor arbitrable.  SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West v. Los Robles Regional Medical Center, 2015...

District court properly granted summary judgment against employee who claimed employer terminated him to avoid complying with potential administrative wage garnishment order.  Employee could not show that any of individuals involved in his termination knew about the potential garnishment.  Alleged constructive notice was insufficient to infer unlawful motivation.  Sutherland v. CWH Red Bull Distribution Co.,...

Although union failed to serve subpoena on counsel in violation of NLRB's rules, company received subpoena and could have sent it to counsel within time for filing a petition to revoke it.  Company waived objections to the subpoena by not filing petition, because it showed no prejudice or support for objecting based on privilege. National...

Hawaii law allows award of reasonable and verified wages lost against convicted individuals because of their unlawful conduct.  Hawaii V. DeMello, 2015 Haw. LEXIS 294 (Haw. Sup. Ct. Nov. 2, 2015). Note: We analyze cases to learn rules the courts will follow or disappoint us if they don't. Rules that the courts follow allow us...

District court properly granted summary judgment that insured correctly classified claims representatives as administrative employees exempt from FLSA overtime pay, because they (1) performed work directly related to the insurer's management policies and business operations, (2) customarily and regularly exercised discretion and independent judgment, (3) worked under only general supervision and (4) did not contest...

Former employee alleged union retaliated against him for not participating in the falsification of time records showing service to trust funds for submission to the U.S. Dept. of Labor and reporting his concerns to FBI.  District Court held Employee Retirement Income Security Act did not completely preempt or preempt former employee's whistleblower and wrongful discharge...

Federal Arbitration Act did not preempt California law barring enforcement of an arbitration agreement against an employee's clams under the California Private Attorney General Act.  Sakkub v, Luxotttica Retail N. Am., Inc., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 17071 (9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2015). District Court denied motion to dismiss former employees' claims that company (a) violated...

City of Seattle raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour in stages according to two schedules-one for businesses with 500 or more employees that reached $15 by January 1, 2017 and the second for businesses with fewer than 500 employees that did not reach $14 until January 1, 2021.  The City classified franchisees associated...

The National Labor Relations Act preempted the Idaho Fairness in Contracting Act, which banned "job targeting" or "market recovery" programs under which construction unions collect funds from workers they represent and use those funds to subsidize bids by union contractors, even though those funds are derived in part from wages paid the workers under the...