Seyfarth Synopsis: The Legislature concluded its 2023-24 session in the wee hours of its August 31, 2024, deadline to pass bills. Now it’s up to Governor Newsom to call the plays as to what employment bills he will sign into law. The bills for his consideration read intersectionality into FEHA protected categories, recast victims’ time
Continue Reading Legislative Update: Legislature Hikes the Ball For Signing KickoffBy Michael Berkheimer, Cary Burke, and Sage Fishelman\
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an opinion drafted by Justice Thomas and joined by seven other Justices, on June 13, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ affirmation of an injunction issued under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act”). In doing so
Continue Reading SCOTUS Confirms the Proper Standard for Injunctive Relief Under the NLRA
By Molly Gabel and Rachael Reed
Seyfarth Synopsis: On August 31, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board’s Democratic majority issued a decision in American Federation for Children, Inc. The ruling expands the scope of activities protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to include statutory employees’ efforts to advocate for nonemployees. To reach this outcome, the
Continue Reading NLRB Expands Section 7 Protections to Workers Who Advocate for NonemployeesBy Jennifer L. Mora and Jeffrey A. Berman
Seyfarth Synopsis: With a new President comes a shift in the balance of power at the National Labor Relations Board. To start, shortly after President Biden took office in January, the NLRB’s sole Democrat, Chairman McFerran, issued several dissents that provided a window into what the future would look like under
Continue Reading Don’t Let the Pendulum Hit You as it Swings: NLRB General Counsel Previews a Pro-Labor Agenda
By Jaclyn Gross, Patrick D. Joyce, Bernard Olshansky, and Chantelle C. Egan
Seyfarth Synopsis: During the COVID-19 pandemic, California grocery, drug store, and other front-line workers have continued to sell essential products, stock shelves, clean buildings, and otherwise keep our economy moving. Several cities and counties have taken action—often in hap-hazard ways—to force the employers of these
Continue Reading Hap-Hazard Pay: COVID-19 Hazard Pay Ordinances
By David S. Baffa, Noah A. Finkel, and Joseph S. Turner
Seyfarth Synopsis: Congress has once again proposed legislation that would seek to ban mandatory workplace arbitration of employment claims, despite a string of United States Supreme Court decisions upholding arbitration and class/collective action waivers as a lawful and appropriate mechanism to resolve workplace disputes.
Co-authored by Noah A. Finkel, David S. Baffa, and Andrew L. Scroggins
Seyfarth Synopsis: Following oral argument, employers should be cautiously optimistic that the Supreme Court will allow mandatory arbitration programs containing waivers of the ability to bring collective and class actions.
In Monday’s oral argument, in one of the most significant employment law cases we have
Continue Reading Class Waivers at the Divided Supreme Court: Employers Cautiously Optimistic
Seyfarth Synopsis: With Justice Neil Gorsuch joining the Supreme Court in April, and the apparent re-emergence of a 5-4 split, we expect to see the Court issue more expansive opinions and be less reticent to grant certiorari. The addition of Justice Neil Gorsuch is likely to have particular impact in the field of labor and employment
Continue Reading Justice Gorsuch Likely To Have Significant Impact on Labor and Employment Cases Before the U.S. Supreme Court
By Howard Wexler, Esq. and Samuel Sverdlov, Esq.
Seyfarth Synopsis: An Administrative Law Judge held that an employer’s policy of prohibiting employees from conducting personal business at work, along with its social media and solicitation/distribution policies, violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).
In Casino Pauma, the NLRB’s General Counsel (“GC”) alleged that four of the employer’s handbook policies
Continue Reading NLRB Tells Employers to Mind their Own Business
Seyfarth synopsis: The Board majority holds firm to its standard for evaluating employer work rules despite Member Miscimarra’s vigorous dissent advocating for a new, clearer standard that takes into account an employer’s legitimate business justifications.
Last Wednesday, a split Board panel (Hirozawa, McFerran) held in William Beaumont Hospital and Jeri Antilla, 363 NLRB No.
Continue Reading Unworkable Employer Work Rules: The Board Once Again Makes Perfection the Enemy of the Good