Last week, while most of us were focused on the events in Boston, the U.S. Supreme Court came down with a notable decision last week involving a wage & hour class action (it’s actually called a “collective” action, but for the non-lawyers out there, just think of it as a class action) and what should… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Supreme Court
Should You Care That Supreme Court Will Rule on Offers Of Judgment in Wage Cases?
Posted in Class Actions, Litigation, Wage & HourI’m going to let you in on a little secret. Not all employment law cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court matter are of equal significance and importance to employers. What? How can that be, you say? It’s the SUPREME COURT! Isn’t everything that they say important? Well, sort of. The truth is that sometimes… Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Holiday Parties, HIPAA and ADA, Non-Compete Agreements, “Supervisor”, Facebook
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Class Actions, Discrimination & Harassment, Litigation, Social MediaIt’s been a crazy week here for reasons I hope to share in a future post. But in the meantime, the world of employment law still continues. Here are some items worth reading that I had hoped to talk about further. This brief recap will have to do for now. Want some tips on how to… Continue Reading
Breaking: Conn. Supreme Court Holds CTFMLA Applies Only If Employer Has 75+ Conn. Employees
Posted in Laws and Regulations, Litigation, Wage & HourThe Connecticut Supreme Court this week issued its decision in Velez v. Commissioner of Labor. The decision, which has been long-awaited, holds that the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act applies only to employers that have 75 or more Connecticut employees. In practical terms, this means that large employers with small Connecticut locations will not… Continue Reading
BREAKING: Pharmaceutical Representatives are “Outside Salesmen” Under FLSA; Exempt from Overtime
Posted in Class Actions, Highlight, Litigation, Wage & HourThe U.S. Supreme Court this morning ruled, 5-4, that pharmaceutical representatives are “outside salesmen” under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In plain English, this now means that those representatives are now considered exempt from overtime. This decision is a big victory for pharmaceutical companies who have been facing years of class action suits (some of… Continue Reading
In Drafting Employment Law Contracts, Precision and At-Will Disclaimers Matter
Posted in Highlight, Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Litigation, Manager & HR Pro’s Resource CenterSuppose that, after you’ve employed a worker for a year or so, she asks you for a raise. She doesn’t ask about any guarantee term for employment but you come back and give her a 36 month time frame for her salary going forward. You draft an employee “Employment Agreement” that says ‘‘[t]his will cover the… Continue Reading
Conn. Supreme Court: Law Bars Hostile Work Environment Based on Sexual Orientation
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationThe Connecticut Supreme Court, in a decision that will be officially released on May 15, 2012, today ruled unanimously that Connecticut’s anti-discrimination laws implicitly create a claim for hostile work environment based on an employee’s sexual orientation. The state’s anti-discrimination laws have long been interpreted to bar a hostile work environment based on gender, but… Continue Reading
Big Day for Employers at Connecticut Supreme Court
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Featured, LitigationIt’s been several years since employers had some decisions to cheer about at the Connecticut Supreme Court. But yesterday, the court released two important decisions that will likely rank as among the most significant the court has issued in the employment context in the last decade. I represented the employer in one of those cases, which you… Continue Reading
Keep an Eye Out for Court’s Ruling on Pharmaceutical Sales Rep. Case
Posted in Class Actions, Highlight, Litigation, Wage & HourThe U.S. Supreme Court yesterday heard arguments over whether pharmaceutical sales reprsentatives were properly classified as exempt (from overtime) because they fall within the “outside sales” exemption of the nation’s wage & hour laws. The plaintiffs said that they were not properly classified because, while the representatives do a lot of tasks, the one thing that… Continue Reading
Court: Regional District Employees Are “Town” Employees; Claims Barred By Workers’ Compensation Act Exclusivity
Posted in Litigation, Wage & HourThe Connecticut Supreme Court, in a decision that will be officially released next week (but released this morning), held that an animal control officer for several towns, was an employee of each of the towns. Because of the creation of an employer/employee relationship, her claims that she was injured on the job (she suffered a… Continue Reading
Connecticut Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Hostile Work Environment and CTFMLA Cases
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, Highlight, Laws and Regulations, Litigation, Wage & HourIt’s not very often that the Connecticut Supreme Court considers employment law issues. But today, two notable cases are being argued in front of the court. Both could have an impact on employers in the state. In Patino v. Birken Manufacturing, the court is being asked to consider whether a hostile work environment harassment claim… Continue Reading
Conn. Supreme Court: Alleged Knowing and Deliberate Discovery Misconduct Not Enough to Warrant New Trial
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationIt’s so rare nowadays that the Connecticut Supreme Court rules on discrimination cases that, when I first took a look at its new decision in Duart v. Department of Corrections (download here) — officially released next week — I got excited. After all, the case is based on a claims of gender, race and sexual… Continue Reading
BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court Supports Fairly Broad “Ministerial Exception” to Anti-Discrimination Laws
Posted in CHRO & EEOC, Discrimination & Harassment, Featured, Highlight, LitigationIn a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today gave some teeth to the “ministerial exception” that, in essence, precludes some employees of religious institutions from suing them under federal discrimination laws. I’ve discussed the exception in various posts over the years here and here. Its been supported in the Second Circuit and by the… Continue Reading
Class Action Waiver For Employment? Not So Fast, Says the NLRB
Posted in Class Actions, Labor Law & NRLBLast year, I talked a lot about a U.S. Supreme Court case that seemed to open the door for employers to use mandatory arbitration agreements that precluded employees from using class actions to sue their employers. But I noted at the time that this was a quickly shifting landscape. A few days ago, the NLRB… Continue Reading
Wal-Mart v. Dukes: What The Class-Action Decision Really Means for Employers
Posted in Class Actions, Discrimination & Harassment, Featured, Highlight, LitigationOver the last 24 hours, there’s been a lot written about the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday in Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes. Frankly, all of them are starting to say the same thing: The decision is going to hamper all class-action discrimination cases going forward. But that statement tends to simplify the decision a bit too… Continue Reading
The Quickly Shifting Landscape of Class Actions and Arbtirations
Posted in Class Actions, Litigation, Wage & HourNow that the dust has settled a bit, it’s time to look at the long-term impact of last month’s Supreme Court decision in AT&T v. Concepcion for employment matters. (For a great analysis of the decision itself, see this SCOTUSblog post.) All the analysis that has been coming out seems to suggest that there are two main… Continue Reading
Are Some Employment Law Class Actions in Jeopardy? New Supreme Court Case Suggests Path
Posted in Class Actions, Discrimination & Harassment, Litigation, Wage & HourThe U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, yesterday held that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts state laws that discuss or limit arbitration agreements on the availability of class action arbitration procedures. The case, AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion (download here) isn’t an employment law case (it concerns whether AT&T should have charged consumers sales tax on… Continue Reading
The Strong Pull of a “Day in Court”; Lessons Learned from Wal-Mart v. Dukes
Posted in Class ActionsNearly everyone has chimed in over the oral argument in Wal-mart v. Dukes over the last 36 hours up at the Supreme Court. And nearly everyone seems to be predicting an outright victory to Wal-mart. Because we don’t even have a decision yet, I’ll leave it to others to prognosticate (read: guess) what will really… Continue Reading
BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court Allows “Cat’s Paw” Theory of Liability in Discrimination Cases
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationTime and again, pundits suggest that the U.S. Supreme Court now is among the most conservative in decades and, by extension, pro-business. If that’s the case, they’re going to be awfully surprised with today’s 8-0 ruling in Staub v. Proctor Hospital (download here) in which the court broadened the methods that an employee can use… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Recap: Creating a “Zone of Interest” Under Title VII Retaliation Law
Posted in Discrimination & Harassment, LitigationThe United States Supreme Court today, in an 8-0 decision (Justice Kagan recused herself), ruled that Title VII retaliation provisions include protection to those people who have suffered an adverse employment action and are in the same "zone of interest" as another employee who filed a charge. What does that mean? Good question. First,… Continue Reading
Breaking: U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Wal-Mart Class Action Case
Posted in LitigationThe U.S. Supreme Court this morning agreed to hear Wal-Mart’s appeal of a decision that granted certification to what would be the largest employment discrimination class action case ever heard in the United States. The SCOTUSBlog has the definitive wrapup here. The underlying case has raised allegations of sex discrimination by current and female workers… Continue Reading
Oral Argument Transcript Now Available from U.S. Supreme Court Argument in Cigna v. Amara
Posted in LitigationIt’s rare for a case from Connecticut to make it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. But this week, a case did just that. I’ve previously discussed the case of Cigna v. Amara in many posts which you can read here. The case ultimately concerns the receipt of retirement benefits and whether… Continue Reading
U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Consider Connecticut Employee Benefits Case
Posted in Class ActionsEmployee benefit cases (better known as ERISA cases, after the Employee Retirement Income Security Act) aren’t the most exciting topic in the world. At this point, just by my very mention of ERISA, I’m imagining your mouse wandering off to view another page. But yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an important case… Continue Reading
Breaking: U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Arbitration Provisions in Employment Disputes; What It Means for Employers
Posted in LitigationIn a 5-4 decision released this morning in Rent-A-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson (download here), the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to an arbitration agreement that purported to address all matters arising out of an employment dispute. This decision isn’t the easiest to digest. First, understand that arbitration provisions governed by federal law have… Continue Reading
About Daniel Schwartz
Trusted advisor. Experienced employment law attorney. Bar leader. Award-winning author. Noted Speaker. "Legal Rebel". All can be said to be apt descriptions of Daniel Schwartz, a member of Pullman & Comley. More +
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