Connecticut Employment Law Blog Insight on Labor & Employment Developments for Connecticut Businesses

Tag Archives: Supreme Court

Offers of Judgment in FLSA Collective Actions: Another Tool for Wage & Hour Claims

Posted in Class Actions, Highlight, Litigation, Wage & Hour

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

Should You Care That Supreme Court Will Rule on Offers Of Judgment in Wage Cases?

Posted in Class Actions, Litigation, Wage & Hour

I’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 Media

It’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 & Hour

The 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 & Hour

The 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 Center

Suppose 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, Litigation

The 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, Litigation

It’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 & Hour

The 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 & Hour

The 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 & Hour

It’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, Litigation

It’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, Litigation

In 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 & NRLB

Last 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, Litigation

Over 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 & Hour

Now 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 & Hour

The 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 Actions

Nearly 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, Litigation

Time 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, Litigation

The 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 Litigation

The 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 Litigation

It’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 Actions

Employee 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 Litigation

In 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