Another manic Monday. So it’s time to roll out another edition of quick hits where I highlight stories you might have missed over the last week or two.

• Today’s Hartford Courant reports on a move by the DPUC to prohibit some companies from laying off workers.  My law partner, Joshua Hawks-Ladds — who is also chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Labor & Employment Committee — provides some context in the piece.
• Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Lewis v. City of Chicago, a case with similar factual overtones to the Ricci case, because it involves a firefighter qualification test that had a disparate impact on black applicants. As the World of Work blog describes, "however:  unlike Ricci, at issue here is the statute of limitations on a Title VII claim….  At issue for the Supreme Court is whether the limitations period for a Title VII claim begins to run when an employer announces the results of a test that could violate Title VII’s disparate impact provision, or if the right to sue begins only once the employer has acted on that policy."
• Also last week, the National Labor Relations Board asked the Supreme Court to rule on the validity of NLRB decisions that have been decided by two member panels (when three of the five seats are vacant.) EFCA Report has the details.  
• The Connecticut Supreme Court late last month overturned an arbitrator’s finding in a labor matter saying that the arbitrator had exceeded his powers.  It is another example of the court stepping in and defining further limits to arbitrator’s powers.  The case, State v. Connecticut State Employees Assn., SEIU Local 2001 can be found here. 
• The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing this week on recent Supreme Court decisions and whether they are too "pro-employer".