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Mealey's Employment

  • January 16, 2026

    Immigration Judges Get Extension To Respond To Speech Policy Dispute Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court gave the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) more time to respond to a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) asking for review of a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s ruling that vacated dismissal of a complaint that challenged a federal employee speech policy.

  • January 15, 2026

    U.S. Senator Sues Federal Officers Over Free Speech Right To Condemn Trump Orders

    WASHINGTON, D.C. —  A U.S. senator and retired Navy captain who was issued a censure letter and faces a deduction in his retirement pay for making public statements labeled as “sedition” and “treason” about servicemembers' legal obligations to disregard federal orders sued the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy and their respective secretaries in federal court in the District of Columbia alleging violations of the First Amendment and breach of other constitutional rights .

  • January 15, 2026

    Judge: Plaintiffs In ‘Important’ AI Employment Case Must Explain Discovery Delay

    SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs in what the court described as “an important case alleging use of biased artificial intelligence in hiring implicating potentially hundreds of millions of putative class members” must explain why discovery required for a certification motion appears incomplete, a federal judge in California held Jan. 14.

  • January 15, 2026

    High Court Denies Rehearing In Houston Adult Club Race Discrimination Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following a majority’s denial of a petition for a writ of certiorari, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for rehearing filed by an African-American female entertainer who asked the court to determine if the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was correct in determining that her allegations of civil rights violations by two Houston clubs for refusing her entry to work on multiple occasions because of her race were barred by the statute of limitations.

  • January 15, 2026

    High Court Seeks Response On Arbitration Award Vacatur Concerning Severance

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 14 requested an employer’s response to a certiorari petition concerning a decision the petitioner says “encourages a cascade of litigation over the enforceability of arbitral awards”; the challenged 2-1 appeals court ruling affirmed vacatur of an award that resulted from pro se arbitration over severance pay and concerned an Employee Retirement Income Security Act discrimination claim that the majority concluded the claimant never raised.

  • January 15, 2026

    NFL, Teams Seek High Court Opinion On Enforcement Of Arbitration In Race Bias Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should hear an appeal concerning the enforceability of arbitration agreements entered into by National Football League coaches as the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) permits parties to select their own arbitration procedures, including arbitrators, the NFL and three teams argue in a petition for a writ of certiorari filed in a race bias putative class suit after a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that denial of arbitration was proper based on the provision designating the NFL commissioner as the default arbitrator and allowing the commissioner to develop the arbitral procedures.

  • January 14, 2026

    GEO Group Seeks U.S. High Court Review Of Immigration Detainee Class Wage Ruling

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The operator of immigration detention centers across the United States filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause permits a state, in this case Washington, to find detainees participating in a voluntary work program as employees who are owed state-mandated minimum wages.

  • January 14, 2026

    1st Circuit Agrees Ferry Authority Workers Won’t Succeed With Vaccine Claims

    BOSTON — A First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that a trial court properly denied a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction filed by employees of a Massachusetts ferry operations authority who sued the authority and its director of Human Resources after requests for religious exemptions from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied, finding that the employees did not establish that they were likely to succeed on the merits.

  • January 13, 2026

    High Court Won’t Review Cases Involving Collective Action, FMLA, Retaliation, More

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 denied petitions for a writ of certiorari filed in cases involving collective bargaining representation, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) retaliation, due process requirements when issuing damages, constitutional right to free speech, an untimely filed appeal and criticism of the use of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green framework.

  • January 13, 2026

    Parties Dismiss Settled COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal Religious Discrimination Case

    DENVER — Having previously notified a Colorado federal court of their intention to settle, the parties to a lawsuit by a former employee of a nursing facility alleging religious discrimination by her employer stemming from her termination as a result of her refusal to be vaccinated for COVID-19 filed a stipulated motion of dismissal with prejudice on Jan. 12.

  • January 13, 2026

    Pa. Panel: Possible Privilege With Unlicensed Attorney Under Reasonable Belief

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania appeals panel vacated a lower court’s ruling that the plaintiff in a wrongful termination lawsuit could not rely on the attorney-client privilege to withhold items during discovery, holding that despite his attorney’s unlicensed status, the privilege could still apply if the plaintiff reasonably believed that the attorney was licensed to practice law.

  • January 13, 2026

    U.S. High Court Declines Fraud Concealment Question In Sherman Act Class Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 declined to decide whether an alleged unwritten no-poach agreement between companies that allegedly suppress wages for naval engineers is sufficient to constitute an affirmative act of fraudulent concealment tolling the Sherman Act’s statute of limitations in a putative class lawsuit.

  • January 13, 2026

    Disability Bias Dismissal Upheld, Disclosure Claim Revived In 11th Circuit

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a summary judgment order dismissing disability discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment claims brought against the Department of Veterans Affairs by an employee after she allegedly experienced respiratory issues while working in a regional Florida office but reversed and remanded a claim that her manager unlawfully disclosed medical information pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

  • January 12, 2026

    Supreme Court Will Not Review NLRB’s Ruling In Complaint Withdrawal Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a wholesale grocery company asking for review of the National Labor Relations Board’s ruling that an acting general counsel may withdraw an unfair labor practice complaint that his predecessor issued against a union.

  • January 12, 2026

    U.S. Supreme Court Denies Petition In Proposed Collective Propriety Notice Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a pharmaceutical company seeking a clear standard for district courts to authorize and facilitate notice to nonparties on behalf of plaintiffs when joining lawsuits as a collective.

  • January 12, 2026

    U.S. High Court Won’t Review Post-Janus Calif. Law Limiting Employee Orientation Info

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a California law limiting access to information about new employee orientation sessions.

  • January 12, 2026

    U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Review 9th Circuit ERISA Releases Ruling

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A certiorari petition that drew U.S. Supreme Court interest for a ruling concerning Employee Retirement Income Security Act releases in a long-running class action concerning severance benefits was denied in the court’s Jan. 12 order list.

  • January 09, 2026

    Ousted NLRB, MSPB Members Seek D.C. Circuit Rehearing After Removals Upheld

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Petitions for rehearing en banc were filed by a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and a member of the National Labor Relations Board after their firings by President Donald J. Trump were upheld by a divided panel of the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • January 08, 2026

    Gender Dysphoria Expert Can Testify In Employee’s Discrimination Case, Judge Says

    CONCORD, N.H. — A gender dysphoria expert retained by a transgender woman suing her employer for refusing to provide her with health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care can testify in the woman’s discrimination case, a New Hampshire federal judge ruled Jan. 7.

  • January 08, 2026

    Judge ‘Overrules’ Summary Judgment Motion In FCA ‘Fraud’ Suit Over ‘Overpayments’

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Kansas federal judge on Jan. 7 “overruled” a hospital’s motion for summary judgment in a suit asserting that it violated the federal False Claims Act (FCA) by retaliating against and terminating its former CEO, who alleged possible fraud related to the hospital overpaying several of its physicians, finding that there are issues of material fact regarding whether the hospital’s “articulated reasons” for terminating the former CEO were “pretextual.”

  • January 08, 2026

    Responses Filed To High Court Petitions Disputing FLSA Collective Lawsuit Notices

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Jan. 7 response to a petition for a writ of certiorari cross-filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, four former Cracker Barrel employees contend that the restaurant’s question regarding the standard for federal district courts to authorize and facilitate notices to nonparties on behalf of plaintiffs when joining a lawsuit as a collective pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lacks merit and “seeks review of an issue that was neither pressed nor passed upon” at the appellate level, while Cracker Barrel states in a response filed days earlier to the employees’ petition that the workers’ similar question “does not present an issue justifying this court’s review.”

  • January 08, 2026

    9th Circuit Upholds Injunction, Permitting NLRB Action In Amazon Bargaining Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — Administrative proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) addressing unfair labor practice charges against Amazon for allegedly refusing to recognize and bargain with the union representing a group of delivery drivers can proceed after a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel determined that a lower court judge was correct in denying a motion for preliminary injunction.

  • January 07, 2026

    U.S. High Court Denies Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Stay Petition In Bargaining Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 7 denied the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s emergency application for a stay of two Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rulings in favor of a National Labor Relations Board’s decision finding that the newspaper bargained in bad faith, unlawfully declared an impasse and unlawfully surveilled union activities during a long-running labor dispute.

  • January 07, 2026

    Employees Fired For Refusing COVID Shot Appeal Dismissal Of Medical Rights Case

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Former employees of a university hospital appealed to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking review of the judgment of a Connecticut federal judge, who granted the hospital’s motion to dismiss the employees’ second amended complaint alleging violations of their constitutional rights to “bodily autonomy, medical privacy and equal protection” caused by the health system’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy and seeking damages under Section 1983 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code.

  • January 06, 2026

    9th Circuit OKs Dismissal Of Former Twitter Workers’ Severance Benefits Appeal

    SAN FRANCISCO — Resolving several motions, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted voluntary dismissal of an appeal where former Twitter Inc. employees had initially tried to revive their putative class action for more than $500 million in severance benefits, saying in part that “[i]t appears that the interests of any members of the putative class . . . can be protected adequately in” a similar suit filed Nov. 4.