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Mealey's Employment

  • July 03, 2025

    Calif. Jury Awards $9.15M To Scorned Tech Worker For Disability, Retaliation Claims

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A tech company employee who was reportedly insulted, berated and called a “cripple” at work for using a cane due to a disability and then terminated after reporting the behaviors was awarded $9.15 million in damages by a California Superior Court jury that determined he endured “severe” harassment, disability discrimination and retaliation.

  • July 03, 2025

    Federal Judge Enjoins HHS’s Announced Sub-Agency Staffing Cuts

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A federal judge in Rhode Island granted a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia and enjoined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and others from implementing a planned reduction-in-force (RIF) that “would substantially cut the number of employees who work for” HHS’s sub-agencies.

  • July 02, 2025

    Federal Government Appeals Summary Judgment For Perkins Coie In EO Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal agencies and officials filed a notice of appeal in a federal court in the District of Columbia after Perkins Coie LLP was granted summary judgment in a lawsuit challenging a March executive order (EO) that in part accused the firm of “undermining democratic elections” and “racially discriminat[ing] against its own attorneys and staff” and prevented payment of tax dollars to the firm or federal contractors who do business with the firm.

  • July 01, 2025

    Federal Judge Enjoins Enforcement Of EO Targeting Susman Godfrey

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled that the April executive order (EO) “targeting” Susman Godfrey LLP “violates the U.S. Constitution and must be permanently enjoined.”

  • July 01, 2025

    Petition Denied In Employee Speech Case; Justice Raises Concerns About Approach

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking consideration of a question concerning a high school teacher’s social media posts and whether they were preemployment speech; Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the denial but filed a statement “to raise serious concerns about the First Circuit’s approach,” calling the appellate panel’s analysis under the framework of Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205, Will Cty. and Garcetti v. Ceballos “deeply flawed.”

  • July 01, 2025

    U.S. High Court Won’t Review Ruling On Precluding Relitigation Of SOX Issues

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former Tesla Inc. worker who asked the justices to consider whether an arbitration award may preclude relitigation of issues underlying a Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) claim.

  • June 30, 2025

    Preliminary Injunction Denied In DOL Records DOGE Access Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Labor unions and nonprofits challenging U.S. Digital Service and U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization (together, DOGE) personnel’s right to access U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) records failed to show imminent misuse or public disclosure, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled June 27, denying the unions and nonprofits’ request for a preliminary injunction.

  • June 30, 2025

    Battery Manufacturer Seeks High Court Review Of Measuring Integral Activities

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Pennsylvania battery manufacturer ordered to pay its workers for the true time they spend completing tasks rather than the time the employer determined was “reasonable” filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the proper measurement for time spent performing “‘integral and indispensable’” activities and to consider overruling Steiner v. Mitchell.

  • June 27, 2025

    In 6-3 Reversal, High Court OKs HHS Appointment Of Preventive Task Force Members

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a 6-3 reversal concerning the structure of a task force that issues preventive care recommendations, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 27 ruled that “members are inferior officers whose appointment by the Secretary of HHS [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] is permissible under the Appointments Clause” of the U.S. Constitution.

  • June 27, 2025

    Split U.S. High Court: Universal Injunctions ‘Likely Exceed’ Courts’ Authority

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nationwide or universal injunctions “likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts,” a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 27, partially staying nationwide injunctions issued in three cases challenging President Donald J. Trump’s Jan. 20 birthright citizenship executive order (EO),

  • June 27, 2025

    6th Circuit Remands Chili’s Manager’s ADEA Claim, Says Employer Report Inadmissible

    CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a fired Chili’s general manager’s “own recollection” of the details of his termination, which differs from those outlined in a now-inadmissible report, and the fact that he was replaced by a much younger employee serve as evidence for an age discrimination claim in reversing and remanding a Tennessee federal court’s order that granted summary judgment to his employer.

  • June 26, 2025

    Summary Judgment For Employer Partially Vacated In Employee Speech Case

    PORTLAND, Ore. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partially affirmed and partially vacated a trial court’s summary judgment ruling for a school district and various officials on two employees’ claims that they were discriminated against due to their religious beliefs and viewpoints and fired in retaliation for engaging in protected speech related to gender identity, parents’ rights and school district policies.

  • June 26, 2025

    Florida Solid Waste Company Will Pay $1.4M To Settle Racial Discrimination Suit

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida solid waste and recycling company on June 25 agreed to pay a class of Black and Haitian-American employees $1.4 million and implement several equal employment opportunity policies and practices stemming from allegations of racial discrimination over a course of nearly three years.

  • June 24, 2025

    Texas Supreme Court Affirms Pilots Union Can Sue Boeing On Behalf Of Members

    AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas Supreme Court majority opined in affirming a state appellate panel majority’s judgment that the Railway Labor Act (RLA) does not preempt claims made by a Southwest Airlines pilots union that it has standing to assert members’ arguments that the Boeing Co. misrepresented the safety and airworthiness of its 737 MAX aircraft in convincing the union to put references to the aircraft in a collective bargaining agreement, causing pilots to lose millions of dollars in pay due to the aircraft being grounded.

  • June 20, 2025

    Employee Fails To Establish Religious Objection To COVID Testing In Lieu Of Shot

    ST. LOUIS — A panel of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of a South Dakota federal court, which dismissed the lawsuit of a former employee who was terminated for refusing to comply with his employer’s COVID-19 vaccination-or-test policy after determining that a proposed amended complaint failed to establish an adequate factual basis for his claimed religious objection to COVID testing.

  • June 20, 2025

    Fractured U.S. High Court Rules ADA Doesn’t Cover Alleged Bias During Retirement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A retired employee of a Florida city who alleged discrimination related to the distribution of fringe benefits that took effect after her employment ended is not eligible to sue under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as “the statute protects people, not benefits, from discrimination” and she failed to show that she was a “qualified individual” at the time of the alleged discrimination, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 20.

  • June 19, 2025

    Au Pair Company Can’t Compel Arbitration Of Labor Claims,1st Circuit Says

    BOSTON — A First District U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 18 affirmed the denial of an au pair placement company’s motion to compel arbitration of claims brought against it by several foreign nationals for violating federal and state employment laws, finding that the company cannot enforce an arbitration agreement that it didn’t sign and which was not clearly for its benefit.

  • June 19, 2025

    Split 5th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Suit Over NLRB Memo For Lack Of Standing

    NEW ORLEANS — A federal court in Texas properly dismissed for lack of standing a complaint by staffing companies alleging that a memorandum by the then-National Labor Relations Board general counsel enforced a new interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which they claimed “prohibits employers from speaking to employees about unionization,” a split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled.

  • May 14, 2025

    COMMENTARY: A Strategic Guide For New York State PEOs In Workers’ Compensation Coverage Claims

    By Dustin W. Osborne

  • June 18, 2025

    HHS Federal Workers File Class Suit Over Erroneous Record Sharing, Firings

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seven employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its subcomponents filed a class complaint in a federal court in the District of Columbia alleging that “hopelessly error-ridden” personnel records were wrongly turned over to U.S. DOGE Service, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) without being verified and were incorrectly used to fire 10,000 workers in violation of the Privacy Act.

  • June 18, 2025

    Former Limestone University Employee Says Terminations Violate Federal Law

    SPARTANBURG, S.C. — A former employee of a South Carolina university filed a class action complaint in South Carolina federal court, alleging that the university violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act by failing to provide 60 days’ advance notice of the university’s intent to terminate the employment of more than 475 employees.

  • June 17, 2025

    Ruling On Religious Exemptions For Abortion Coverage Plans In N.Y. Law Remanded

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 16 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a group of religious entities that challenged a New York Court of Appeals ruling on exemptions to a state law mandating that employer health insurance plans cover abortions based on what the entities called “narrow and subjective religious criteria” and vacated and remanded the judgment for further consideration in light of a ruling in a similar case.

  • June 17, 2025

    1st Circuit Affirms ERISA Preemption In Termination Row Involving Severance

    BOSTON — Affirming summary judgment against an appellant who had asserted wrongful termination and other claims under Rhode Island state law in a dispute involving severance benefits, the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 16 ruled that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act preempts all her claims.

  • June 17, 2025

    $5.25 Million Settlement Approved In Recruiter Misclassification Class Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a $5.25 million nonreversionary class settlement in a lawsuit alleging systemic misclassification of recruiters as exempt employees and granted in part a motion for attorney fees, costs and a service award.

  • June 16, 2025

    Law Firm Seeking COVID-19 Employee Retention Credit Refund Settles With Government

    PHILADELPHIA — The parties having reported that they have reached a settlement, a Pennsylvania federal judge on June 13 dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit by a law firm seeking a tax refund of $790,318.08 for 2020 and 2021 for employee retention tax credits as provided for by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for wage payments it paid to its employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.