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Mealey's Employment

December 09, 2025
Calif. Court Imposes $5K Sanction For Fake Citations In Workplace Violence Case

LOS ANGELES — A California appellate court imposed a $5,000 sanction on an attorney who filed a brief that miscited case holdings and a case cite and largely published a previously unpublished opinion affirming that a firefighter’s complaints about workplace conditions and references to a recent shooting involving a colleague warranted a workplace violence restraining order.
December 08, 2025
U.S. High Court Hears Arguments On Trump’s Power To Remove FTC Commissioner

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. solicitor general argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 8 that Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which limited the president’s power to fire a Federal Trade Commission commissioner, is “an indefensible outlier” and “a decaying husk with bold and particularly dangerous pretensions.”
December 08, 2025
9th Circuit Grants Rehearing Extensions In Jack In The Box Workers’ Wage Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted Jack in the Box Inc. more time to file a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc on Dec. 5 in a wage-and-hour suit by a group of workers after a trial court’s ruling on claims regarding employee deductions for nonslip shoes, proper pay for breaks and deduction of employee wages for the Oregon Workers’ Benefit Fund (WBF).
December 08, 2025
Union Asks High Court To Look At Intervention Denial In NLRB Labor Practice Cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether it was proper, despite meeting all the necessary criteria for intervention pursuant to federal law, for a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority to deny its motion to intervene in a trio of consolidated cases in which preliminary injunctions were issued that halted unfair labor practice complaints against three employers that challenged the National Labor Relations Board’s constitutionality.
December 08, 2025
Macy’s Petitions High Court On NLRA Remedies, Circuit Split In Union Lockout Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a petition for writ of certiorari filed with the U.S. Supreme Court following denial of a petition for rehearing en banc on a decision to make-whole relief granted to workers locked out after a strike, Macy’s Inc. seeks to settle a circuit split, asking whether a neutral employee practice with no anti-union intent can be classified as “inherently destructive” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and whether the National Labor Relations Board can expand its remedial authority to make employers compensate workers for direct or foreseeable financial harms.
December 04, 2025
6th Circuit’s Amended Opinion Won’t Stop Rehearing Push In State Farm ADA Case

CINCINNATI — Despite a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority issuing an amended opinion with new details and analyses solidifying a ruling that a fired State Farm worker who helped a disabled co-worker seek an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation can pursue retaliation claims, State Farm is not withdrawing a petition for rehearing en banc and contends in a Dec. 3 memorandum that “the amended majority opinion has not resolved the conflicts it created with controlling Supreme Court and Sixth Circuit precedent while creating new conflicts.”
December 03, 2025
Over Oppositions, Freedom Foundation Argues For High Court Review Of Post-Janus Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether a California law limiting access to information about new employee orientation sessions violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution presents “an excellent vehicle,” and the underlying decision undermines rights established in Janus v. Am. Fed’n of State, Cnty., & Mun. Emps., Council 31 and conflicts with decisions from other courts, the Freedom Foundation argues in its reply, countering responses from California officials and two unions that previous petitions raising similar questions have already been denied by the high court, no conflict exists and “an alleged legal error in a non-precedential decision is not a sufficient reason for granting review.”
December 03, 2025
Hospital That Fired Employees For Refusing COVID Shot Not State Actor, Judge Says

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Agreeing with a university hospital that it is not a state actor, a Connecticut federal judge granted the hospital’s motion to dismiss the second amended complaint of former employees 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.
December 03, 2025
6th Circuit Says Contractor In Contempt, Issues $50K Fine In Union Records Dispute

CINCINNATI — A road construction contractor that refused to produce all of the records on wages and benefits requested by a Michigan-based engineering union in a federal suit that stemmed from failed bargaining agreements was ordered by a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel to produce the records and pay a $50,000 compliance fine in an order partially granting a petition to adjudicate contempt filed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
December 02, 2025
2 Companies Appeal After Judgment For Worker Class Entered In WARN Act Suit

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Two companies found liable for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (WARN Act) violations alleged by a class of bakery workers and ordered to indemnify the dissolution receiver filed a notice of appeal to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a $2,987,040.60 judgment was entered for the workers by a federal court in Vermont.
December 02, 2025
Supreme Court Extends Deadlines On FLSA Collective Lawsuit Notice Petitions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court extended the deadlines to file response briefs in two cross-filed petitions for a writ of certiorari asking separate questions regarding the standard for federal district courts to authorize and facilitate notice to nonparties on behalf of plaintiffs when joining a lawsuit as a collective pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
December 01, 2025
Partial Vacatur Of Stay Pending Appeal In Peace Nonprofit Workers’ Suit Denied

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 26 denied a motion by U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and its board for partial vacatur of a stay pending appeal granted by the appellate court in June after a trial court issued a summary judgment ruling for the USIP parties and declared the removal of USIP’s board and staff “null and void.”
December 01, 2025
High Court Denies Petition On Meaning Of ‘Contributing Factor’ In SOX Provision

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a securities company whistleblower’s petition for a writ of certiorari asking the court to determine the meaning of the phrase “contributing factor” in the two-part burden shifting framework that governs whistleblower protection claims incorporated into the anti-retaliation provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).
December 01, 2025
Stay Of Injunction In Battle Over Copyright Register Post Deferred By High Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on Nov. 26 deferring until two other cases are decided an application by President Donald J. Trump and others to stay an interlocutory injunction in a case over the president’s ability to remove Shira Perlmutter from her position as the register of copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office.
November 25, 2025
Petitions In Whistleblower, Retaliation, Discrimination Cases Denied By High Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 24 denied employment-related petitions regarding whistleblower protections for an airline training employee and a deceased railway conductor and Title VII race and sex discrimination and retaliation claims brought by a female, African American law professor.
November 24, 2025
High Court Denies NCUA Board Members’ Petition For Review Of Removal Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 24 denied a petition for writ of certiorari before judgment filed by two members of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) board who were purportedly removed from their seats by President Donald J. Trump in April and reinstated after a federal judge in the District of Columbia granted a motion for summary judgment.
November 21, 2025
Wis. Appeals Court: Identity Theft Threat Doesn’t Create Data Breach Suit Standing

WAUSAU, Wis. — Workers who filed a class complaint against their employer following a data breach alleged only a risk of future harm, which was insufficient to show standing for their negligence, breach of contract and other putative class claims, a Wisconsin appellate court ruled, affirming the trial court’s dismissal of the case.
November 21, 2025
11th Circuit Affirms Judgment For Psychiatry Center In FCA Retaliation Suit

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling granting summary judgment for a psychiatry center in a former employee’s suit alleging that the center violated the federal False Claims Act by retaliating against him for advising a judge that the center allegedly colluded with a hospital to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, finding that the former employee failed to rebut the center’s explanations for terminating him.
November 21, 2025
4th Circuit Will Not Revisit Md. Hospital Worker’s COVID Shot Termination Ruling

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will not revisit a panel’s decision to affirm the firing of a Maryland hospital employee over a refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine after she was denied a religious exemption in denying the employee’s request to apply Title VII standards mapped out in Groff v. DeJoy that arguably require proof that allowing her to work unvaccinated would have created a health risk.
November 20, 2025
Amicus Firm Urges High Court To Take Up Proposed Collective Propriety Notice Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In support of a medical company’s U.S. Supreme Court petition for writ of certiorari seeking a clear standard for district courts to authorize and facilitate notice to nonparties on behalf of plaintiffs when joining lawsuits as a collective, a national labor and employment law firm admonishes the “easy availability” of conditional certification orders that they contend have led to a drastic increase in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cases.
November 20, 2025
8th Circuit Vacates NLRB Order In Worker’s Display Of ‘BLM’ On Home Depot Apron

ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated and remanded a National Labor Relations Board decision and order finding that Home Depot violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it directed an employee of a suburban Minneapolis store to remove “BLM” lettering from their uniform, opining that “the Board improperly evaluated the ‘special circumstances’ and business justification defenses asserted by Home Depot in defending” the action.
November 19, 2025
Teacher’s Pandemic Speech Case Settled After Jury Award Partially Upheld

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut deemed a teacher’s lawsuit against a Connecticut school board and principal settled in a Nov. 18 docket entry following the approval of a settlement by the board for an amount not disclosed in court records; the settlement was reached after a renewed motion for judgment notwithstanding a jury verdict or for a new trial was partially granted following a jury’s $1.1 million award on the teacher’s claims that she was subjected to retaliation and defamation after making public comments and social media comments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
November 18, 2025
Dozens File U.S. High Court Amicus Briefs Supporting Removed FTC Commissioner

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Purportedly removed National Labor Relations Board Member Gwynne Wilcox filed one of more than 30 amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting an FTC commissioner who was purportedly removed by President Donald J. Trump and who argues that agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission have at-will removal protections created by Congress and affirmed by Humphrey’s Executor v. United States.
November 17, 2025
3rd Circuit Denies 2nd Rehearing In CFAA Suit Against Ex-Debt Firm Workers

PHILADELPHIA — After issuing a modified opinion that did not change the disposition of the appeal, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority denied a second petition for rehearing en banc of a decision affirming that two former employees of a national debt collection firm did not commit computer fraud, steal trade secrets or violate other state and federal laws through the creation and sharing of a spreadsheet containing passwords and protected login information.
November 17, 2025
Appeal Dropped By Agreement In Religious-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal Case

CHICAGO — Pursuant to a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed a former employee’s appeal of an Illinois federal court ruling dismissing the employee’s lawsuit alleging that she was denied a religious accommodation for the employer’s mandatory vaccination policy in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, having deemed the employee’s objections to the COVID-19 vaccine medical rather than religious.