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Mealey's Employment

  • March 06, 2026

    Class Action DOGE Data Privacy Suit Survives Dismissal Motion

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge denied a motion filed by a federal agency and the U.S. Department of Treasury to dismiss an amended putative class complaint alleging unlawful disclosure of federal employees’ personal data to the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), holding that the employees sufficiently alleged damages under the U.S. Privacy Act of 1974 by asserting that they purchased identity theft protection services following public concerns about DOGE’s access to government records.

  • March 06, 2026

    Expedited Discovery Ordered Related To Nonrenewal Of FEMA Workers In RIF Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — The federal government defendants in a lawsuit by unions, groups and local governments challenging an executive order (EO) and memorandum implementing the EO that resulted in widespread layoffs of federal workers filed a 49-page Microsoft Excel document on March 5 in a federal court in California in response to an expedited discovery order issued two days earlier regarding “the individual(s) involved in the decisions regarding the renewal of” Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) cadre of on-call response/recovery (CORE) employees.

  • March 06, 2026

    Split 6th Circuit Issues New Arbitration Ruling In Fired Worker’s Harassment Case

    CINCINNATI — Upon finding that a fired Tennessee paralegal who sued her employer for discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation had “sufficient factual material” to state a claim for sexual harassment, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority, in affirming and remanding a lower court’s ruling, addressed “an issue of first impression” and held that the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (EFAA) bars arbitration of all of the employee’s claims.

  • March 05, 2026

    Workday Takes Issue With Discovery Letter, Exhibits In AI Discrimination Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal magistrate judge in California on March 4 granted an administrative motion to remove an exhibit from a contested joint discovery letter that defendant Workday Inc. claims plaintiffs filed without consent and that varies drastically from the last draft version it saw.  The case involves allegations that Workday’s artificial intelligence applicant screening program discriminates against minorities and those with disabilities.

  • March 04, 2026

    DOJ Abruptly Seeks Withdrawal Of Dismissal Motion In Cases Over EOs Targeting Firms

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal agencies and agency heads filed a motion on March 3 in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to withdraw their motion filed one day earlier seeking voluntary dismissal of four consolidated appeals following trial court rulings for four law firms that separately sued after each was targeted in March and April 2025 executive orders (EOs) in which President Donald J. Trump described the firms’ “risks” to the country.

  • March 04, 2026

    Immigration Judges Tell U.S. High Court To Deny Speech Policy Dispute Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) says, in opposing a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), that the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel’s ruling vacating dismissal of a complaint challenging a federal employee speech policy would be “premature and unnecessary” under the factors established in Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich and that the ruling was “consistent with the party presentation principle” and the court’s own precedent.

  • March 02, 2026

    Supreme Court Denies Puerto Rico Baseball Franchisee’s Antitrust Law Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 2 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by former investor-operators of a Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico baseball club asking whether baseball’s antitrust exemption that was established in a 104-year-old decision and confirmed in rulings in two other cases should be discarded or narrowed to only those three cases in a dispute with the league and a group of teams, corporate entities and leadership.

  • March 02, 2026

    Top Hat Plan Administrator Urges Supreme Court To Skip Cert Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Feb. 27 respondent brief that the U.S. Supreme Court requested, the trust administrator for “top hat” deferred compensation and retirement plans contends that there is “no bona fide split” on a question regarding equitable relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, that the petitioners don’t even argue that there is a split on the other question concerning preemption and that “[n]o guidance or uniformity is needed in this unusual factual context.”

  • March 02, 2026

    Medical Corp. Won’t Get Rehearing Of High Court’s Denial In Damages Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 2 denied a petition for rehearing filed by a bankrupt medical corporation and its chief scientific officer of a denial of a petition for writ of certiorari in which they sought review of a California appellate court’s award of punitive damages to a former employee who sued for breach of contract and conversion.

  • March 02, 2026

    5th Circuit Affirms Standard Of Review, Denial Of ERISA Severance Benefits

    NEW ORLEANS — Distinguishing a sister circuit’s ruling that upheld an award of benefits under the same Employee Retirement Income Security Act severance plan following de novo review, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion agreed with the lower court that the abuse-of-discretion standard applies and substantial evidence supported denial of benefits under the plan’s “good reason” clause.

  • February 27, 2026

    9th Circuit Vacates Preliminary Injunction In Collective Bargaining EO Case

    PASADENA, Calif. — Citing its reasoning in an earlier stay order, including an unlikelihood of success by the challengers of the March executive order (EO), the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals  on Feb. 26 vacated a trial court’s preliminary injunction issued in a case by six unions suing over the EO that limited certain federal workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.

  • February 27, 2026

    Judge Dismisses xAI’s Employee Poaching, Trade Secrets Claims Against OpenAI

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted OpenAI Inc.’s motion to dismiss an amended complaint in which xAI accused competitor OpenAI of violating the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL), writing that xAI’s allegations relate to the conduct of eight former employees who left for OpenAI but not “any misconduct by OpenAI.”

  • February 25, 2026

    Petitions Involving Worker Disclosures, Unions, More Denied By Supreme Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied review of cases regarding the use of an “opt-out” procedure for employees in class action suits, whether the federal Age Discrimination Act applies to medical residency, responsibilities of unions to represent employees in termination cases involving hearsay and whether it was right to dismiss a suit against a state law that prohibits retaliation against employees who refuse to attend meetings where religious or political matters are discussed.

  • February 25, 2026

    U.S. High Court Won’t Review Jury Verdict For VA On Title VII, Retaliation Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a Department of Veterans Affairs pharmacist asking to review an appellate panel’s order affirming a federal Florida District Court jury’s ruling in favor of the VA on Title VII and Civil Rights Act of 1964 claims for further scrutiny of jury instructions and a summary judgment decision based on a prior ruling in the case.

  • February 25, 2026

    U.S. High Court: Yearsley Doesn’t Provide Immunity To Federal Contractors

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yearsley v. W.A. Ross Construction Co. provides federal contractors with a possible merits defense only and not immunity, and so a ruling denying a contractor protection under Yearsley is not immediately appealable, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Feb. 25 in a forced labor class case against the operator of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center.

  • February 25, 2026

    Judge Denies Class Certification In Amazon Wage Suit As 2022 Briefs Are ‘Outdated’

    DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado denied a 2022 motion for class certification filed by an Amazon worker who alleges that he and others were incorrectly paid overtime based on a pay rate that did not include holiday incentive pay (HIP), opining that the discussion of superiority is now “outdated” following a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court in September 2024 that “seemingly resolved the ‘central issue’ of this case.”

  • February 24, 2026

    High Court Won’t Hear Speech Protection Case Of Police Chief Axed For Racist Texts

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 23 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a fired California city police chief asking the court to settle “an intractable 7-5 circuit split over how courts determine whether speech addresses a matter of public concern” that was exacerbated by the dismissal of her claims of retaliation and conspiracy pursuant to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that she alleged in a lawsuit filed against her employer after her termination for forwarding reportedly racist text messages.

  • February 24, 2026

    High Court Rejects Boeing’s Petition In RLA Preemption Dispute With Pilots Union

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 23 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the Boeing Co. asking the court to address whether state law claims brought against third parties that are unable to be resolved without interpreting a collective bargaining agreement between an airline and its workers are preempted by the Railway Labor Act in a dispute with the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) over statements made regarding the safety and airworthiness of the 737 MAX for inclusion in the union’s agreement.

  • February 24, 2026

    Employers To Pay $1.7M In Attorney Fees Over Invasive Application Questions

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge granted final approval to a settlement of $1 per class member, amounting to approximately $172,000, and granted a motion for attorney fees of $1,775,000 to the plaintiffs’ attorneys to resolve class action claims against multiple employers for requiring job applicants to answer invasive medical inquiries, including when one plaintiff’s last menstrual period was, in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • February 24, 2026

    Cross-Petitions Denied In Supreme Court FLSA Collective Lawsuit Notices Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 23 denied cross-petitions for a writ of certiorari filed by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. and four former food servers regarding a dispute over 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).

  • February 24, 2026

    Supreme Court Won’t Review Church Autonomy Decision In Minister Defamation Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 23 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former director of a general mission board of a regional cooperative missions and ministry organization seeking a ruling on church autonomy decisions after a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority upheld dismissal of a defamation lawsuit he filed against the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention Inc. (NAMB).

  • February 23, 2026

    U.S. Supreme Court Denies Service Members’ 2 Vaccine Mandate Petitions

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 23 denied two petitions filed by members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force that asked the justices to consider in two class cases whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) allows for their reinstatement following their refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine to include awards of back pay and retirement points.

  • February 23, 2026

    City Waives Response To Officers’ Petition For Review Of COVID Shot Data Suit Toss

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The city of Chicago waived its right to respond to a petition for writ of certiorari filed by current and former police officers asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address a circuit split regarding discovery and determine if a decision in an early 20th century smallpox case “should be limited or overturned in favor of a tiers-of-scrutiny approach in assessing First Amendment religious discrimination claims” in challenging the dismissal of claims that collection of their COVID-19 testing results and vaccination statuses violated federal and state law.

  • February 23, 2026

    White Sox, MLB Seek Dismissal Of Former Prospect’s Vaccine-Related Injury Lawsuit

    CHICAGO — Contending that it is untimely and suffers from other deficiencies, the Chicago White Sox (CWS) and Major League Baseball moved to dismiss the complaint of a former pitching prospect alleging negligence and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in requiring that he be vaccinated for COVID-19 and in treating the symptoms that resulted from the vaccination and ultimately ended his career.

  • February 20, 2026

    5 Decades And Counting: Union, EEOC Case Still Unsettled After 2nd Circuit Ruling

    NEW YORK — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission failed to persuade the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to overrule a federal judge’s denial of a proposed consent decree reached with a New York-based union and its affiliated associations that would have settled racial discrimination claims in litigation for more than 50 years; the court instead affirmed that the agreement was not “fair and reasonable.”