Over thirty-five years ago, the NLRB held that an employer may not prohibit a union organizer’s access to an employer’s privately owned, but publicly accessible areas, such as an employer’s public restaurant or cafeteria,...more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that a plaintiff’s failure to properly perfect an EEOC charge is a “prudential” defense to a Title VII claim, which may be waived by the employer’s failure to promptly raise the defense in...more
6/5/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Amended Complaints ,
Appeals ,
Charge-Filing Preconditions ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Forfeiture ,
Fort Bend County Texas v Davis ,
Jurisdictional Requirements ,
Mandatory Claim-Processing Rules ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Title VII ,
Waiver Rule ,
Wrongful Termination
Plaintiffs’ attorneys in Texas have come up with a not-so-clever, but potentially effective way to circumvent mandatory arbitration agreements. In Adcock v. Five Star Rentals/Sales, Inc., (Fourth Court of Appeals, Texas,...more
In yet another pro-arbitration, employer-friendly decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning that an individual cannot pursue claims in arbitration on behalf of a class unless the arbitration clause involved clearly...more
4/25/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Arbitration ,
Consent ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Motion to Compel ,
Preemption ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS
This morning the Supreme Court sent a blockbuster case back to the Ninth Circuit to be reconsidered because the judge who actually wrote the Ninth Circuit’s majority decision had passed away before it issued. The plaintiff...more
Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a large national trucking company in its attempt to enforce an arbitration agreement against one of its independent contractor truck-drivers. New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira, No....more
1/17/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Exceptions ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Motion to Compel ,
New Prime v Oliveira ,
Question of Arbitrability ,
Reaffirmation ,
SCOTUS
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals weighed in, today, on the propriety of class action arbitration waivers under the NLRA. The Court held that such waivers violate Sections 7 and 8 of the NLRA in the context of a pending...more
8/23/2016
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Ernst & Young ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRA ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Section 7
Yesterday the Fifth Circuit benchslapped the EEOC in a case involving the agency’s criminal history “guidance.” State of Texas v. EEOC, No. 14-10949 (5th Cir. June 27, 2016). We previously blogged about the State of Texas’...more
6/29/2016
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Disparate Impact ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Imminent Harm ,
Legitimate State Interest ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Standing ,
Title VII
In a notorious case, the Arizona Court of Appeals yesterday struck down Quicken Loans’ non-solicitation covenants and confirmed that the defendants in the case were entitled to recover their attorneys’ fees. Quicken sued...more