Overlawyered » wage and hour suits

Labor and employment law roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:08:17 +0000

Gov. Walker’s public sector labor reforms popular with Wisconsin voters, and have saved taxpayers a fortune [Morrissey, Fund, Marquette poll (public favors new law by 50-43 margin] What would FDR say? [Dalmia, The Daily]
“Why you should stop attending diversity training” [Suzanne Lucas, CBS MarketWatch, following up on our earlier post]
The gang that couldn’t regulate straight: “Court rebuffs Labor Department on sales rep overtime” [Dan Fisher, Forbes] Lack of quorum trips up NLRB on “quickie”/ambush elections scheme [Workplace Prof]
Not all claimed “gun rights” are authentic, some come at expense of the vital principle of at-will employment [Bainbridge]
Brace yourself, legal academics at work on a Restatement of Employment Law [Michael Fox]
“Why Delaware’s Proposed Workplace Privacy Act Is All Wrong” [Molly DiBianca]
USA Today on lawyers’ role in growth of Social Security disability rolls [Ira Stoll]

Tags: Delaware, employment at will, guns, labor unions, privacy, wage and hour suits, Wisconsin

Labor and employment law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Only 71 percent of West Coast restaurants found to violate wage/hour law

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:08:06 +0000

Jon Hyman is surprised the number isn’t 100 percent:

What’s amazing to me is that the percentage of non-compliant employers is only 71 percent. I remain convinced, as I’ve pointed out before, that I can walk into any company and find a wage and hour violation. The FLSA and its regulations are that complex, twisted, and anachronistic.

Tags: California, restaurants, wage and hour suits

Only 71 percent of West Coast restaurants found to violate wage/hour law is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Labor and employment law roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:40:33 +0000

Arbitrator: felonious Montgomery County, Maryland cops should keep disability pay [Examiner] “Cop who took naked photos of rape victim can keep pension” [NY Post] Cop who pepper-sprayed UC Davis protesters is still on job, and maybe that’s how they’d have it [Radley Balko]
“Billions in retroactive liability” in pharma detailer wage/hour action before SCOTUS [Marcia Coyle, NLJ] And USA Today chose a faulty “worker discontent” theme on wage/hour case, since as class actions these suits are lawyer-driven;
Australia: “Worker injured during sex gets compensation payout” [News.com.au]
“Courts are finally starting to apply ADAAA—and it ain’t pretty” [Jon Hyman] ADA: “Judge Rules In Favor of Fired Employee With Bipolar Disorder” [ABC]
NLRB goes after Hyatt on employee handbook language [Gary Shapiro, Examiner] Union claims Indiana right-to-work law violates Thirteenth Amendment ban on slavery [James Sherk, NRO]
EEOC: sex discrimination law bars bias against transgender employees [AP, Hyman] “EEOC Obtains Substantial Settlement in Obesity Discrimination Suit” [Disabilities Law]
Law journal prediction: adherents of racism will claim Title VII protection [Lawrence D. Rosenthal, Temple L. Rev. via Workplace Prof]

Tags: Australia, disabled rights, EEOC, labor unions, Maryland, obesity, police, transgender, wage and hour suits, workers' compensation

Labor and employment law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Labor and employment roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:03:55 +0000

“Increasing Employment Discrimination Awards to Take Account of Adverse Tax Consequences” [TaxProf]
NRA’s wrong on this: “Bill to bar employer bias against gun owners gets OK from Missouri House” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
ALJ: “we are an at-will employer” handbook statement violates NLRA [Duane Morris Institute]
“What the EEOC’s Strategic Plan Means for Employers” [Laura Harshbarger, NYLELR]
Connecticut bill would require public schools to teach organized labor history [Raised S.B. No. 304; background from a supporter, PDF; h/t Fountain]
SEIU hand seen in “Occupy”-allied sit-ins targeting GOP politicians [Richard Pollack, Daily Caller]
Wage and Hour Litigation is Big—and Getting Bigger” [Shannon Green, Corporate Counsel]

Tags: Connecticut, EEOC, guns, labor unions, Missouri, schools, taxes, wage and hour suits, workplace

Labor and employment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Employers grow reluctant to offer internships following complaints”

Walter Olson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:44:32 +0000

Gee, thanks, lawsuit-filers: “Internships can be the key to the start of a successful career, but the positions are getting harder to find because a lot of employers are now nervous to offer them.” [KHOU] A New York attorney has filed a much-publicized series of suits seeking class action status to represent unpaid interns at organizations including Harper’s Bazaar magazine and the Charlie Rose show. [Atlantic Wire]

Relatedly or otherwise, a federal judge has dismissed the class action filed by social activist Jonathan Tasini alleging that the Huffington Post was violating the rights of its unpaid bloggers by basing a profitable media platform on their work. [Reuters, AP]

Tags: minimum wage, wage and hour suits

“Employers grow reluctant to offer internships following complaints” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Labor and employment roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:21:00 +0000

Two retaliation cases that should scare employers [Robin Shea via Jon Hyman]
Maryland law redefining independent contractors as employees vexes flooring business [Bethany Rodgers, Frederick News Post, editorial, earlier] New York Times on minimum wage 1987 vs. 2012: 1987 made more sense [Mark Perry] E-discovery drives up cost of wage and hour litigation [Jon Hyman]
Irony alert: “Unionized workers organize against National Labor Relations Board” [Adam Jablonowski, Daily Caller]
Proposals to create new rights for public employee unions [Ivan Osorio/CEI, federal; Jack Mann/CEI, California] Courtesy LA taxpayers, garage monitor at L.A. Department of Water & Power makes $74K/year as compared with $21K elsewhere [L.A. Times via Amy Alkon] Connecticut governor proceeds with plans to herd personal care attendants into union [Trey Kovacs/CEI]
Colorado measure regulating use of credit records in hiring is solution in search of problem [Mark Hillman, Colorado Springs Gazette]
Connecticut proposal to ban unemployment discrimination heats up [Daniel Schwartz]
German high court orders universities to raise salaries for starting professors [Walter Russell Mead]

Tags: Colorado, Connecticut, discrimination law, Germany, labor unions, Los Angeles, Maryland, public employment, wage and hour suits, workplace

Labor and employment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Annals of wage and hour law

Walter Olson — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:44:26 +0000

New York’s notoriously stringent Department of Labor has fined a pizza shop owner $5,535 for not giving his employees enough polo shirts to wear — at least five for those who work five days a week, even if they work only a few hours a day. Owner Christian King

was told that an appeal would take years due to the backlog and the fine would accrue with interest….

“What happened to him is not unusual,” agreed Richard De Groot, a Syracuse consultant who advises businesses — including King’s — on human resource issues. He represents employers across much of the Eastern Seaboard and says New York is unusually demanding.
“There is so much in the way of state rules and laws,” he said, adding that he would advise some businesses, such as manufacturers, to simply look to elsewhere.

[Albany TImes-Union via Stoll]

Tags: New York, restaurants, small business, wage and hour suits

Annals of wage and hour law is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Employment law roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:12:54 +0000

Fueled by liberal foundation grants and federal money, “Restaurant Opportunities Center” launches litigation campaign against chain-eatery leader Darden [Orlando Sentinel] Still to be explained: why the Detroit Chamber of Commerce would be so happy to announce a business-backed non-profit’s funding for ROC.
Major employment plaintiff’s firm Outten & Golden promotes Hearst magazine intern class action [Romenesko, Reason]
“Retaliation Charges Pose Growing Threat to Free Speech” [Hans Bader, CEI]
Debate: “Should state outlaw requirements that job applicants be employed?” [Pia Lopez/Ben Boychuk, Sacramento Bee]
“Is it time to do away with McDonnell Douglas?” [burden-shifting test in job bias cases; Jon Hyman]
Supposed exemption from OSHA for under-10-employee businesses is mostly myth [Eric Conn, EBG]
WSJ is kind enough to pick up my item on Italian labor law professors as a “Notable and Quotable” today;
New York Times fires 23 employees after searching their emails and finding that they had forwarded blonde and ethnic jokes and other common forms of workplace humor [eleven years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: discrimination law, Ford Foundation, hostile environment, New York Times, OSHA, restaurants, wage and hour suits, workplace

Employment law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Labor and employment law roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:18:19 +0000

“Off-clock work: Flintstone laws in a Buck Rogers world” [Robin Shea] “NY Times offers unpaid internships after reporting on their questionable legality” [Poynter]
Walker labor reforms in Wisconsin get results [Christian Schneider: City Journal, NY Post] “Watch the Walker recall election” [John Steele Gordon, Commentary]
No prize for spotting fallacy: complaints that too many Europeans are collecting state disability payments construed as “demonizing disabled people” [Debbie Jolly, ENIL]
“What could be worse than a self-righteous TSA agent? Answer: A TSA agents’ union advocate.” [Ken, Popehat]
“Why Mitt Romney likes firing people” [Suzanne Lucas]
Free speech and union dues: Tim Sandefur on the oral argument in Knox v. SEIU [PLF Liberty Blog] More: Jack Mann, CEI.
My book on employment and labor law, The Excuse Factory, is alas still not available in online formats but you might find a bargain on a hardcover [Free Press/Simon & Schuster]

Tags: labor unions, Mitt Romney, The Excuse Factory, wage and hour suits, Wisconsin

Labor and employment law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Firing of employee for working at lunch

Walter Olson — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:19:30 +0000

It makes no seeming sense unless you’re aware of the grim legalities for employers whose “nonexempt” employees work off the clock [Richard Bales/Workplace Prof, BoingBoing, ABC "Good Morning America"]

Tags: wage and hour suits

Firing of employee for working at lunch is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system