Labor & Employment

New NLRB rulings back bus driver fired over Web comments, limit hospital’s social media policy

In a new ruling in a hot area of employment law, the National Labor Relations Board has backed a tour bus driver fired for making comments critical of his employer in Facebook and email comments that also suggested fellow workers should unionize. The NLRB agreed with an administrative judge that…

May 8, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

Poster rule requiring notice of union rights is struck down by DC Circuit

A federal appeals court has struck down a rule requiring employers to post a notice advising workers of their rights, including the right to form or join a union. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the rule in an opinion (PDF) issued on…

May 8, 2013 4:30 PM CDT

6 more lawyers to exit Ogletree for Littler, join ex-partner who sent ‘scathing’ email to Ogletree

After an unusual high-profile dispute between a former partner of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart and the firm, another six lawyers are expected to leave the international labor and employment boutique Monday to join competitor Littler Mendelson, their new firm has announced. Within the last two weeks, another seven…

May 6, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

EEOC obtains record verdict for mentally disabled workers who claimed mistreatment at turkey plant

A federal jury in Iowa has awarded $240 million to compensate 32 mentally disabled men who claimed mistreatment while working at a turkey processing plant. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued on behalf of the men who worked at Henry’s Turkey Service in Atalissa and lived in a plant bunkhouse.…

May 2, 2013 3:17 PM CDT

BigLaw partner sent ‘scathing’ exit email defending recruit to colleagues, clients

Updated: In a highly unusual public criticism of his now-former law firm, a partner of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart complained to colleagues and clients in an email as he exited in March about what he called a “completely unacceptable” response to a female shareholder’s complaint that she had…

May 1, 2013 1:32 PM CDT

Volunteer lawyers helping Boston business owners note employee, insurance issues

Corrected: Business owners dealing with the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings will be facing legal issues ranging from insurance coverage to compensation for injured employees. More than 400 businesses were forced to close during the bombing investigation and a handful suffered property damage, according to the Boston Globe. Insurance…

Apr 29, 2013 10:38 AM CDT

SCOTUS mulls mixed-motive retaliation; Scalia sees no need to ‘psychoanalyze Congress’ for intent

Supreme Court justices on Wednesday considered whether Congress intended to make retaliation cases more difficult to prove than other bias claims when it amended Title VII in 1991. A lawyer for Dr. Naiel Nassar argued that his client should win if he proved retaliation was a motivating factor when his…

Apr 25, 2013 1:41 PM CDT

Indicted journalist is out at Reuters. Were Boston Marathon tweets a factor?

A deputy social media editor at Reuters says he has lost his job after being federally indicted on charges he helped the hacking group Anonymous deface a former employer’s news website. Matthew Keys said in a tweet and a Tumblr post that he plans to fight what he described as…

Apr 23, 2013 6:09 PM CDT

Ex-Ogletree VP said to be working at Littler, 6 other Ogletree partners to follow

Earlier this month, Reuters published an article announcing that a former vice president had resigned from Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart and planned to take a group of lawyers from the national labor and employment boutique to another law firm. Now it appears that Don Prophete is actually in…

Apr 23, 2013 4:49 PM CDT

Pregnancy complications led to Latham firing secretary, suit says

A former legal secretary at Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C., claims in a federal lawsuit that the firm subjected her to “outrageous, misogynistic attitude, behavior, and treatment of a woman that shocks the conscience.” The $11 million suit by Demetria Peart claims the law firm fired her in January…

Apr 23, 2013 1:04 PM CDT

If worker social media accounts are private, how can financial firms check for trading issues?

Amidst a growing trend of protecting individuals’ social media accounts from employer scrutiny, securities regulators are trying to put the brakes on burgeoning privacy legislation that has been pondered in 35 states and enacted in at least five. Dozens of new bills have already been introduced this year. The problem…

Apr 22, 2013 9:55 PM CDT

Could better regulatory enforcement have prevented deadly Texas fertilizer plant explosion?

Updated: As responders continue searching for more survivors in the decimated remains of a Texas fertilizer plant and its surrounding neighborhood after a Wednesday night explosion, authorities have recovered 12 bodies and say more than 200 people were injured by the blast, according to the Associated Press and Fox News.…

Apr 19, 2013 6:02 PM CDT

Fatal fertilizer plant blast a ‘nightmare scenario’; Texas plant told EPA explosion could not occur

An explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant Wednesday night could be heard at least 45 miles away, causing massive damage and killing and injuring an unknown number of people in and around the small farming town of West. Officials estimate that up to 15 people have been killed, although a…

Apr 18, 2013 6:46 PM CDT

Lawyers ask feds to probe claims Maine governor pressured hearing officers to rule for employers

A group of employment lawyers is seeking a federal investigation of the governor of Maine, citing news reports that he and other officials have pressured hearing officers to rule for the state in administrative cases about unemployment compensation benefits. In a Monday letter (PDF), the local chapter of the National…

Apr 17, 2013 4:40 PM CDT

King & Spalding blocks employee access to personal email accounts, but offers an alternative

Citing security concerns, a major law firm has blocked its workers from accessing their personal email on its computers. In a memo to employees on Monday, King & Spalding said it had been advised by consultants that accessing personal email accounts such as Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail from the law…

Apr 16, 2013 7:30 PM CDT