Labor & Employment

Police union sues LAPD chief, alleging he encourages review board to discipline officers

The Los Angeles police union registered its displeasure with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck on Thursday with a federal lawsuit alleging he has a “corrupting influence” on officer discipline, the Los Angeles Times reported. The federal lawsuit accuses Beck of pressuring a review board to return guilty verdicts. That violates officers’…

May 20, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

Utah Supreme Court strikes down attorney fee schedule in workers’ comp cases

The Utah Supreme Court has struck down an attorney fee schedule for workers’ compensation cases and the law that authorized it. The court ruled on Wednesday in a case challenging the sliding-scale fees and a fee cap established by the Utah Labor Commission. The Legal Profession Blog has highlights from…

May 20, 2016 11:09 AM CDT

Company sued by EEOC can collect attorney fees absent a ruling on the merits, Supreme Court rules

A company sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may be able to collect attorney fees even when there is no ruling on the merits, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a unanimous opinion. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the opinion in a case that interprets a Title…

May 19, 2016 10:33 AM CDT

New overtime pay rules expected to affect millions of workers

New U.S. Department of Labor overtime pay rules provided Wednesday are expected to add millions of workers to the ranks of those who must be paid time-and-a-half when their work week exceeds 40 hours. Announced this week by the White House, the revised rules, which implement the Fair Labor Standards…

May 18, 2016 1:50 PM CDT

Early plaintiff in Uber case challenges $100M settlement, says he feels ‘utterly betrayed’ by lawyer

One of the first drivers to file suit in what has become 240,000-member class action against Uber Technologies Inc. has gone on the record in opposition to a $100 million settlement of the case over the smartphone ride-sourcing app. Saying that he felt “utterly betrayed” by class counsel Shannon Liss-Riordan,…

May 16, 2016 5:20 PM CDT

US is investigating Hollywood hiring practices, ACLU says

The United States is reportedly investigating Hollywood hiring practices after a study by the American Civil Liberties Union concluded women were being excluded from directing positions as a result of gender bias and stereotyping. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance have launched “a wide-ranging…

May 12, 2016 7:22 AM CDT

Law firm suit seeks pay disgorgement and punitives, alleges ex-partners conspired to form new firm

A Southern California law firm has sued four former partners, contending that they spent nearly 18 months planning to launch a competing worker’s compensation practice before Adelson, Testan, Brundo, Novell & Jimenez learned of the plan and fired them on April 4. Asserting claims including breach of contract, breach of…

May 11, 2016 4:25 PM CDT

Law partner who had lifeguard job sees age-discrimination suit over Speedo rule revived on appeal

A Long Island bankruptcy attorney who moonlights as a lifeguard is back in the swim of things, as far as his age-discrimination suit against the state of New York over a required bathing suit is concerned. In a decision last week, the Appellate Division, Second Department, said a trial court…

May 10, 2016 11:00 AM CDT

Verizon relies on remaining employees to perform new tasks as strike drags on

While unionized Verizon workers continue to strike into a fourth week, non-union employees and contractors are filling in, Quartz reports. Quartz reporter Hanna Kozlowska ordered Verizon’s FiOS service, and the installation was carried out by these nonstriking employees. “Several hours into the installation, one of the technicians casually dropped that…

May 6, 2016 12:10 PM CDT

Judge rejects Uber’s independent-contractor argument in sexual assault tort claim

Women who claim that Uber drivers sexually assaulted them can go forward with their tort claim against the company, a San Francisco federal judge ruled this week. The court denied Uber’s motion to dismiss the case on the basis that the drivers in question were independent contractors, the Recorder reports.…

May 6, 2016 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyers sue another Florida strip club over wages and overtime

Soon after getting a $1.2 million class-action settlement with a Key West, Florida, strip club for not paying wages to dancers it treated as employees, two lawyers filed another federal lawsuit with similar allegations against another club, the Miami Herald reports. That brings the total to three such suits on…

May 6, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

Proposed revision of ABA model ethics rule to ban broad range of discrimination sparks controversy

A proposed revision (PDF) to one of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct would expressly bar lawyers from bias in practice-related matters. The types of discrimination barred by the proposed rule cover more classes of people than some state laws currently protect. While some members of the profession welcome…

May 5, 2016 8:45 AM CDT

Restricting bathrooms for transgender employees violates Title VII, says EEOC

It’s a civil rights violation to deny transgender employees access to a bathroom that comports with their gender identity, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission stated in a fact sheet posted Monday. The agency considers discrimination against transgender individuals to be sex discrimination, which is prohibited under Title VII of the…

May 3, 2016 2:40 PM CDT

Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law gets green light; SCOTUS declines to hear challenge

A Seattle law raising the minimum wage for workers in the city to $15 got a green light on Monday from the nation’s top court. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a franchise group’s challenge to the worker pay raise imposed by Seattle, which is in the forefront of…

May 3, 2016 9:45 AM CDT

NFL player Tom Brady adds superstar lawyer Ted Olson to his team to fight suspension

A week ago on Monday, quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots got bad news from a federal appeals court. It concerned a four-game suspension imposed in connection with alleged underinflation of footballs during the American Football Conference championship game in 2015. By Friday, Brady had a superstar lawyer…

May 2, 2016 12:30 PM CDT