On April 13, 2021, the United States and the State of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania State Police filed a joint motion to settle a 2014 sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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On March 15, 2021, California employees of The Merchant of Tennis, Inc. filed a class action lawsuit for various wage claims including failure to compensate non-exempt employees for undergoing COVID-19 temperature checks at the beginning of each work day
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On February 25, 2021, the Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General (“DOL”) released an audit report (“Audit Report”) with a recommendation that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issue mandatory COVID-19 safety rules for employers.
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On February 5, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled that the representation election for the proposed bargaining unit employees of Detrex Corporation (the “Employer”) would be conducted via mail-in vote.FN1 The decision was made over the objection of the Employer, who demanded a manual election
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On January 4, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (“the Board”) issued a 2-1 decision holding that an employer’s social media policy, which prohibited employees from engaging in certain communications, did not violate employees’ concerted activity rights afforded under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).
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The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals’ high bar for Title VII hostile work environment claims remains after the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case on December 7, 2020. The Eighth Circuit previously held in Paskert v. Kemna-ASA Auto Plaza, Inc, that a supervisor’s boorish behavior, “while certainly reprehensible and improper,” was not so severe or pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of employment necessary to sustain a Title VII hostile work environment claim.
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On September 8, 2020, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued new guidance regarding COVID-19 and how it interacts with the Americans with Disability Act (“ADA”) and related EEO laws. The EEOC’s guidance focused on three major categories:
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On August 31, 2020, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) issued an opinion letter (the “Opinion Letter”) regarding the workweek fluctuation method. The Opinion Letter clarifies that employees’ hours do not need to fluctuate below 40 hours per week to qualify for the fluctuating workweek calculation method.
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On August 3, 2020, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held that the Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulations in its Final Rule contravened the leave provisions established by Congress in the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (“EFMLEA”)FN4, collectively referred to as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”).
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On July 11, 2020, Colorado enacted the Public Health Emergency Whistleblower Law (“PHEW”), which was effective immediately. PHEW is intended to protect employees and independent contractors from discrimination and retaliation for raising safety and health concerns related to a public health emergency.
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On June 24, 2020, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin providing that effective July 1, 2020, the DOL will no longer pursue pre-litigation liquidated damages in all cases in its administratively resolved investigations.
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On May 25, 2020, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (“CDLE”) issued the final Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order (“COMPS Order”) #36.
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On May 19, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) issued a final rule that withdrew the “partial list of establishments” it previously viewed as having “no retail concept,” which disqualified the employees of certain commissioned retail and service establishment from the Fair Labor Standard Act’s (“FLSA”) overtime exemption.
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