Although the government is often a thorn in the side of many of our clients, it is not every day that we decide to sue the government. Today was a different story.

On March 31, 2016, Shawe Rosenthal, on behalf of the Worklaw®Network, a nationwide association of independent labor and employment law firms of which we are a member, filed suit against the U.S. Department of Labor to block the Department’s new interpretation of the persuader rule. A copy of the complaint can be viewed here.

We discussed the new persuader rule in a previous post. To reiterate briefly, a federal law called the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act requires people who assist employers to fend off union organizing drives to file reports with the Department of Labor. The law contains an “advice exemption” under which employers and their attorneys do not have to report confidential information protected by the attorney-client relationship.  For decades, the Department has correctly held that the “advice exemption” applies to lawyers who advise clients concerning union organizing drives, as long as the lawyers do not communicate directly with employees.  Under the new interpretation, effective July 1, 2016, the Department has substantially narrowed the advice exemption.  (Actually, the Department would say it substantially narrowed the exemption.  I would say the Department completely eliminated it.)
Continue Reading Shawe Rosenthal and Worklaw Just Sued the DOL