The National Labor Relations Board issued two decisions of major interest to employers on December 14, 2017 – (1) adopting a new, more balanced test for evaluating whether workplace rules infringe upon employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act and (2) overturning the broad standard for determining joint employer status and returning to the prior, more practical standard.
Continue Reading NLRB Overturns Employee Handbook and Joint Employer Standards
The EEOC’s Civility Training Program – Watch Out For That NLRB Charge!
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced it was offering a training program on respectful workplaces as an alternative to traditional harassment prevention training. This training was developed following the issuance of the Report of the Co-Chairs of the EEOC’s Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace, The press release included a quote from EEOC Acting Chair and Co-Chair of the Select Task Force Victoria Lipnic that stated, “These trainings incorporate the report’s recommendations on compliance, workplace civility, and bystander intervention training. I believe the trainings can have a real impact on workplace culture, and I hope employers make use of them.”
Continue Reading The EEOC’s Civility Training Program – Watch Out For That NLRB Charge!
Fired for Kneeling During the Anthem? Maybe Not So Fast…
It’s Ravens-Steelers week. All talk should be on whether T-Sizzle sacks Big Ben, can Flacco start getting the ball to his wideouts, and will the Ravens regroup following their disastrous showing in London? However, unless you are living under a rock with no Twitter account, you know what the talk is—will the Steelers stay in the tunnel again during the National Anthem (they say no), will players kneel or express their political views in any other manner, will fans start burning player jerseys in front of the stadium? This is no idle question, due to an online petition to remove the Ray Lewis statue outside the stadium after he knelt during the anthem at the last game, the Maryland Stadium Authority has placed extra security around the statue of the Ravens legend.
Continue Reading Fired for Kneeling During the Anthem? Maybe Not So Fast…
What, Did the Judge Draft Ezekiel Elliott for his Fantasy Football Team?
Last week we had our firm’s Fantasy Football draft. Ezekiel Elliott went at the end of Round 2, behind usual top running back picks David Johnson and La’Veon Bell, but also behind lesser runners Melvin Gordon and Jordan Howard. Everyone knows that Zeke would have been a top five draft choice had he not already been suspended by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (aka the most hated man in Foxboro, MA), whose decision was then upheld by a labor arbitrator. I’m kicking myself for taking Atlanta’s running back Devonta Freeman instead of Elliott. Why, you say?
Continue Reading What, Did the Judge Draft Ezekiel Elliott for his Fantasy Football Team?
Workplace Lessons From Charlottesville
So, following the violent events and controversy surrounding the white nationalist/supremacist rally in Charlottesville, it was reported by Berkeleyside that an employee was fired from his job because of his participation in the rally. (The story was subsequently updated to state that the employee voluntarily resigned during a conversation with his employer about his involvement at the rally). But the initial story raised questions about whether an employer can take action against an employee for engaging in off-duty activities that an employer may find repugnant – such as participating in a white supremacist rally.
Continue Reading Workplace Lessons From Charlottesville
Animal Subcontracting – Getting the Union’s Goat!
Last year, Fiona’s sister told her that a herd of goats, complete with a goat herder, had moved into the park next to her house. They were brought in to clear certain park areas of overgrown vegetation. What a charming, effective, and environmentally-friendly solution! Apparently Western Michigan University had the same thought, because it also brought in goats to clear areas of the campus. But a union has decided to butt in and has filed a grievance against the University, claiming that the goats were performing “union work!” (We can see it now, brave goats crossing a picket line to get to their jobs!)
Continue Reading Animal Subcontracting – Getting the Union’s Goat!
The NLRB Thinks High School Sports Referees Can Unionize!
I became the commissioner of my daughter’s county basketball league when she was nine. No one else would “step up.” The prior year, a player had slapped another player in the handshake line at the end of a game in retribution for rough play (by an 8-year-old girl!) and no game commissioner was there to intervene. I decided to take on the role of cool-headed logistics manager: a non-coach who could make sure the game schedule was set, the rules were observed, and each game had a designated adult in attendance to avoid bad sports behavior (whether by players, coaches or parents). But this “cool headed commissioner” is ripping mad at the NLRB (or, to be more precise, the NLRB majority) for concluding that junior and senior high school lacrosse referees are employees and not independent contractors entitled to unionize!
Continue Reading The NLRB Thinks High School Sports Referees Can Unionize!
The Government Seems Confused About Class Action Waivers
The issue of whether employees can be required to sign arbitration agreements that contain waivers of their right to file a class or collective action over employment-related disputes is one that has drawn much attention – and much conflict – in recent years. The Obama administration, it seemed, steadfastly opposed such waivers. Under the Trump administration, which (regardless of your politics) has had a slow and bumpy transition of federal agency leadership, the agencies do not appear to be operating from the same playbook – as evidenced by recent actions by the National Labor Relations Board, (NLRB), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB).
Continue Reading The Government Seems Confused About Class Action Waivers
Are College Football Players Employees? The NLRB General Counsel Thinks So!
Bueller?…Bueller?…Bueller?…
Griffin?…Griffin?…Griffin?….
Readers of this blog likely know the first reference. But, how about the second? Give yourself a hand if you said “Richard F. Griffin, Jr., General Counsel (GC) of the National Labor Relations Board.” GC Griffin, a holdover from the Obama administration, decided last week that the new Trump administration was not going to have all the fun in Washington, D.C. What is it that GC Griffin did, you ask? Well, he decided that your favorite running back from Stanford, or that dynamic wide receiver from Northwestern, are employees under the National Labor Relations Act, entitled to full protection under the Act!
Continue Reading Are College Football Players Employees? The NLRB General Counsel Thinks So!
DOL’s Attempt to Interfere with Attorney-Client Relationships Blocked by Texas Court
DOL’s Attempt to Interfere with Attorney-Client Relationships Blocked by Texas Court
Back in March of this year, the Department of Labor (DOL) tried to interfere with employers’ confidential communications with their attorneys. Some law firms surrendered, ran, or hid, saying they would no longer have the kinds of conversations DOL wanted to interfere with. Shawe Rosenthal, along with other Worklaw Network firms, stood up and fought. We filed a lawsuit against the DOL to protect our clients’ interests and maintain the integrity of the attorney-client relationship. Two similar lawsuits were filed against the DOL, and in one of them, employers can consider themselves victorious following an Order from a United States District Court in Texas holding the DOL’s new rule unlawful and setting it aside.
Continue Reading DOL’s Attempt to Interfere with Attorney-Client Relationships Blocked by Texas Court