In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 et al., held that non-union members cannot be compelled to pay agency fees to the union, delivering a blow to public sector unions. In doing so, the Court overruled Abood v. Detroit Board of ...
By Julie Laemmle; Alicia Humphrey, Wyatt Summer Associate 2018
In a recently released ruling, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) dismissed PYRAT RUM’s opposition to registration of PIRATE PISS for beer, ale and lager. Patrón Spirits International AG v. Conyngham Brewing Company, Opposition No. 91226939 (June 8, 2018 ...
On June 27, 2018 the Supreme Court issued its most important labor law decision in the past 40 years. In those four decades, a case named Abood was the leading precedent that allowed public sector unions to charge a so-called “agency fee” to nonmembers of the union for collective bargaining activities of the union. No more.
In its 5-4 decision ...
As discussed in a previous post, the Trump Administration is committed to taking an aggressive stance on worksite enforcement actions. Last month the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agency announced that in the first seven months of this fiscal year, worksite enforcement cases have already doubled the number of cases from ...
In a previous blog post, we wrote about the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB”) decision in Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, Ltd., where the NLRB reversed its Obama-era change in evaluating joint-employment for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). The NLRB’s return to the pre-Browning-Ferris ...
In Rizo v. Yovino, the Ninth Circuit Court recently held that an employer cannot use an employee’s prior salary history as a ‘factor other than sex’ upon which a wage differential may be used under the Equal Pay Act. The EPA prohibits employers from paying women less for the same job unless the difference is based on merit ...
By Lexy Gross
There’s a question on most job applications that will make a candidate sigh in relief or disappointment, with no middle ground: “have you ever been convicted of any misdemeanor, felony, or other crime?” If you check the “yes” box, you know there’s little chance you’ll get a call back, much less an interview.
Of course ...
The Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop decision by Justice Kennedy follows the the unwritten Slender Reed Rule which goes like this: If SCOTUS has to decide a case with narrow facts that could lead to a precedent that’s either slender or rotund, go with the slender reed and save the big issues for another day. The slender reed Justice Kennedy ...