The NLRB's general counsel announced on December 19, 2014 that he will proceed with thirteen (13) cases involving seventy-eight (78) charges against McDonald's USA, LLC and its franchisees. The alleged violations took place against McDonald's workers in several cities throughout the country, including: Detroit, St ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
Recently the NLRB issued its decision in Purple Communications, Inc., 361 NLRB No. 126 (2014), holding that an employer’s email system must be made available to its employees for the purpose of engaging in union activity and other protected activity under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, so long as such use ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
The National Labor Relations Board, by a vote of 3 to 2, has issued a final rule published in the Federal Register on December 15, 2014, amending the Board’s representation–case procedures to, among other things, reduce the time between the filing of a petition for representation election with the NLRB and the date of the ...
On December 9, 2014, the Supreme Court unanimously held that warehouse employees were not entitled to be compensated for time spent at the end of their shifts in security screenings. The Court held that the post-shift screening activity was not compensable because it was not “integral and indispensable” to the principal activities the ...
This is the third and final post of a three-part series on written description requirements and the developing case law under the America Invents Act (AIA).
"Genus": a class, kind, or group marked by a common characteristic(s)
"Species": a logical subdivision of a genus marked by a specific attribute
Taxonomy ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
On December 8, 2014, the U.S. Senate voted 54 to 40 to confirm Ms. Lauren McFerran, a Democrat, to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board. This keeps in place the Democrats' majority on the Board - three Members to two Republican Members. Thus, the pro-union agenda of the Board will continue.
By Edwin S. Hopson
On December 2, 2014, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved the nomination of Democrat Lauren McFerran to serve as a Member of the NLRB. Her nomination now goes to the Senate floor for consideration. It would appear she will be confirmed during the lame duck session, barring something ...
By Leila G. O'Carra
A proposed class action lawsuit filed on November 24, 2014, alleges that Uber Technologies, Inc. and others violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by obtaining criminal history reports, and taking adverse employment actions based on the information in the reports, without making disclosures required under the Act.
Uber runs ...
By Matthew P. Gunn
November 20, 2014, President Obama announced a series of executive actions aimed at helping to modernize some aspects of the immigration system which would encourage family unity and strengthen immigration options for foreign nationals studying and pursuing work in highly technical fields. At this point, the details for ...
By Sharon L. Gold
On November 17, 2014, after the end of EEOC’s fiscal year (FY 2014), the EEOC released its Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) that discussed the agency’s goals and outcomes and provided statistics for the past year. Some highlights of the PAR:
- According to the PAR, in FY 2014, the EEOC met, partially met or exceeded ...