By George J. Miller
On June 20, 2011, in addressing what Justice Antonin Scaliacalled, "one of the most expansive class actions ever," the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much anticipated decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes. The Court held that the lower federal courts had improperly certified the case--filed by just three current ...
By Glen M. Krebs
On May 26, 2011, the U.S.Supreme Court in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Whiting, 563 U.S. ____ (2011) upheld the Legal Arizona Workers Act. This case does not involve the (in)famous SB 1070 Arizona law which requires police to check the immigration status of individuals in certain circumstances (several ...
By Glen M. Krebs
If you have questions about completing or storing I-9 forms you can now go to a USCIS website to find answers. On May 13, 2011 the USCIS launched ‘I-9 Central,’ at www.uscis.gov/i-9central. I-9 Central includes sections about employer and employee rights and responsibilities, step-by-step instructions for completing the ...
By David A. Calhoun
In an opinion published on May 16, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court held that private litigants cannot bring False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuits that are based upon information they learned from a federal agency’s written response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The basis of the Court’s holding in this case ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
On May 18, 2011, the National Labor Relations Board announced that its Regional Director inBuffalo,New Yorkhad issued a complaint alleging that a non-profit entity--Hispanics United ofBuffalo--that provides social services to low-income persons, has unlawfully fired five employees for criticizing working conditions ...
By George J. Miller
In further response to the decision of the Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board to issue a complaint against the Boeing Company over its decision to assemble a certain number of 787 aircraft at a non-union facility in South Carolina and not to assemble them at unionized facility in Washington because of ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
On April 27, 2011, in a 5 – 4 decision, authored by Justice Scalia and joined in by Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Kennedy, Thomas and Alito, the U.S. Supreme Court in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. ____ (2011), held that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preempted California law holding that an ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
On April 20, 2011, in a press release, the NLRB’s Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon announced that the General Counsel had issued an unfair labor practice complaint against the Boeing Company alleging that it violated the National Labor Relations Act “by deciding to transfer a second production line to a non-union ...
By Glen M. Krebs
No-Match Letters are back.
After a two year hiatus, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has resumed issuing the letters colloquially referred to as “No-Match Letters.” The letters inform employers that an employee’s reported name and the reported social security number do not match. From 1994 to 2007 the letters ...
By Edwin S. Hopson
On April 13, 2011, it was announced by Senator Mike Enzi (R), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee, along with Senator Mary Landrieu (D.), who chairs the Senate Small Business Committee, that proposed legislation (S. 807) has been introduced to make permanent OSHA’s Voluntary ...