by Jean Marc Favreau | Jul 8, 2020 | Clergy Employment Issues, Employment Law, Ministerial Exception, Supreme Court
In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the ministerial exception permits religiously affiliated schools to fire employees for discriminatory reasons. In Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, the Court’s majority held that two Catholic school...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Dec 20, 2017 | Misc
The Western District of Wisconsin has become the focal point of the debate as to whether the parsonage exemption granted to clergy members is constitutional. In October 2017, Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that the exemption violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S....
by Jean Marc Favreau | Oct 9, 2017 | Clergy Employment Issues, Parsonage
Parsonage Exemption Imperiled Again On Friday, October 6, Judge Barbara Crabb of the United States District Court for the District of Washington, issued a ruling holding that the parsonage exemption to the tax code violates the U.S. Constitution. The tax exemption...
by Josh Scharff | Jun 27, 2017 | NLRB, Social Media, Union Organizing
A few months ago, the Second Circuit considered the case of a catering company server who was fired for posting this comment about his supervisor on Facebook (profanity edited): Bob is such a NASTY MOTHER F[@%#*!] don’t know how to talk to people!!!!!! F[@%#*!] his...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Jun 15, 2017 | Employment Law, Restrictive Covenants, Restrictive Covenants (Non-Compete Agreements)
CNN reports that the conservative media outlet Independent Journal Review (“IRJ”) is asking employees to sign non-compete agreements. The restrictive covenants bar journalists and other employees from working in any capacity for any other media...
by Mark Gisler | Jun 5, 2017 | Employment Law, Restrictive Covenants, Restrictive Covenants (Non-Compete Agreements)
A recent Non-Compete Article in the New York Times highlights a growing danger for American workers: restrictive covenants like non-compete and non-solicitation provisions. These “non-competes” as they are known in labor/employment law parlance have trickled down to...
by Josh Scharff | Feb 3, 2017 | Athletes' Unions, Labor Law, NLRB
NLRB General Counsel Richard Griffin formally concluded earlier this week that scholarship football players at private universities and colleges are employees under the National Labor Relations Act, with the rights and protections of that Act. In a General Counsel...
by Josh Scharff | Dec 22, 2016 | Employment Law, Family Leave
We recently reported that Washington, DC had made significant progress towards passing one of the most generous paid family leave laws in the country. Two days ago, DC took an enormous leap forward when the City Council passed the Universal Paid Leave Act by a 9-4...
by Josh Scharff | Nov 29, 2016 | Employment Law, Family Leave
The District of Columbia is one step closer to passing one of the most generous paid family leave laws in the country, the most-recent version of which includes up to eleven weeks for the birth or adoption of a child. The full draft of the Universal Paid Leave Act is...
by Mark Gisler | Nov 22, 2016 | Employment Law, Misc, Physician Employment Issues
Lucky you! You’ve just finished your residency and are considering various “real” job offers with hospitals and practice groups. Finally, a chance to be a full-fledged physician with a good salary and benefits and a chance to start to pay off your student loans. Among...
by Josh Scharff | Oct 25, 2016 | Clergy Employment Issues
In 2011, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (“FFRF”) challenged the constitutionality of the parsonage tax exemption contained in Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 107 allows clergy to exclude certain housing expenses from their gross income. FFRF’s...
by Mark Gisler | Oct 20, 2016 | Cycling, Labor Law, Union Organizing
We are rooting for the bike couriers of New York City, who have recently formed the New York Messengers Alliance in an effort to harness their collective strength as they seek to improve their pay and benefits. There are some interesting parallels between these...
by Josh Scharff | Oct 13, 2016 | Clergy Employment Issues, Employment Law, Title VII
Music is a vital part of worship for many religions. But at what point should a musician be considered a religious minister? The answer to this question has legal ramifications for musicians who work at congregations, schools, and/or other religious institutions....
by Mark Gisler | Oct 6, 2016 | Clergy Employment Issues, Labor Law, NLRB, Union Organizing
NLRB Exerts Jurisdiction over Secular Teachers in Church-Operated Schools In two recent cases involving faculty bargaining units at Catholic universities, the NLRB evolved the test for determining whether certain faculty of church-operated schools come within the...
by Mark Gisler | Sep 26, 2016 | Athletes' Unions, Cycling, Labor Law
This fantastic piece by American professional cyclist Larry Warbasse raises some interesting issues that make it good fodder for our firm’s labor/employment law blog. To briefly recap the bike race situation: the La Vuelta a España’s is a revered 21-stage “grand tour”...
by Mark Gisler | Sep 6, 2016 | Arbitration, Labor Law
On Labor Day Eve 2016, the New York Times published an editorial criticizing the role of police unions during the current era of police brutality. While NYT is right to call out recent egregious police behavior and there is something to be said for taking union...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Aug 31, 2016 | Arbitration, Labor Law, NLRB, Remedies
“From the earliest days of the [National Labor Relations] Act, a make-whole remedy for employees injured by unlawful conduct has been a fundamental element of the Board’s remedial approach.”
Goya Foods of Florida, 356 NLRB 1461, 1462 (2011)
by Josh Scharff | Aug 26, 2016 | Labor Law, NLRB, Union Organizing
On August 23, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that graduate students who work as teaching or research assistants at private universities are employees with the right to unionize and collectively bargain. Its decision in Columbia University changes the...
by Mark Gisler | Aug 24, 2016 | Employment Law, Physician Employment Issues, Restrictive Covenants (Non-Compete Agreements)
Two states in the northeast, Connecticut and Rhode Island, have recently joined other states in passing legislation limiting the use of non-competition provisions in physician employment agreements. The National Law Review provides a good summary of both new laws....
by Josh Scharff | Jun 17, 2016 | Clergy Employment Issues, Family Leave
Yesterday, NPR’s Cheryl Corley reported that Chicago’s Catholic Archdiocese will offer 12 weeks of paid parental leave to its employees beginning on July 1. The Chicago Archdiocese employs approximately 15,000 employees and is the third largest archdiocese in the...
by Mark Gisler | Jun 15, 2016 | Employment Law, Restrictive Covenants, Restrictive Covenants (Non-Compete Agreements)
The Wall Street Journal today reported on two cases of employers in two different states (New York and Illinois) who are being investigated for illegal/unfair conduct because they required their junior/entry-level employees to sign non-competition clauses in their...
by Josh Scharff | May 31, 2016 | Public Sector Employees, Social Media
Earlier this month, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper authorized Security Executive Agent Directive Five, which permits the federal government to consider information from social media sources in background checks for security clearances. This new policy...
by Mark Gisler | Dec 22, 2015 | Arbitration, Dispute Resolution, Employment Law
Good employment agreements have clear dispute resolution provisions. These provisions inform the parties about the process of adjudicating contractual disagreements. They should set specific and realistic expectations about what will happen if the dispute resolution...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Nov 4, 2015 | Employment Law, Restrictive Covenants, Restrictive Covenants (Non-Compete Agreements)
Given how frequently our clients have questions concerning restrictive covenants, we’ve devoted several past blog posts to issues related to non-competes and similar employment agreement provisions. Often, individuals entering into employment agreements...
by Josh Scharff | Aug 31, 2015 | joint employer, Labor Law, Union Organizing
The National Labor Relations Board spent some time in the limelight this August after issuing decisions in two high-profile cases with major implications for labor rights across the country. In Browning-Ferris Industries of California, the Board broadened the...
by Josh Scharff | Feb 12, 2015 | Clergy Employment Issues
Earlier this month, the Sixth Circuit addressed the “ministerial exception” to anti-discrimination employment laws in Conlon v. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, et al. This was the first time the Sixth Circuit considered the ministerial exception since the Supreme...
by Mark Gisler | Feb 9, 2015 | Labor Law, Union Organizing
Kudos to North American riders, who have recently created their own association (the Association of North American Professional Road Cyclists) and joined the membership of the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés. (See also, article in Velonews). The CPA is the...
by Josh Scharff | Nov 13, 2014 | Clergy Employment Issues
Earlier today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vacated the Western District of Wisconsin’s decision in Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Lew and ordered the case to be dismissed. This case was before the Seventh Circuit after Federal...
by Michael Gan | Nov 7, 2014 | FLSA, Labor Law
It is difficult to reconcile the passage of multiple state ballot measures to increase the minimum wage with a rather poor showing for Democrats in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The Wall Street Journal tries to explain.
by Michael Gan | Oct 14, 2014 | Employment Law, Restrictive Covenants, Restrictive Covenants (Non-Compete Agreements)
I’ve probably gobbled up 800 inches (67 feet) of Jimmy John’s turkey subs in the last five years (that’s 100 sandwiches). But no more. Sometimes a company’s employment practices will cause me to say, “no thank you.” After reading Neil Irwin’s piece in today’s New...
by Josh Scharff | Sep 11, 2014 | Clergy Employment Issues
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit heard oral arguments on Tuesday regarding the constitutionality of the parsonage exemption for clergy. The case Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Lew is before the Seventh Circuit after Judge Barbara Crabb...
by Josh Scharff | Aug 21, 2014 | joint employer, Labor Law, NLRB, Supreme Court
The National Labor Relations Board has been busy this summer making bold decisions that could have far-reaching implications. The NLRB’s most publicized action this summer occurred on July 29 when the Office of the General Counsel announced that it would treat...
by Josh Scharff | Jul 31, 2014 | Clergy Employment Issues, Employment Law
Employees of certain religious institutions, which can include religious schools, congregations, and faith-based nonprofit organizations, are sometimes confronted with a “morals clause” in their employment agreements. In the context of a religious employer-employee...
by ADeleon | Jul 3, 2014 | Labor Law, Public Sector Employees, Supreme Court
In Harris v. Quinn, a small group of health care workers sued the governor of Illinois claiming that an agency fee arrangement violated their right to free speech and free association under the First and Fourteenth Amendment. The workers argued that as personal...
by Josh Scharff | Jun 30, 2014 | Labor Law, Public Sector Employees, Teachers' Unions
Teachers’ unions in California suffered a significant setback earlier this month when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu ruled in Vergara v. California that certain statutory job protections for teachers were unconstitutional. Although the final...
by Josh Scharff | Mar 26, 2014 | Labor Law, Union Organizing
As we previously reported, college football players at Northwestern University submitted a petition and signed union cards to the National Labor Relations Board in January seeking the right to collectively bargain over terms and conditions of employment. The...
by Josh Scharff | Jan 28, 2014 | Labor Law, Union Organizing
Northwestern Football Players Seek to Unionize There’s some interesting labor law news today from an unlikely source – college football players at Northwestern University. Tom Farrey of ESPN’s Outside the Lines first reported that members of the Northwestern football...
by Mark Gisler | Jan 28, 2014 | FLSA, Labor Law, Supreme Court
Sandifer v. U.S. Steel Holds that Unionized Workers Need Not be Paid for Time Spent “Donning and Doffing” Safety Clothing under FLSA In a 9-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it harder for unionized steel workers to be paid for time spent changing into and...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Jan 6, 2014 | Labor Law, Union Organizing
National Labor Relations Board Decides Not to Seek Supreme Court Review of Cases Invalidating Notice Posting Requirement According to an NLRB press release issued on January 6, 2014, the NLRB will not petition the Supreme Court to challenge two U.S. Courts of Appeals...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Dec 10, 2013 | Labor Law, Supreme Court
After hearing oral arguments in Unite HERE v. Mulhall several weeks ago, the Supreme Court has dismissed the writ of certiorari as “improvidently granted”. A majority of the Supreme Court decided not to consider the issues presented in the case –...
by Josh Scharff | Nov 26, 2013 | Clergy Employment Issues, Employment Law, Supreme Court, Title VII
The Supreme Court Does Not Further Define “Religious Institution” in Hosanna-Tabor In it’s 2012 Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Church & School v. EEOC decision, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the validity of the “ministerial exception,” a common law...
by Kaylee Davis | Nov 20, 2013 | Labor Law, Supreme Court, Union Organizing
Supreme Court Considers Neutrality Agreements in Unite Here v. Mulhall Unite Here Local 355 v. Mulhall, argued before the Supreme Court last Wednesday, presents the issue of whether neutrality agreements are, to some degree, prohibited by Section 302 of the National...
by Josh Scharff | Oct 16, 2013 | Employment Law, Social Media
State lawmakers have had an active year enacting laws that prohibit employers from accessing applicants’ and employees’ private social media sites. As we reported earlier, Nevada recently joined the growing list of states with such protections. This past...
by Josh Scharff | Sep 19, 2013 | Employment Law, Free Speech, Public Sector Employees, Social Media
Bland v. Roberts Reverses District Court’s Take on the Facebook “Like” Button. The Fourth Circuit ruled yesterday that a public employee’s decision to “like” a candidate’s Facebook page amounted to free speech that is protected under the First...
by Josh Scharff | Sep 12, 2013 | Employment Law, Social Media
The list of states that have enacted laws prohibiting employers from accessing applicants’ and employees’ private social media sites keeps growing, and Nevada is the latest addition. This past summer, Governor Brian Sandoval signed Assembly Bill 181 into law. Section...
by Michael Gan | Jul 3, 2013 | Employment Law, Social Media
Social Media Protections Extended to Employees and Job Applicants in Oregon. Add Oregon to the list of states enacting laws prohibiting employers from accessing their employees’ private social media sites. The new Oregon law becomes effective January 1, 2014 and...
by Jean Marc Favreau | May 16, 2013 | Labor Law, Supreme Court
Third Circuit Decision in NLRB v. New Vista Nursing Deems Recess Appointment Invalid Following the D.C. Circuit’s recent Noel Canning decision, the Third Circuit issued a decision this morning invalidating President Obama’s recess appointment of former...
by Jean Marc Favreau | May 7, 2013 | Labor Law
National Association of Manufacturers v. NLRB: D.C. Circuit Finds Posting Rule Violates 1st Amendment In a shocking decision out of the D.C. Circuit, three Republican-appointed judges held that the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Section 8(c) of the...
by Mark Gisler | Apr 23, 2013 | Employment Law, Physician Employment Issues, Restrictive Covenants (Non-Compete Agreements)
Covenants forbidding competition with a physician’s former employer and restricting the solicitation of patients have become commonplace in physician employment agreements. These days, such provisions appear in all sorts of employment contracts, including those of...
by Josh Scharff | Mar 21, 2013 | Clergy Employment Issues, Unemployment
Employees laid off or terminated from a position with a religious congregation may be in for an additional unpleasant surprise – they may be legally precluded from collecting unemployment benefits. While the purpose of unemployment insurance is to provide a safety net...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Jan 23, 2013 | Employment Law, Labor Law, Social Media
A recent article by the New York Times’ Steven Greenhouse nicely lays out the current state of NLRB rulings and state laws dealing with employees’ use of social media. Cyber-Screening Protections In addition to highlighting recent NLRB reports rulings that...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Sep 6, 2012 | Labor Law
On September 5, 2012, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona granted the State’s motion for summary judgment in NLRB v. State of Arizona. The ruling upheld, for the time being, a recently enacted amendment to Arizona’s constitution...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Sep 4, 2012 | Labor Law
In honor of Labor Day, former NLRB Member and Chair Wilma Liebman reminds us of what labor unions mean to this country and why they’re worth fighting for.
by Jean Marc Favreau | Aug 2, 2012 | Employment Law, Social Media
A few weeks back, we reported on a cutting-edge Maryland law that protects employees and job applicants from having to reveal their Facebook, Twitter, or other social media passwords to employers. On August 1, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a similar bill into...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Jul 20, 2012 | Grievant-Steward Privilege, Labor Law, Labor Relations Privilege
Peterson v. Alaska Recognizes Grievant-Steward Privilege for Public Employees Two months ago, we reported on legislation in Maryland enacted to protect communications between employees and their union representatives. This “labor-relations” or...
by Mark Gisler | Jul 13, 2012 | Employment Law, Physician Employment Issues
Recent economic reorganization of health care is making more physicians into employees of medical groups, managed care organizations and hospitals. For both newly graduated and established physicians, there are a wide variety of legal and other considerations when...
by Josh Scharff | Jul 6, 2012 | Clergy Employment Issues, Supreme Court, Title VII
The Ministerial Exception makes it to the Supreme Court in Hosanna Tabor v. EEOC Earlier this year, the Supreme Court first considered the validity and applicability of the “ministerial exception” – a common law principle that exempts religious institutions from...
by Michael Gan | Jun 22, 2012 | Clergy Employment Issues, Employment Law
Over the last forty years, Reform Judaism’s seminary, the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, has ordained almost 600 women rabbis. There are currently a total of 2,000 Reform rabbis in North America. For many years, those close to matters of...
by Josh Scharff | Jun 22, 2012 | Labor Law, Supreme Court
Knox v. SEIU Limits Unions’ Ability to Collect Dues to Oppose Anti-Union Legislation In a 7-2 decision yesterday, the Supreme Court found in Knox v. SEIU that the First Amendment prohibited public sector unions from collecting special fees for political...
by Michael Gan | Jun 19, 2012 | FLSA, Supreme Court
In the 5-4 Christopher v. Smithkline Beecham Corp. decision announced yesterday, the Supreme Court found that pharmaceutical sales reps do not enjoy the overtime protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The pharmaceutical sales reps in this case worked between 50...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Jun 11, 2012 | Labor Law, Supreme Court
Elgin v. Department of Treasury: Employees Covered by CSRA May Not Challenge Dismissal in District Court While not the decision in the healthcare case that we have all been awaiting, the Supreme Court issued a decision this morning that will affect federal sector...
by Josh Scharff | Jun 8, 2012 | Employment Law, Labor Law, Maryland Labor Law, Social Media
The State of Maryland had a busy month of May on the forefront of labor and employment law. On May 2, Maryland became the second state to officially recognize a labor relations privilege when Governor Martin O’Malley signed Senate Bill 797 into law. On that same day,...
by Josh Scharff | May 30, 2012 | Labor Law, Social Media
Earlier today, the National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel, Lafe Solomon, released a third report on social media issues and the workplace. The NLRB released its first report on social media issues in August 2011 and a second report in January 2012. The...
by Mark Gisler | May 29, 2012 | Employment Law, Negotiating
If you are in the overwhelming category of employees who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, then you are in essence a free agent. With the evolution of the workplace, acceleration of new technologies, and the increase in job specialization, many...
by Jean Marc Favreau | May 25, 2012 | Evidentiary rules, Grievant-Steward Privilege, Labor Law, Labor Relations Privilege, Maryland Labor Law
When an employee approaches his or her union representative to discuss something related to a grievance or a potential grievance, there’s a natural expectation that he or she may speak freely without fear that the employer will be privy to the information...
by Jean Marc Favreau | May 24, 2012 | Labor Law, Remedies
Due to some court challenges by business interests, the NLRB has been temporarily enjoined from implementing the rule requiring employers to post notices informing employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. See our previous blog post to find...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Aug 27, 2011 | Labor Law, Remedies
[This posting has been updated here] On Notice On November 14, the National Labor Relations Board will start requiring private sector employers to post notices intended to educate employees about their rights under the National Labor Relations Act. With this new...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Aug 5, 2011 | Arbitration, Labor Law, Remedies
In arbitration, advocates for suspended or discharged employees routinely argue for a “make whole” remedy, which includes back pay and restoration of benefits and seniority rights. The idea is that a worker should be put into the position he would have been in had the...
by Jean Marc Favreau | Jun 6, 2011 | Labor Law
Section 1 of the National Labor Relations Act (from the original 1935 Wagner Act) is premised on facilitating the flow of commerce by reducing industrial “strife and unrest” through collective bargaining and peaceful dispute resolution mechanisms. In light of the...
by kpstraus | May 20, 2011 | Child Labor
Apparently, June 12 is World Day Against Child Labor. It’s hard to believe that we’re still fighting child labor in the 21st Century.
by Jean Marc Favreau | May 20, 2011 | Labor Law, Union Organizing
Once again, our friend Dmitri has an interesting piece on labor law in today’s union-unfriendly environment. Check out this piece in the Providence Journal on employer captive audience speeches and employees’ First Amendment rights. (originally posted...
by Jean Marc Favreau | May 29, 2007 | Supreme Court, Title VII
The Supreme Court has just taken another bite out of employees’ rights to challenge workplace discrimination. The decision limits employees’ ability to redress discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 unless they can point to a...
