On the heels of the major unionizing victories by Starbucks and Amazon employees, workers across the country are organizing and seeking to form unions so that they can collectively bargain for higher wages and improved working conditions. However, employers often oppose unionizing efforts, including by discouraging employees from voting to unionize and terminating employees in […]
On March 16, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law several pieces of legislation affording employees greater protections against workplace harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, while other pieces of legislation are still pending before the New York State Assembly and Governor Hochul. Legislation That Has Been Made Law: • Expanded Definition of Retaliation (S5870): Under the […]
The Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”) prohibits retaliation against an employee who complains about violations directly to his or her employer or to the U.S. Department of Labor. To make out a claim, a plaintiff must show (1) participation in a protected activity known to the employer, (2) an employment action disadvantaging the plaintiff (such […]
Following an election held between March 25 through March 30, 2022, workers at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse voted in favor of being represented by the Amazon Labor Union in a 2,654 — 2,131 vote. The Amazon Labor Union is the first certified union to represent Amazon workers in the country and could not only rally […]
Domestic workers are now protected under New York City’s Human Rights Law regardless of the number of persons employed by the employer. Domestic workers include any individual employed in a home or residence for the purpose of caring for a child, serving as a companion for a sick, convalescing, or elderly person, housekeeping, or any […]
When President Joe Biden recently announced his nomination of Judge Kentaji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, he made history: Jackson, who currently serves on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, would be the first Black, female Justice in the Supreme Court’s history. If confirmed, Jackson will replace the recently-retired Justice Stephen Breyer, whose […]
A recent study by Dove revealed that 80% of Black women are more likely to change their natural hair to meet expectations at work and are 150% more likely to have reported being sent home or know of a Black woman sent home from work because of her hair. Bill H.R. 2116, also known […]
On January 15, 2022, the New York City Council enacted an amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law—already one of, if not the, most expansive anti-discrimination statutes nationwide—which will require employers to list salary information in job postings. The new law is part of an effort to address pay inequity through transparency. […]
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, more commonly known as Labcorp, must implement changes across more than 2,000 locations to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) lactation requirements. These changes were prompted by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s investigation and findings that Labcorp did not secure space for employees to express […]
On January 27, 2022, the California Supreme Court, the state’s highest court, penned a decision backing the use of state law when evaluating whistleblower retaliation claims brought under the state’s labor code as opposed to the burden-shifting test commonly used in federal discrimination cases. Under Section 1102.6 of the California Labor Code, plaintiffs must […]
Since the term “Coronavirus” first entered the public lexicon, one of several questions to plague employees, employers, and employment attorneys alike has been: “Is COVID-19 a disability?” The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently issued guidance on this very question, providing a both expected and unsatisfying answer: “Maybe.” In so many words, the EEOC’s […]
In January 2019, New York State passed the Child Victim’s Act (“CVA”), which provided survivors of child sexual abuse with a one-year window to file claims against their abusers and the institutions that enabled the abuse that otherwise were stale under the statute of limitations. At the close of the window in August 2021 (the […]
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