On March 07, 2019, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) proposed to increase the salary threshold required for executive, administrative and professional (“EAP”) workers to qualify as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Once finalized, the DOL rule will convert more than one million workers – earning between $23,660 and […]
In November, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released its 2018 Performance Accountability Report which made public a large amount of data regarding the type of claims of discrimination that workers have brought against their employers in the 2018 fiscal year. Some key 2018 performance highlights include: 141 lawsuits were resolved by the agency in […]
On October 30, 2018, Congressmen Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) took a crucial step to combat employer’s use of arbitration agreements to restrict workers’ rights by introducing the Restore Justice for Workers Act (“Act”). The proposed legislation strives to open “the courthouse doors for workers by prohibiting the use of forced arbitration clauses […]
On October 25, 2018, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), arguing on behalf of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), contradicted the EEOC’s prior position regarding the rights of transgender employees under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In a brief submitted to the United States Supreme Court, the DOJ argued that federal […]
On Tuesday, October 9, 2018, New York workers will be assured additional resources to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers in the Empire State will be required to establish a sexual harassment prevention policy in accordance with new standards promulgated by the New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”), and to provide workers with […]
On July 26, 2018, the California Supreme Court ruled that Starbucks cannot rely on the de minimis doctrine to combat its ex-employee’s claims for unpaid wages when closing the coffee shop at the end of the day. The ruling is a significant win for hourly workers as it ensures that Golden State employers cannot duck […]
On June 4, 2018, the United States Supreme Court delivered its much-anticipated decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd., et al. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, et al. In an extremely narrow ruling, the Supreme Court held that Masterpiece Cakeshop did not have to pay penalties for refusing to prepare a wedding cake for a same sex […]
On May 17, 2018, Justice Jeffrey Brown of the New York State Supreme Court for Nassau County shot down an argument that the plaintiffs, who were former employees of the defendants, could not pursue a class action to recover unpaid wages because it was supposedly “patently obvious” that the plaintiffs lacked proper immigration documentation. Specifically, […]
On April 30, 2018, the Supreme Court of California, the highest court in the State, reached a landmark decision for hourly workers. In Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Lee, the Court denied Dynamex’s appeal of the lower court’s order, which certified a class of delivery drivers who Dynamex argued were independent contractors, and therefore not […]
On Thursday, April 26, 2018, the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of a New York City cocktail server fired two days after complaining at a staff meeting about the wage practices and working conditions at the upscale Ascent Lounge. The Board agreed with an administrative law judge-finding that the timing of the server’s […]
California workers obtain a substantial victory as the California Second Appellate District found arbitration agreements, signed by over one hundred employees in the wake of a coworker initiating a wage-and-hour class action, to be procedurally and substantially unconscionable. The Court held that “the language of the provision and the circumstances under which it was presented […]
Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the highest federal court in California, issued a significant decision that could ultimately have national implications for women fighting to be paid equally with their male peers. In Rizo v. Yovino, a female math consultant sued the superintendent of a California school district under the Equal […]
Don’t face workplace injustice alone. Our team is ready to listen, advise, and fight for your rights. Contact us today for a confidential, no-obligation consultation.