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Employment Law

High cost of misclassification: $1.4 million

02/28/2019
The owners of a West Virginia coal mine have agreed to settle a U.S. Department of Labor wage-and-hour lawsuit that alleged 214 hourly employees had been misclassified as “salaried” staff, cheating them out of overtime pay.

Bill would make it easier to sue for age discrimination

02/26/2019
A bipartisan coalition of representatives and senators have introduced legislation to strengthen employment protections for older workers.

NYC is first to ban bias on the basis of hairstyles

02/26/2019
The New York City Commission on Human Rights has issued guidance making clear that the city considers discrimination on the basis of someone’s hairstyle to be a subset of race discrimination.

Boston pay case may signal new lawsuit risk

02/26/2019
If we’ve learned anything from the #MeToo movement, it’s that awareness of workplace injustice can spark a flood of lawsuits. Now a high-profile case may mean more suits filed by employees and attorneys eager to litigate equal-pay cases.

Supreme Court upholds interstate driver arbitration agreement

02/22/2019
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Federal Arbitration Act did not apply to wage claims brought by an interstate truck driver, even though the plaintiff was classified as an independent contractor.

Chang, Chung employees say cha-ching! after settlement

02/22/2019
Fourteen restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area will pay 100 employees a total of $126,142 after U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigations found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Calif. State Senate pays ex-staffer $350,000 after sexual assault

02/22/2019
A former California State Senate staffer who alleged she was sexually assaulted by another Senate employee after a night out in Sacramento has accepted $350,000 to settle charges she was fired in retaliation for reporting the incident.

Document the factors you weigh for promotions

02/22/2019
Keep careful records of the factors you consider when making promotion decisions. That’s especially true if you don’t give much weight to objective factors such as past performance reviews.

Ensure employee has all parts of arbitration agreement

02/22/2019
Don’t exclude any parts of an arbitration agreement when you have a worker sign it. California courts won’t hesitate to toss out missing portions.

Be prepared to prove employee really did sign arbitration agreement

02/22/2019
If you are a California employer that uses arbitration to settle workplace disputes, you need a good system to prove that each employee signed off on the agreement.