The New York State Attorney General (AG) filed a lawsuit against a Manhattan pizza franchisee, alleging that it underpaid hundreds of delivery workers by about $1 million. New York v. New Majority Holdings, LLC, et al., No. 452487/2014, verif. pet. (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Co., Oct. 16, 2014). The lawsuit…
In September 2014, the story of an employer who laid off a woman shortly after learning of her cancer diagnosis went “viral,” moving quickly from local to global news coverage. The story highlights an important question for employees and their advocates about how state and federal employment laws protect people…
Worker’s compensation (WC) is a type of insurance that compensates employees for injuries suffered in the course of their employment. Coverage is essentially assured for workers who can establish that the injury was job-related and not due to their own negligence. The tradeoff is that the amount of coverage is…
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced this summer that it settled a disability discrimination lawsuit against the drugstore chain Walgreens, which allegedly engaged in wrongful termination based on a health condition. EEOC v. Walgreen Co., No. 3:11-cv-04470, complaint (N.D. Cal., Sep. 8, 2011). The company claimed that the termination…
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently affirmed a prior ruling holding that it has jurisdiction to enforce the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. in a dispute involving a Michigan casino operated by an Indian tribe. Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, et al, No.…
An employment agreement from a national chain of sandwich shops includes a non-competition clause that purports to impose remarkably broad restrictions on employees, according to a story in the Huffington Post. This type of clause typically states that an employee may not accept employment with the employer’s competitors while still…
Employees of numerous major fast-food restaurant chains have mounted campaigns to improve their working conditions, including higher wages and fewer unpaid hours. A major hurdle for these campaigns has been the franchise model used by many chain restaurants, in which one company, the “franchisor,” owns the restaurant’s brand, logo, menu,…
Concern over infectious diseases has captured the imagination of much of the country in recent months, particularly with regard to Ebola virus disease (EVD). Only a handful of EVD cases have been reported in the U.S., and health officials and experts have repeatedly stated that the disease is unlikely to…
A U.S. district judge in California rejected a proposed settlement in a class action lawsuit that accuses multiple technology companies of colluding to suppress wages, saying that “the total settlement amount falls below the range of reasonableness.” In re High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, No. 5:11-cv-02509, order at 6 (N.D. Cal.,…
A pair of lawsuits brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against a company that operates a nationwide chain of auto supply stores alleges race and disability discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Americans…