2014 Archives

Alerts

• NLRB's Purple Presumption Leaves Employers Black and Blue by Giving Employees the Right to Use Email for Section 7 Communications

  December 23, 2014Two weeks ago, the National Labor Relations Board overruled its 2007 Register Guard decision and held that employees have a “statutory right to use their employer’s email systems for Section 7 purposes.” See Purple Communications, Inc. and...
  By Jennifer A. Sabovik
  

• Ninth Circuit Says Former Police Officer's ADHD is not a Disability Under ADA

  September 5, 2014A threshold question in connection Americans with Disabilities Act cases is whether an individual has a “disability”: no disability means no standing to sue for disability...
  By Randi J. Ensley
  

• NLRB's "Triple Play" Test for Social Media - When Employee Posts Lose the Act's Protection

  September 2, 2014On August 22, 2014, in Triple Play Sports Bar and Grille, a three member panel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held that employees who “like” a comment on a fellow employee’s Facebook page may be engaged in protected...
  By Jennifer A. Sabovik
  

• Not Lovin’ It – NLRB’S General Counsel Authorizes Charges Against McDonald's as Joint Employer with Franchisees

  August 6, 2014In a union-friendly determination that could significantly impact the franchise model, the National Labor Relations Board Office of the General Counsel issued an advice memorandum on July 29, 2014 allowing 43 complaints filed against both McDonald’s ...
  By J. Chris Duckworth
  

• The ACA’S Contraceptive Mandate and the Hobby Lobby Decision

  July 1, 2014On June 30, 2014, the United States Supreme Court partially struck down the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. The case was Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., decided by a 5-4 vote, with the majority opinion written by Justice Al...
  By Thomas I. Kramer
  

• Supreme Court Holds That First Amendment Free Speech Rights Apply to a Public Employee Who Provides Sworn Testimony Outside the Scope of His/Her Job

  June 20, 2014WORK-RELATED SPEECH UPDATE On June 19, 2014, in Lane v Franks, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that the First Amendment protects a public employee who provides truthful sworn testimony, compelled by subpoena, outside the scope ...
  By Benjamin P. O'Glasser
  

• Union Unlawfully Recorded Bargaining Sessions Over Objections of Oregon Public Employer

  June 17, 2014PUBLIC SECTOR LABOR NOTEBOOK On June 16, 2014 the Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB) held that the Washington County Dispatchers Association violated the duty to bargain in good faith when its bargaining team demanded to record collective ...
  By Daniel L. Rowan
  

• NLRB Considers Expanding Joint Employer Standard

  May 21, 2014Continuing to show its willingness to overturn established precedent, on May 12, 2014 the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a Notice And Invitation To File Briefs (Notice) inviting parties and amici to provide input on “substantial...
  By J. Chris Duckworth
  

• ALJ Finds Oregon Public Employer Violated Veterans' Preference Law by Failing to Grant a Preference to a Covered Veteran at Every State of the Hiring Process

  April 8, 2014VETERANS’ PREFERENCE UPDATE The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office violated Oregon’s Veterans’ Preference law by failing to devise and implement an adequate method for giving “special consideration” to a cover...
  By Benjamin P. O'Glasser
  

• NLRB Chicago Region Holds that College Football Players are Employees Entitled to Collective Bargain

  March 28, 2014LABOR LAW UPDATE Scholarship athletes playing on the Northwestern University football team are employees within the definition of the National Labor Relations Act, according to Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago. The Reg...
  By Daniel L. Rowan
  

• Severance Pay, Employment Taxes and the Supreme Court

  March 25, 2014BENEFITS UPDATE: Employers sometimes provide severance pay to departing employees, whether as part of a severance pay plan or policy, an individual separation agreement or to settle a dispute between the employer and the departing employee. While the...
  By Thomas I. Kramer
  

• Health Care Reform - Many Modifications, Mostly Helpful

  February 24, 2014BENEFITS NOTEBOOK: Readers of our February 10, 2014 Alert know that the employer “play-or-pay” mandate, which last year was postponed until January 1, 2015, was further postponed for some employers. Those readers also know that the Internal Revenue...
  By Thomas I. Kramer
  

• Supreme Court Upholds CBA Provision that Time Spent Changing Clothes is Not Compensable Under the FLSA's Collective Bargaining Exception

  February 21, 2014LABOR LAW UPDATE: On January 27, 2014, a unanimous United States Supreme Court held that employers and unions may agree that time workers spend putting on and taking off clothing, including protective clothing, is unpaid without violating the Fair...
  By J. Chris Duckworth
  

• “Play-or-Pay” Mandate Delayed Again for Some Employers

  February 10, 2014BENEFITS NOTEBOOK: Readers of our July 3, 2013 Alert know that the employer “play-or-pay” mandate, which was originally scheduled to take effect January 1, 2014, was postponed until January 1, 2015. On February 10, 2014, the Internal Revenue...
  By Thomas I. Kramer
  

• EEOC Settles First Systemic Discrimination Case Filed Under the Genetic Information Act

  January 22, 2014GINA Update Last week the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a settlement and consent decree in the first lawsuit filed by the agency alleging systemic discrimination in violation of Title II of the Genetic Information Nondi...
  By J. Chris Duckworth
  

• Future Journal: 2013 Workplace Issues that will Continue to be Significant Stories In 2014

  January 9, 2014Although 2013 is now in the rearview mirror, the shadow it casts looms large before us. Here are five stories from 2013 (Affordable Care Act, Portland Sick Time Ordinance, EEOC overstepping its bounds, bereavement leave under OFLA, and legalized m...
  By Michael G. McClory