News

close up of gavel
Employees in New York City now have the right to sue directly in court if their employers violates the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA). The ESSTA gives employees the right to use leave for the care and treatment of…
Ultimate Fighting Championship competition ring
Recently, UFC fighters settled a decade long antitrust case against the Ultimate Fighting Championship (“UFC”) and its parent company. The fighters alleged that the UFC, a mixed martial arts organization, has monopoly power to suppress…
close up of gloved hands holding cannabis plant
A former employee of cannabis company Glass House Brands Inc. filed a proposed class action against the company, its subsidiaries, and 50 individual defendants on behalf of himself and other current and former employees of the company…
home health aide assisting elderly person with their coffee cup
108 Workers for a Virginia Home Care Agency recovered nearly a million dollars from their employer recently, as a result of the Agency’s failure to pay them for overtime that they had worked. The home care industry is rife with abuse,…
basketball close up on a court
In a ruling that will likely affect the rights of college athletes for years to come, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) official ruled on February 5, 2024, that men’s basketball players at Dartmouth are “employees” of the…
close up of fleet worker holding helmet
On February 9, 2024, a “Fleet Deckhand” working for Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, a food processing company, filed suit against his employer in the Northern District of Illinois, seeking unpaid overtime, liquidated damages, and…
Greg McGillivary at Panel table
On February 15, 2024, MSE Managing Partner Greg McGillivary moderated a wide-ranging discussion of developments at the U.S. Department of Labor, including the status of the DOL’s rulemaking and guidance on independent contractors and…
Law book with gavel on table
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that whistleblowers bringing claims for retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act do not need to prove that they were victims of intentional retaliation. The Court also reinstated a $900,000 jury verdict…
image of breast milk and bottles in a black bag
On February 1, 2024, a worker at a Georgia Wendy’s sued the owner of the franchise where she worked, as well as the Wendy’s parent company, alleging that she and breastfeeding workers nationwide had been given insufficient time and…
close up of gavel
On January 30, 2024, the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed a jury decision finding that the State of New Jersey was liable for $10 million in punitive damages due to its discrimination against and failure to accommodate a female…
Image of a person's hands typing on a computer
Amazon will pay $950,000 to settle a case involving California remote workers and their home internet expenses. A remote worker sued Amazon in the federal District for the Northern District of California. The worker alleged that Amazon…
close up of gavel on wooden desk
On January 10, 2024, a panel of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) upheld an administrative law judge’s opinion putting two fired employees back to work, ruling that the employer’s asserted basis for their termination violated…
close up of gavel
On January 2, 2024, the Court of Appeals in California upheld the finding and a $23.9 million dollar damages award that Andrew Rudnicki, an in-house attorney for Farmers Insurance Exchange and Farmers Group, Inc. (Farmers), was…
close up of gavel
On January 3, 2024, the United States Court of Federal Claims ruled in favor of Customs Officers seeking overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the Customs Officer Pay Reform Act (“COPRA”) for their time spent…
coins indicating increased wages
As a new year began on January 1, 2024, the federal minimum wage remained $7.25 per hour. However, new state minimum wage laws took effect around the country, including in the following states (the increases are effective on January 1,…
image of store dispensary sign
Two laws protecting marijuana users will come into effect in California in the new year. The first, AB 2188, prohibits employers from taking any adverse action against employees who have used marijuana off-the-job and away from the…
gavel and scales of justice with gray background
On December 12, 2023, a California jury agreed that Kaiser Permanente fired neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse Maria Gatchalian in retaliation for raising concerns regarding patient health and safety and awarded her approximately…
close up of ten-dollar bills and five-dollar bills
Starting on January 1, 2024, Maryland’s minimum wage will increase to $15.00 per hour for all employees. This increased the minimum wage by $1. This increase to the minimum wage marks the end of a gradual increase to Maryland’s minimum…
picture of Andrea J. Prasow
The Washington, D.C. – based human rights non-profit, Freedom Now, announces its new Executive Director - Andrea J. Prasow. Read more in their latest release here.
hands with equal money for men and women
A state judge in Los Angeles, California, certified a class of nearly 9,000 women who say that The Walt Disney Company paid them less than their male colleagues. The plaintiffs requested the judge certify a class of women employed by…