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On May 1, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) restored precedent which enhances protections for employees who lose their cool during workplace actions. For decades, the NLRB applied three setting-specific standards to determine whether employers have unlawfully discharged or disciplined employees who engaged in disruptive conduct in connection with protected activity.

In Ohio, a former employee of Swagelock Co. sued the company for racial discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliation alleging that they mistreated him because of his race. Tyrone Rembert sued his employer, Swagelok Co., for the nine months he was an employee there.

On April 28, 2023, the Federal Circuit issued an en banc opinion, in Moore v. United States (Case No. 2022-1475) overturning the dismissal of an SEC employee’s Equal Pay Act (“EPA”) claim. En banc means that all of the judges of the Federal Circuit bench participated in the case.

Today, workers across the world celebrate International Worker’s Day or May Day. Although not a recognized holiday in the United States, May Day or International Worker’s Day is a national holiday in countries across the world. In the U.S., May day was born after the American Federation of Labor set May 1, 1886, as the date for workers nationwide to go on strike seeking an 8-hour workday.

A female former “bud tender” and shift lead for Ice Kream LLC, a cannabis company, sued the company, as well as UTR Management LLC, for sex discrimination, violation of the California Equal Pay Act, whistleblower retaliation, constructive discharge, and 13 other causes of action.

On April 20, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidance entitled “Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Federal Sector.” The EEOC is the federal agency responsible for preventing and remedying unlawful employment discrimination in the workplace.

In the wake of the February 21, 2023 decision (McLaren Macomb and Local 40 RN Staff Council, OPEIU) from the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) prohibiting severance agreements conditioned on non-disparagement or confidentiality provisions, employers have begun adjusting their practices to avoid unfair labor practice charges under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).

On April 7, 2023, after a multi-day bench trial, a California Superior Court judge issued a tentative ruling awarding approximately $9 million in damages for unpaid service charges to class of banquet servers who worked at the Marriott Marquis hotel in San Francisco from 2012-2017, holding that Marriott had violated the California Labor Code’s prohibition on employers keeping any portion of gratuities left for employees.

With the banking industry suffering from instability, some banks have struggled to pay their employees in a timely manner. Additionally, companies that keep their deposits in these banks have also run into issues paying their employees on time. Under state and federal law, your employer is obligated to pay you on time, and can be liable for penalties if they pay their employees late.

VIA THE STUDENT BORROWER PROTECTION CENTER:

Last night, a former employee filed a class-action lawsuit against a tech-training and employee-staffing agency, Smoothstack, Inc. (Smoothstack). This new lawsuit alleges that Smoothstack steals wages from employees and pushes them to sign predatory Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (TRAPs), putting them on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in debt if they tried to leave or were fired from low-wage tech jobs working on projects for some of the largest corporations in the world.