Uncategorized

In February 2021, fifty-one FCI Mendota correctional workers and 137 FCI Herlong correctional workers filed Complaints against the United States to recover hazardous duty pay, environmental differential pay, and backpay for overtime wages that were incorrectly calculated, after having been required to work on a daily basis in the hazardous work environment caused by the global pandemic.

A Lowe’s employee in North Carolina sued his employer in April 2019, claiming he had not been properly paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) or the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act (“NCWHA”). The plaintiff alleged that Lowe’s employed hourly managers to supervise its retail stores, departments within its retail stores, or to manage other employees.

On December 17, the D.C. Council unanimously passed the Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020. On January 11, Mayor Bowser of Washington D.C. signed the Act into law. If the Act makes it through a 30-day congressional review process, it will “make void and unenforceable non-compete” agreements entered after the law’s effective date throughout the District of Columbia, but it is not retroactive.

On January 25, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina reaffirmed the minimum wage and overtime rights of restaurant servers and bartenders. Specifically, the Court held that defendant Artisanal Restaurant improperly applied the federal “tip credit” and unlawfully compensated the plaintiffs at $2.13 per hour, rather than the full minimum wage, for all of their hours worked, because the restaurant failed to provide adequate notice to its employees that it would be applying the tip credit.

Boeing has agreed to a $2M non-reversionary settlement to pay 770 current and former Boeing employees in a lawsuit brought pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act and Washington State Law. The settlement class comprises current and former Boeing employees who worked as project administrators, planners, and staff analysts in certain grade levels in Washington.

The Biden administration continued its efforts to undo damage to working people wrought by its predecessor by ending the employer-friendly Payroll Audit Independent Determination and withdrawing ten anti-union memoranda implemented by the former General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.

MSE recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of the correctional workers at the Federal Correctional Institution in Elkton, Ohio to recover hazardous duty pay related to the COVID-19 pandemic. MSE Partner Megan Mechak discusses the lawsuit in WKBN First News’ recent article, which can be found here.

Shortly after taking office on January 21, 2021, President Biden enacted several employee-friendly executive orders.

The Coronavirus Pandemic has shown us the extent to which large corporations in America will prioritize profit over people. As the pandemic devastated small businesses and plunged millions of Americans into poverty over the past year, large corporations are flourishing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the important role of unions in the American workplace, requiring them to function as worker safety advocates when employers put profits over people.