Posts from January 2017.

Must-see TV! President Trump said last night that he would be announcing at 8 p.m. EST tonight his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy that was created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. You have to hand it to the President for scheduling the announcement for prime time, when everyone can watch. Although I think it would be even better if he had all the candidates with him ...

Just a couple of quick links today:

Hot off the press - Will  Krasnow and Jeanette Phelan have an excellent summary of the immigration Executive Order issued on Friday by President Trump and what employers should tell their employees from the "suspended seven" countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). The quick and dirty: Do NOT leave the United States!

And our ...

The confirmation hearing for Andrew Puzder, President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Labor, has been postponed yet again - now it's scheduled for Tuesday, February 7. Andrew Puzder.flickrCC.GageSkidmoreAccording to the Washington Post, Mr. Puzder has submitted his paperwork to the Office of Government Ethics, which is reviewing it and has not yet turned it over to the Senate.

Meanwhile, it was reported this week that ...

Daily Trumpdates. Our new president has had a busy week, and I've been providing "Daily Trumpdates" of actions taken that are of interest to employers. Here are links to all the Trumpdates from this week:

MONDAY: Regulatory freeze, "listening session" with unions, Puzder status

TUESDAY: Good meeting with union reps

WEDNESDAY (twofer): The 4 known SCOTUS contenders

Victoria ...

How can an employer best prevent workplace harassment from occurring, and deal with it effectively when it occurs? What would the EEOC say employers should do?

This is my third and final installment on the proposed Enforcement Guidance on Unlawful Harassment, which was recently issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC is accepting comments until ...

Law360 has just reported that President Trump has appointed Philip A. Miscimarra, the only current Republican member of the National Labor Relations Board, as Acting Chairman of the NLRB, replacing Mark Gaston Pearce. Here is Mr. Miscimarra's bio from the NLRB website. This is welcome news for employers.

 

Dum-da-dum-dum!

Stop.flickrCC.EdwinTorres
"Not so fast!"

Bloomberg BNA reports that the U.S. Department of Labor, which is the defendant in a lawsuit challenging the rule regarding white-collar exemptions to the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, has asked for an extension of time to allow "incoming leadership personnel adequate time to consider the issues."

You know what that means.

The ...

Victoria Lipnic
Victoria Lipnic

Law360 reported this afternoon that Victoria Lipnic, who has served as one of the two Republican Commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the Obama Administration, has been appointed by President Trump to be acting chair of the EEOC.

Ms. Lipnic has been on record as opposing the EEO-1 compensation reporting requirement that was supposed ...

President Trump announced yesterday that he would be naming his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court next week. The nominee, if confirmed, will fill the seat vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

According to most news sources, the three leading contenders are U.S. Court of Appeals Judges William Pryor (Eleventh Circuit), Neil Authority of Law StatueGorsuch (Tenth Circuit), and Thomas Hardiman ...

Louise
Louise Davies

On January 3, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued final regulations intended to increase the number of individuals with disabilities employed by federal agencies. The new regulations require that each federal agency aim to have a workforce of which 12 percent have disabilities and 2 percent of that 12 percent have "targeted" or severe ...

NOTE FROM ROBIN: Effective today, I'm officially changing the name of these mini-dispatches about President Trump's first actions related to labor and employment law issues, to "Daily Trumpdate." My first dispatch is here.

President Trump met yesterday with representatives of a number of unions, and according to everyone involved, the meeting went well. It didn't hurt mattersDonald Trump.flickrCC.GageSkidmore that ...

DonaldTrump.flickrCC.iprimagesWe'll try to keep you up to date with the latest labor and employment law news from the Trump Administration via a series of mini-posts as news develops.

According to Politico's Morning Shift, "President Trump ordered executive departments and agencies to freeze all pending regulations until the administration could review them." This would include the DOL overtime rule, which ...

Last week, I shared with you what I didn't like about the proposed Enforcement Guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on workplace harassment.

Well, this is warm-and-fuzzy week. Moving on to the parts of the proposed guidance that IHug Kitty.flickrCC.joyousjoym thought were well done, I've tried to boil the rest of the proposed guidance into nine key points. I'll do one more post next week ...

Attention, New York employers! The Empire State (and the Big Apple) have enacted a Hot Dog Man.flickrCC.JeleneMorrisnumber of employment-related laws -- including minimum wage, family leave, freelance worker protections, and bathroom designations -- that have recently taken effect, or will take effect in the not-too-distant future. Anjanette Cabrera and Stephen Stecker from our New York City Office have an ...

Jill Stricklin
Jill Stricklin

NOTE FROM ROBIN: A portion of Jill's remarks below appeared Tuesday morning in Law360 (paid subscription required).

Notwithstanding what might happen over the next four (or eight) years, there is no question that President Barack Obama has left his mark on labor and employment law in some very important ways. Even if President-Elect Trump’s administration and the ...

Within the past month, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has announced two settlements and filed one administrative complaint involving alleged discrimination in the hiring process.

  • Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits of Louisiana, LLC, has agreed to pay $175,000 to settle allegations that it discriminated against black applicants for warehouse ...

MLK Mural.DC Public Library.flickrCC.Elvert Barnes

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."

Image Credit: From flickr, Creative Commons license. Photo of mural from D.C. Public Library by Elvert Barnes.

This week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a proposed Enforcement Guidance on workplace harassment. It's 75 pages long, so a little too much to cover in a single blog post. The EEOC is seeking comments from the public until February 9, so I will3231-EEOC_SEAL_2 start with the comment-worthy provisions. Next week, I'll post about the proposed Guidance more generally. Overall, the ...

Hot Dog Man.flickrCC.JeleneMorrisThe latest installment of Mallory Schneider Ricci's saga, Diary of a Pregnant Lawyer: Second Blogmester, is up at FOCUS, our women's leadership blog. Is the second trimester really the easiest part of a pregnancy? Well, yeah, probably, but that doesn't mean it's easy. We are happy to announce that Mallory had her baby on December 22, and little Margot Eleanor is beautiful! And a ...

KMS
Kristine Sims

Every year, typically in the fall, federal contractors across the nation receive scheduling letters from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs informing them that they have been selected for compliance reviews. The letters request a wide range of information establishing the contractors' compliance with Executive Order 11246, the ...

(You know the tune.) We are delighted to announce our latest expansion into beautiful San Francisco!

San Francisco.flickrCC.NicolasRaymond
You guys need any help?

The head of our new office is Julius Turman, an experienced employment litigator practicing in all areas of employment law. Julius has a varied background - he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney, litigation and crisis counsel, a police commissioner, and a partner in ...

Kentucky became the 27th right-to-work state on Saturday. The legislation was passed by the Republican majority in the legislature, with no Democratic support. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin signed the bill on Saturday, and he's even made a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsTswtCeRgs&feature=youtu.be

(What'll they think of next?)

"Right to work" means that an ...

A federal judge in the District of Columbia has denied the AARP's request for a preliminary injunction against the wellness rules issued by the Equal Employment OpportunityThumbs Down.flickrCC.CharlesLeBlanc Commission last May. As a result, the EEOC rules -- which establish when participation in an employer-sponsored wellness program is "voluntary" within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the ...

Andrew Puzder.flickrCC.GageSkidmore
Andrew Puzder (center)

The Senate confirmation hearing for Andrew Puzder, President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Labor, will reportedly take place this Wednesday, January 12. (UPDATE (1/10/17): According to Politico, Mr. Puzder's confirmation hearing will now take place on Tuesday, January 17.) Mr. Puzder's nomination is vigorously opposed by employee advocates ...

Judge Amos Mazzant, who preliminarily enjoined the U.S. Department of Labor overtime exemption rule in November, has now refused to stay (postpone) further proceedings in the case.

In-depth analyses of the impact of Judge Mazzant's preliminary injunction decision are available here and here.

Denial of the stay means that Judge Mazzant could issue a final decision any time, even ...

Hot Dog Man.flickrCC.JeleneMorrisI hope you saw this before the holidays. Richard Bromley and Kacy Coble have a very helpful summary of the most significant new employment laws that took effect or will be taking effect in 2017 in California.

If you have operations in the Golden State or are thinking about moving there, you will not want to miss it.

Image Credit: From flickr, Creative Commons license, by Jelene ...

Damon Kitchen
Damon Kitchen

Whether justified or not, the recent spate of high-profile police shooting cases throughout the United States has brought national attention to the issue of whether law enforcement officers should be using body cameras while on duty. Currently, a debate rages among the various stakeholders concerning the pros and cons of body cameras.

Those in favor of body cameras ...

Federal contractors were thrilled when Judge Marcia Crone issued a preliminary injunction in late October against President Obama’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order.

JWY
Jon Yarbrough

But Judge Crone’s decision did not block the entire rule. Although the preliminary injunction kept the bulk of the rule from going into effect, the portion requiring pay ...

Robin Shea has 30 years' experience in employment litigation, including Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (including the Amendments Act). 
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