Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

Last year, the EEOC revealed its Strategic Enforcement Plan (“SEP”) for Fiscal Years 2024-2028.  In the SEP, the EEOC stated that a subject matter priority was “the continued underrepresentation of women and workers of color in certain industries and sectors.”  One such industry focus is on workers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields. 

Please join Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP for a complimentary webinar: Trade Secrets Litigation 101 – Preventing and Addressing Employee Data Theft (Part 2).  The CLE webinar will be presented on Thursday, October 10, 2024.  Registration open.

On September 27, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (the “First Circuit”) entered judgment in favor of 7-Eleven, Inc. (“7-Eleven”) in Patel v. 7-Eleven, Inc., putting to rest a class action lawsuit 7-Eleven has been defending for more than seven years regarding allegations that its franchisees were actually employees of 7-Eleven, based on the application of the Massachusetts independent contractor statute.

The Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy (“Jarkesy”) was predicted to spur a wave of litigation challenging the constitutionality of various administrative agency’s civil enforcement powers. In our previous article, we noted that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) may be an agency that faces such a challenge. A complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas by ABM Industry Groups (“ABM”) does just that.

On August 15, 2024, the California Supreme Court held in a unanimous decision that public employers are not “employers” within the meaning of the meal-and-rest-break provisions of the California Labor Code, and the California Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) exempts public employers from penalties for violations of Labor Code provisions carrying their own penalties.  The Court’s ruling substantial limits public employees’ ability to sue for wage-and-hour violations.

On August 22, 2024, the Board ended its 50-year history of allowing consent orders in unfair labor practice cases.  In Metro Health Inc. d/b/a Hospital Metropolitano Rio San Pedras, the Board held that: “in all pending and future unfair labor practice cases, the Board will not terminate the case by accepting or approving a consent order.”

As we discussed in a prior blog entry, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) ordered a novel remedy — consequential damages — against an employer in its decision in Thryv, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 22 (2021).  The current Board envisions this sort of remedy as covering a wide swath of potential financial repercussions against a party found to have violated employee rights, such as unlawful termination of employees.  This could, include, for instance, mortgage payments and credit card late fees.  With interest, these damages can quickly balloon to tens of thousands of dollars and change the risk and settlement calculus. 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) went live with its Severe Injury Report Dashboard (“SIR Dashboard”).

The California Legislature recently passed a bill that would prohibit employers from requiring employees’ attendance at meetings discussing the employers’ political or religious views, including meetings held to address union activity.  The bill known as the “Captive Audience Bill” is backed by unions and opposed by some business groups that say the proposed ban is too broad and would infringe on First Amendment Rights.

On August 23, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) tip credit rule, known as the “80-20-30” rule, which limits the ability of employers to satisfy a portion of tipped employees’ wages with earned tips.